TopsolarSolar Panel Kit 340（2 * 170W Watt 12 Volt Monocrystalline Off Grid System for Homes RV Boat + 30A 12V/24V Solar Charge Controller + Solar Cables + Z-Brackets for Mounting

Bought 2 of these. 1 keeps the batteries on my rv charged up so I don't have an extension cord running from my house across my lawn and driveway. The second powers a diesel heater and charges the battery we have set up in the barn. We don't have electricity way out there so got this to try and it's worked amazingly well. It's easy to setup and move if need be. Cable length is nice and long.

First off, for anyone wondering these are not the same panels as the older version of the 170 watt, but same size. I've ended up with about half of the old style and half of the new style...but close enough in specs.They are easy to connect, do your research but you almost can't hook these up wrong. They are a good value for the money, especially for those of use who don't have the budget to order a whole pallet at a time. The size seems to be a little bigger than the standard 100 watt panels, but not too large thar you can't handle them by yourself. Seems to be very durable, however the plastic corners often get broken off during shipping. Would be awesome to see a pack of replacements from the manufacturer. I haven't researched these vs other panels admittedly, but seems to be pretty efficient. Two panels hooked up to a 1100 watt inverter and an upgraded solar charge controller will run 150 watts or so almost all day and night hooked up to two 12 v batteries (largest AGM from Bass Pro). I've ran TV's and wifi, grill, fans, ect...obviously depends on your setup but will charge your solar batteries and do what is needed for a good battery life.

As a budget starter kit this works great. Out of the box the solar panel and charge controller were easy to connect together. As every battery type is different, you made need additional hardware depending on what terminals are on yours. In my case, I have a lead acid car battery with half inch terminals. To connect them I used a pair of basic terminal busses. Other than the terminal busses which are specific to your battery, the kit contains all necessary cables and fittings to connect the components to each other and a battery. Once connected to the battery, the charge controller screen lights up. Then when the panel is connected and in sunlight the battery begins charging. Rooftop installation hardware is straight forward to install and seems quite durable. With an 800W inverter I purchased separately, I can now power my work shed off grid with this kit. I'm planning to buy a second one of these kits and expand both to 300W each, which will allow for backup home power during outages.

This panel is used to recharge an RV deep cycle battery while stored and when dry camping in more remote areas. The monitoring device system and cables that come with the kit were attached, by me, to a Furrion 10 Amp connection device (not included in the kit). I use the panel and equipment as portable, not rooftop fixed, in order to gain/aim at the sun to land perpendicular on the panel itself throughout the day.Two problems encountered:1. The black and red cables that insert in to the monitoring device will tend to fall out of the screw down clamps at times. I have to frequently check them to make sure that use and vibration do not loosen the cables. Two of the four clamps seem prone to loosening. Needed is the largest Phillips head screwdriver from a glasses repair kit to tighten these screws.2. I had to re-solder the electrical connection points of the cables in the box on the back side of the solar panel. These fell (broke) off because the amount of solder used by the manufacturer (or its robot) was far too skimpy. I added much more silver-based electrical solder this time, clamping everything back down on the cover. It will never come loose again.Otherwise, the panel and the monitoring system has done the job of both recharging the battery, maintaining the battery and for day use. We camped at Big Bend National Park in west Texas (no hookups) and went six days with no power shortage whatsoever. We did the same at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (no hookups) on the LP of Michigan, as well as many remote UP campsites along Lake Superior (much lower sun angle there), and we still had no issues with electrical supply day or night. The system did the job, just what was needed for dry camping.Note: The panel performs more efficiently on colder days than on hot days.

The solar panel frame is a lot more solid than I was expecting. I’m using a 12v 18ah battery with this system to power a porch light on an outbuilding with no electricity. The 7 watt (camper) light is on a timer and stays on constant from 8pm - 5am, so far, no issues even with cloudy days. I’m planning to add a 2nd light that will stay on constantly at night and a 30w motion sensor light and I expect this setup to be able to handle it with no problems.Update: over a year later, the setup as described is still working, however, I did run into problems over the winter - short days, combined with cloud cover, did not provide enough light to charge the battery...this is NOT to say anything negative about the solar panel, just providing additional information for those interested. I believe that a 2nd solar panel will work well in the winter time even on the cloudy days. The single panel DID work with the shorter days.