The Sunforce 60-Watt Solar Charging Kit gives you several more reasons to love the sun. Perfect for cabins, recreational vehicles, remote power, back-up power, 12V battery charging and more, this kit comes with everything you need to start producing up to 60 watts/4 amps of clean, free power in all weather conditions. It is also a great choice for clean and silent operation of various electronics, like deer feeders and landscaping pumps. Made of durable ABS plastic and amorphous solar cells, the solar panels will charge in all daylight conditions, even on cloudy days. With built-in blocking diode technology, this charger kit is designed to protect against battery discharge at night. This kit includes: four 15W amorphous solar panels ,a PVC mounting frame, 7 -amp charge controller, 200 Watt inverter, and wiring/connection cables. The maximum temperature range is -40 to 176-degrees Fahrenheit. The Sunforce 60 Watt Solar Charging Kit is the ideal solution for providing the power you need, while helping you save money and protect the environment.The Sunforce 50048 60-Watt Solar Charging Kit gives you several more reasons to love the sun. It provides the power you need, while helping you save money and protect the environment. This kit is ideal for cabins, recreational vehicles, remote power, back-up power, and 12-volt battery charging. It comes with everything you need to start producing up to 60 Watts/4 Amps of clean, free power in all weather conditions.
 Sunforce kits are easy to set up and operate. |
Convenient Power That Helps You Save Money and Protect the Environment
The Sunforce 50048 60-Watt Solar Charging Kit lets you harness the power of the sun, the most powerful and plentiful source of energy available to us. This inexhaustible supply of power is freely available wherever the sun shines, and gives users the freedom to power their homes, RVs, boats, batteries, and electronic equipment far from civilization or right in town. Solar power can help cut your energy bills by reducing your dependence on the main electrical grid, and can also provide back-up power during outages. Unlike nuclear and fossil fuels, solar power systems are clean and pollution-free, and they require very little maintenance to operate.
 Sunforce Solar Panels are effective in areas of both high and lower sun exposure, making them ideal for use in the United States. View Larger |
Everything You Need to Power Up
The Sunforce 50048 60-Watt Solar Charging Kit has everything you need to start generating power. It includes four (4) 15-Watt amorphous solar panels with durable mounting frames, a 200-Watt modified sine wave power inverter, a 7-Amp solar charge controller, and a wiring kit with accessories for easy installation.
With built-in blocking diode technology, this solar charging kit is designed to protect against battery discharge at night. You can also use this kit to maintain the charge on any 12-Volt battery for clean, silent operation of various electronics, such as deer feeders and landscaping pumps. You can also use this kit to maintain the charge on any 12-Volt battery for clean, silent operation of various electronics, such as deer feeders and landscaping pumps and is a great choice for automobiles, recreational vehicles, tractors, all-terrain vehicles, boats, electric fences, telemetry and more.
About Amorphous Solar Power
Amorphous solar panels are created by spraying silicon on to glass in very thin layers, and are commonly known as thin film solar panels. This process allows them to be better at generating electricity in all lighting conditions, including cloudy or shady environments. Sunforce amorphous solar panels are weatherproof and suitable for outdoor use. They have a maximum operating temperature range of -40 to 176-degrees Fahrenheit, require virtually no maintenance, and are also effective on cloudy days. They can even withstand impacts from one-inch hailstones at 50 miles-per-hour.
Solar panels convert sunlight into an electric current, they do not store power. Sunforce Solar Charging Kits are primarily used to recharge 12-Volt batteries (not included), which store and provide usable power. The included 200-Watt power inverter allows you to use traditional 110-Volt appliances with this system. The included Sunforce 7-Amp Solar Charge Controller must be installed to prevent any connected batteries from overcharging. Once fully charged, it is normal for the charge controller LED to turn off and on as the battery voltage fluctuates from the discharge/recharge cycle.
Product Dimensions
Shipping Box: 41″ x 13 1/4″ x 16 1/4″, 62.4 lbs
Individual Panel: 42.5″ x 1.5″ x 16″, 11 lbs
Product Features
- Amorphous solar charging kit provides up to 60 watts of clean, free, renewable power
- Designed for RVs, cabins, homes, boats, back-up and remote power use
- Weatherproof, durable solar panels can withstand impacts from hailstones travelling 50 miles-per-hour
- Built-in blocking diode helps protect against battery discharge at night
- Complete kit includes four 15W amorphous solar panels, a PVC mounting frame, a 7-amp charge controller, 200-watt inverter, and wiring/connection cables
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This product has been grossly misrepresented I purchased two of these kits (8 panels) and mounted them on the top of my RV. I have had them on the top of my RV now for approximately 8 months.When I received the units, I tested each of them for the open voltage measurement noted in the instructions with a digital meter and found each to be producing 21 volts unloaded. Encouraged that the panels were working properly, I went ahead and took the time and expense to mount them to the top of my RV.After 8 months, here’s what I found:First of all, the 15 watt, 1 amp peak output rating that Sunforce advertises is not correct. The peak output rating for each of these panels should have been advertised at approximately 750 milliamps per panel. The total peak output that one could typically expect from the 4 panels in this kit would be around 3 amps. 3 amps under perfect conditions.I have noticed that the boards are extremely prone to large drops (upwards of 45%) in current output when they begin to heat up. In other words, the boards are VERY intolerant to high temperatures. But even under perfect conditions, the 8 panels that I have mounted on my RV only produced 6 amps, and I am in Hawaii.Another problem: The boards shut down in lower light situations. In other words, early morning and later afternoon lighting, significant cloud cover, or other low light situation will be cause for either a total shut down of output, or the boards will be very poor performers – in the low milliamps for 8 panels in parallel.Within a very short period of time (about 4 months) the output from the panels gradually decreased by nearly 50%. And right now I am getting about 40% of the advertised peak output in perfect conditions.The plastic construction is very cheap, in my opinion, and I am now worried that the plastic may break away around the screws that hold down the panels and fly off the vehicle. Needless to say, I am removing the panels.I’m out some money, a lot of time and effort, but I’ve learned a lot about solar panel technology over the past 8 months.For just a few bucks more, I will purchase a decent monocrystilline, 36 cell panel that will far and away outproduce the 8 panels that I have on my RV now, and take up far less space and be much safer on top of the vehicle.Don’t waste your time or money on this kind of solar panel technology. You will be very sorry.
