Photonic Universe 120W Solar Panel Review

Works well so far

 
 
 
 
 
 
TimB
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Photonic Universe 120W Solar Panel Review

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Posted: 09.02.2018  ·  #1
H all, firstly if this is in the wrong place please feel free to move!

Having bought our first motorhome in February last year, i wasnt really sure on how long our leisure battery would last with no hook up etc.
Having read re solar power on MHC and looking at our options i plumped for one of these as i didnt want the expense of a roof mounted panel.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/pr…UTF8&psc=1

Firstly it states free UK delivery, so i had it sent to my address pal address and withing 5 days it had arrived at my local post office,here in Ireland, for 3.75 euro. The post mistress was gobsmacked that i had got it through without an excess charge due to the size of the box it came in, so that was bonus number one.

It came with the plug and the 8mm ring connection, so i attached these to the terminals on our leisure battery, which on the Carado A366 is located behind the drivers seat. This meant i could plug the 5M long cable to the panel in without using the supplied crocodile clips.

The case it comes with is very good quality and protects the whole panel very well, because it folds in half when stored away i store it between the rear seats and table when on the move.

The cable is long enough to have the panel on the roof of the van if needed, and feed the cable out through the roof skylight, however we found we could rest it across the dashboard of our van in the windscreen, and put 4 bits of foam padding under the points of contact, to protect the dash and steering wheel. Although on the makers site it does state it is not as effective through the windscreen or glass as if it was out in the open.

However, i can only go from experience re effectiveness, so here goes.

We first used the panel as described above on the dash at the North West 200 in May with no hookup, there were four of us in the van for 4 nights, we used the shower and water, so pump on, we used the TV with electric satellite dish for a couple of hours each day, charged a couple of mobile phones and tablets and had our lights on, all be it they are all LED bulbs. We had a couple of days brilliant sunshine and a few cloudy days. I checked our vans battery panel and the lights showed the leisure battery as full charged at all times. Through the winter i leave the panel connected, stood on its stand on the table in the dining area and our leisure battery still shows fully charged.
The makers claim it is fully waterproof, so you can stand it outside and aim it towards the sun if you want.

The charge controller on the back of the panel has to be set on first set up to the type of battery you have, which is quite simple to do. It has LED indicators to show if it is charging and how well, but these are difficult to see in bright sunlight, i use the towel over the head trick to check!!

So in a nutshell, for the price i am very impressed, you can get this in 80W up to 150W, but i felt 120W was sufficient.

I hope this helps someone if they are thinking of solar, but dont want the expense of solar panels on their roof.
Regards
Tim B


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Re: Photonic Universe 120W Solar Panel Review

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Posted: 09.02.2018  ·  #2
Excellent write up....... thank you.
I too have the photonic universe panels, but roof mounted 160 watt with separate dual controller and LCD display panel. I also found hem excellent to deal with and the quality of their stuff is excellent.
Has been superb, off grid a lot of the time and keeps leisure batteries full (2x 115ah) and the starter battery also charged....it’s one addition to a MH that is a must in my opinion. Seldom do we ever charge the hab batteries on hook up, simply no need.

I’ve moved the topic into mechanical and technical/solar for ease of indexing at a later date.


...
 
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Re: Photonic Universe 120W Solar Panel Review

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Posted: 09.02.2018  ·  #3
Good info there.
I have seen people using similar and often thought they look very handy. At least you can move them as the sun moves or is lower in the sky. Roof mounted panels definitely are better in summer than winter.


