Cheapest Folding Solar Panel for RVing!

Portable Folding Solar Panels are a great idea for RVing. Today we look at what the cheapest 100 watt solar panel you can find and put it up against a quality solar panel to see what we can realistically expect.
Panel From Video amzn.to/3AJLDGg
Same Panel from video amzn.to/3zEUw2k
Similar size $50 More amzn.to/39x1qfC
Similar Price $1 a watt larger sizes. amzn.to/2ZiuZQ7
amzn.to/39zBgJb
amzn.to/3lYSPYQ
High end Test Solar Panel. bit.ly/3ERNxqE
MPPT Charge Controler. amzn.to/3EQEg2n
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[@AllAboutRVs]

The Solar panel price changed again and it is at $109 now. No updates as of now of it's performance, it's still working.

[@Tom-In-Ga]

The seller must have seen this video and made the price a little bit more reasonable. Lets see how long it rakes to go back up.

[@deansorgan]

Made in China?

[@MAKEITSTOP777]

@@Tom-In-Ga supply and demand 😂

[@HowToRV]

I have wondered how these panels would perform. Thanks for taking one on the chin for all of us.

[@stevertherver3887]

Thanks for the review of the portable solar panel. We just purchased the Renogy Eclipse 200 watt portable and the quality is great!

[@richardg8651]

I'm impressed . Just being able to charge your phone/note pad etc. directly is great especially at around $100 . I agree the leads should be 14 gauge .

[@terryrodbourn2793]

These panels work really good when tent camping power lights, a small solar generator that power during the day! This keeps my led lights and power up my dumb phone (I gave up the smart phones) charged up!

[@amandalau7129]

Solar products factory since 2013, welcome custom the similar products with us😊

[@kathleenrutherford733]

Thank you so much for testing these for us, you answered a couple questions for me. I really appreciate you and all you do!!

[@stevesutton6093]

Hey Jared, firstly a great review of two essentially disparate solar panels. I would not buy the cheap version for my RV however I would for camping, as this could be strapped to a back back and at least give you power for charging LED lights and device’s such as phones, GPS and cameras etc.

[@markschultz926]

Another great video you're always right to the point in brief

[@82gamerprincess31]

My favorite thing to use these folding panels for is auxiliary power for things like portable battery packs, camera batteries, phones, etc.

[@cruisinguy6024]

I think these super cheap panels are better suited for non-RV use like camping (charge your electronic devices) and outdoor recreating.

[@OdometerDave]

Great review and comparison using the better controller, thanks for that!

[@coaltowking]

I keep hearing good things about Harbor Freight solar panels.

[@jimbaumann6197]

Great information, appreciate your info.

[@petrafied99]

Great info. Thanks Jared.

[@AllAboutRVs]

Thanks Peter

[@DCGULL01]

I did that this year. Found the same things- there are some conveniences, but- quality/longevity is an issue. Sure, the WM controller is cheap, but- there isn't an expensive or high quality PWM controller worth buying. The leap to MPPT is actually worth the effort, along with swapping connectors to make it work. Once done, whatever you CAN get out of these 'less expensive' portable panels are being grabbed, right? I only bought (1) so, I wouldn't have too much junk to toss after a year or two of use...

[@codeman99-dev]

5:53 You should have consulted some tables before going to the trouble of replacing the lead wires. With 18 AWG wire, you're adding 0.638 ohms per 100 feet. That's less than 5% drop over 100 feet and less than 2% drop over 25 feet.

[@jimmyjenkins9240]

Thanks Jared! Always informative and straight shooting! As you closed out this vlog, you were sitting at a desk/table inside your rig. The photo on the wall caught my eye. Did one of your kids take that picture?

[@AllAboutRVs]

Yes thanks Jimmy, that is one of Eli’s photos.

[@riftgod6169]

Love to see a video about Idle power with inverters

[@AllAboutRVs]

Great suggestion I’m adding it to my list.

[@RVwithTito]

"Wavy Piece of Bacon" 🥓 solar panel sounds like creative marketing actually 😄 Then again I'm hungry.

[@AllAboutRVs]

Haha, now I know why I have been craving bacon lately.

[@RVwithTito]

@@AllAboutRVs :)

[@herb7877]

Appreciate the review. Good info. I went with Renogy products ~5 years ago and they may cost more but have served me well. As a long time photographer , there is an expression I heard many years ago that I learned the hard way. “ A poor man pays for his lens twice”. Meaning if you go the cheap route , you end in a very short time, buying the better one anyway. Therefore buying the correct piece of equipment for 1.5 - 2x the $$$

[@AllAboutRVs]

Good advice. The only lens that was cheap I didn’t regret was the Nifty Fifty. You’re right the other ones I tried before getting L series lenses were never quite what I was wanting.