Innovative design from China, packaging needs help *Update* 6-2010, while my original panels are still running strong so long as I hose them down once a month, I’ve noticed that the PVC pipe provided to hold them in place has become brittle with sun exposure, hence I would now in 20/20 hindsight recommend a coat of on the PVC parts to prevent UV cracking later in life. I do not think the Krylon Fusion product was available when I first setup my first panels but UV cracking of the support structure could cause panel damage in years 2 and 3.Meanwhile Amazon got their hands on some obsolete & discontinued Sharp panels (12.5% efficiency vs the new 13.1% efficiency) – if you are serious about needing lots of solar power in a small space, this is a big kit – you can view it here: My only concern about the kit is that due to the new panels being higher efficiency means it will be difficult to match panels if you find you still need more power later on. The other con on that system is it’s price — $1300+ but you get the wattage, along with a cheap charge controller and inverter, both of which could be upgraded for better system performance. It’s just another solar system to consider in the $5/watt or less pricepoint for DIYers.Update 9-18-2008 – Still going strong. I am very pleased with the summer power output of these panels. I wash them with a hose 1x/mo to keep the output current up. Measured before washing and after washing the panel efficiency is clearly a factor of how much dirt is on them. No problems long term on a roof though!Update 2-20-2008 – goes with graph “photograph” #3 above – pink line is power and blue line is amps from the panel x 10 to share the graph. The X axis is panel voltage. Data was acquired using an Agilent dummy load with programmable voltage in 1V steps from 1V to 22V (open circuit voltage on the panel) on a partially cloudy day in winter sun. Expectations are for 2-3 times performace in summer sun provided the panels don’t get too hot. These are on my house roof laying flat on a 3/12 pitch facing due south which is suboptimal but easy for me to do. Be sure to read the photo notes. Sorry about the colors excel defaulted to!This is a MPPT chart (maximum power point tracking) – you can see that the panels are optimized for charging a 12V wet cell right out of the box. Charge current turns on when battery voltage drops down to 13.0 VDC and turns off at 14.2 VDC with the supplied charge controller in the kit.The only other interesting fact in 2 months is to keep your panels clean. My maximum current was 5.0 A on a cold morning with bright sun until it rained hard and washed the panels clean. The current went up to 7.0 A maximum right after the rainstorm. Below is the original review – these panels have been running constant for 2 months now into 3 parallel deep cycle marine cells (315 AH) connected to the prosine inverter below to drain the energy made.When reading the power/current chart you should keep in mind the amps have been multiplied by 10 so they use the same Y axis (so 20A on the chart corresponds to 2.0 A panel current) Watts are actual volts*amps. This was taken in the winter with partial clouds – expectations are for a X3 improvement during summertime but its still february and I’m in the northern hemisphere so we’ll have to wait and see. Basically an MPPT charger won’t gain but a few watts with this panel so it’s not a good investment unless you already have one laying around.(Begin original review after buying panels)I never seem to be overwhelmed by the latest shipment of product from China, but this one seems to show some promise and shows signs of good cost engineering and a complete design that can be set up quickly by one person with very little effort. I’d give it 5 stars if it were well packed, but my purchase turned into a shipping fiasco.Most ALL solar installations are rated in $/watt much like new homes are rated in $/sq ft. We’ll get to the sq ft bit later. Here you are getting 60W for 320 dollars or about 5.33 $/watt. Compared to a similar wattage panel, the BP solar 365U rated at 65W and priced (street) at 399 or 6.13 $/watt the amazon package seems to be a good deal when you consider it comes complete less battery (we’ll hit that one later too)In fact, the amazon package deal includes a xantrex 175 watt inverter with a .15A “idle” current designed for solar systems where current consumption must be minimized. It even includes a simple diode/switch “charge regulator” with 2 leds to indicate panel voltage and battery is full but lacks the ability to tell it what type of battery you are using…
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