Thorn123
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Re: Photonic Universe 120W Solar Panel Review

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Posted: 09.02.2018  ·  #4
Great info, i am on the fence for roof mounted or free mounted.
The lazy side of of me is opting for roof mounting.
The practical side of me is for roof mounted because we own 2 ball crazy kids.
But the efficiency side if me is free standing with the best hopes of charging according to the sun.
Life is a choice.
Malcolm


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Re: Photonic Universe 120W Solar Panel Review

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Posted: 09.02.2018  ·  #5
Quote by Thorn123

Great info, i am on the fence for roof mounted or free mounted.
The lazy side of of me is opting for roof mounting.
The practical side of me is for roof mounted because we own 2 ball crazy kids.
But the efficiency side if me is free standing with the best hopes of charging according to the sun.
Life is a choice.
Malcolm


I'm mulling over solar options at the moment too and am thinking that the roof mounted are going to be doing their thing the whole time with no intervention required. While the freestanding can be better positioned in theory, it'll spend a lot of time not better positioned, times when you can't put it out because of where you're parked so you have it inside the windscreen, times when you don't keep it moving through the day and times when you just plain forget to put it out.


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Re: Photonic Universe 120W Solar Panel Review

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Posted: 09.02.2018  ·  #6
Quote by <BM>

Quote by Thorn123

Great info, i am on the fence for roof mounted or free mounted.
The lazy side of of me is opting for roof mounting.
The practical side of me is for roof mounted because we own 2 ball crazy kids.
But the efficiency side if me is free standing with the best hopes of charging according to the sun.
Life is a choice.
Malcolm


I'm mulling over solar options at the moment too and am thinking that the roof mounted are going to be doing their thing the whole time with no intervention required. While the freestanding can be better positioned in theory, it'll spend a lot of time not better positioned, times when you can't put it out because of where you're parked so you have it inside the windscreen, times when you don't keep it moving through the day and times when you just plain forget to put it out.



BM that is exactly my thoughts, roof panel works to some degree every day all year so while others may be better at certain times they may not be better over long periods.
Apart from cleaning the roof one is hastle free.


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Re: Photonic Universe 120W Solar Panel Review

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Posted: 09.02.2018  ·  #7
IMO put it on the roof. Get at least 180-200 watts and forget about it, and about ever having to charge your leisure batteries. That’s what I have charging 2 115 amp batteries and have not needed to charge them from ehu in the 15 months I have had the van


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Re: Photonic Universe 120W Solar Panel Review

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Posted: 09.02.2018  ·  #8
Quote by Daffysparks

IMO put it on the roof. Get at least 180-200 watts and forget about it, and about ever having to charge your leisure batteries. That’s what I have charging 2 115 amp batteries and have not needed to charge them from ehu in the 15 months I have had the van

How do you listen to the other half, when parked under the shade of a tree?


Daffysparks
 
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Re: Photonic Universe 120W Solar Panel Review

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Posted: 09.02.2018  ·  #9
Well if you stay under the tree for a week it could become a problem, but I reckon she would have more to say about the lack of activity than the telly going on the blink😂
On a serious note, the whole point of getting 200 plus watts is the recovery time of the batteries insofar as a few hours should bring them up a lot of the way towards full capacity.


Thorn123
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Re: Photonic Universe 120W Solar Panel Review

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Posted: 09.02.2018  ·  #10
Solar is definitely on my wish list. Just have to soften up the minster of finance for the outlay.
Malcolm


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Re: Photonic Universe 120W Solar Panel Review

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Posted: 10.02.2018  ·  #11
Quote by Thorn123

Solar is definitely on my wish list. Just have to soften up the minster of finance for the outlay.
Malcolm


It was the first thing in my list when we bought the current van which has two leisure batteries and they never let us down so I never bothered buying one then. We had a solar panel in the last Van which had only one Leisure Battery and we were constantly trouble with the battery going flat.


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Re: Photonic Universe 120W Solar Panel Review

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Posted: 10.02.2018  ·  #12
That's a fair point Pat. We have 2 leisure batteries giving us about 200 amps storage which seems to be the starting point for considering a solar input. Ultimately I would like to tour around without been depending on commercial sites every 3/4 nights to get an expensive hook up.
I accept that a balance has to be found, between the cost of the solar setup and site fees been paid.


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