[@MagentaRV]

As a family of 8, I'm thinking a small, lightweight panel option like that might be something I can put on my pack when we go hiking and we can use it if we need it to charge phones, cameras, etc. What are your thoughts on how it would do in this case scenario or is there an option that you think might be better for that? Thanks so much! I love your videos (you're one of the few I have the notification bell on for). :D

[@toddyork5698]

You can charge 3 devices on a panel less than half the size of this, it's a bit overkill (and heavy) if you are only wanting direct usb output

[@Yamadeere]

Great series of videos. Im in Alberta Canada & heading out to work this yr & needing to live in my TT. Ive been getting great tips on how to survive. I have a question on what are you using to stick the ridgid foam to your storage doors?? Been going through most of the videos & cant find where you did the winterization install. Thanks for all the great info

[@vinuezaer]

Would be great for keeping the batteries up when stored

[@sanddollar-ray9125]

Thank you

[@ima4tubing]

Show me the label with Voc etc please thanks

[@MarkSDCA]

Thanks for the review. I would like to ask how you connected the portable panel to your RV? I want to install a similar system on my Grand Design with a Furrion 30 amp controller. The controller wants series panels but to connect to the controller I would install a pigtail on the input and connect the portable panel in parallel. Furrion then wants the panel to be the same voltage, but tech support doesn't know what voltage range is acceptable and which voltage to match, Voc or Vmp. The controller is good for 300Watts or 30 Amps. Any thoughts are appreciated.

[@jaymag3125]

The portable panel I was hoping this video was about was the big blue panel, kind of same look as your higher end rigid model

[@AllAboutRVs]

I’ll see if I can check that one out.

[@wonderwhere2wander9]

Great review. Will be interesting to see how they hold up. How will you use this besides changing your power station.

[@AllAboutRVs]

I will use them to charge the RV Batteries when we are off grid. All the numbers in this video were charging our Rv batteries and I did the power station to see if it would charge easily.

[@cbglockman]

Great video as always! Do you know how they hold up in the rain?

[@AllAboutRVs]

They claim they are rated for the rain but I think it would be tough on “fabric” exterior.

[@Daves_adventures4315]

I have an older camper that only runs one battery. I want a panel that’ll keeps the battery charged if I was to camp in the mountains. Lights and the control panel on the grids would all that runs on it. The actual cooling would be propane. I don’t want to give my first born for it. Any recommendations? I’m in the Texas panhandle and experience hail storms so I don’t want a permanent fixed one either.

[@coreymerritt7742]

Hey Jared I’m running a 190 weekender on the roof also I have a 120 portable both are go power probably going to upgrade the controllers to mppt they are currently still pwm should make a difference cheers.

[@Ima-hoot]

Good review. Wondering if the charge controller has different battery profiles ? Yes it’s cheap but I’m curious.

[@AllAboutRVs]

Yes it does. It had 4 different profiles including lithium and lead acid

[@pleinairtraveler]

What is the minimum output you need to charge your battery?

[@ima4tubing]

So for some unknown reason you decided to buy more than one cheapo panel and then you seem to have provided data as if you were talking about a single panel buy you wereen't. I am puzzled as to how you can compare panels when you don't tell us the specs on any of the panels. Since they were cheap why buy just two. Why not 3 or 4 or $500-worth?

[@joethecomputerguy1]

100 watt panel putting out 49 watts I would not even bother with a charge controller IMO

[@DavidHBurkart]

I think these may work nicely for tent camping. Easy to stow and to set-up, able to charge your personal devices and other rechargeables directly from the panel. Ideally, making an improved version which included more robust construction while maintaining portability/stowage would be worth the potential cost difference. No one likes things that feel/look cheap or flimsy. Will be looking forward to what you discover with these.

[@smertz04]

Jared, with that charge controller being a 20 amp and my furrion port being 10a will that be an issue? I don’t think it’s generating that much anyway but in general is that an issue?

[@AllAboutRVs]

Not with 1 of these panels and the PWM. Just because it is a 20 amp charger it doesn’t mean it will produce that. If you want to charge more than 10 amps it’s easy to use a larger gauge wire to connect to your battery bank.

[@h2o100c]

Brand name is?

[@ceciliapetrowsky2572]

I’m confused. If the panels are set up several feet from your RV, how is power getting from panel to batteries?

[@AllAboutRVs]

I had 15-20 feet of wire from the panels and charge controller to the battery bank.

[@arnoldreiter435]

at 100 a kit they were an ok purchase but at 130.....nope. i have a 18f camper and folding 100w panels are exactly what i need.

[@AllAboutRVs]

The price is all over the place. The link to the pane is now $109. A bit closer to what I paid. I agree $140 is too high for these.

[@RickandDarcirvadventures]

So you have to charge your phone outside or is there a cord that runs inside your rig? This won’t charge your house battery?

[@AllAboutRVs]

All these tests and numbers were from charging our battery bank in the RV. It has a USB connection on it so you can charge your phone if you want to but not something I plan to typically do.

[@crystalherrin7858]

Do you just plug into your Zamp plug?

[@AllAboutRVs]

No I went straight to the battery bank buss bar after the charge controller. Either the PWM or MPPT. Some RV solar ready plugs have charge controllers and some don’t. You would want to look how yours is setup.

[@KenMrKLC]

Do you live in your RV full time? OR do you have a house also?

[@AllAboutRVs]

Yes we have been in our RV full time for 5 years

[@RVingwithG]

MMMM?