Arp

Have 2-200 Watt and 1-100 watt suitcase solar panels

Renogy 200-watt solar suitcase notes-Two Year Ownership Update at Bottom, July 2023-Quick notes on things to watch out for:- B01 error on controller. Indicates a wire is disconnected somewhere between the controller and your battery, on either the negative or positive side. Most likely loose at the controller but can also occur from frayed wires at any of the ( non-strain-relief-protected) MC4 connectors or clips at battery. Same code you get before connecting up to batteries.- The maximum power I have seen with this suitcase is 164 watts, 11.4 amps at 14.4 volts. This is with 2 12V 65 Ah AGM batteries. You may get more output if you use a MPPT controller instead of the built in PWM controller. You also may not get maximum output if your batteries are lightly discharged.- The note about connecting the battery first, then the controller second does not apply, since the wires are already connected to the controller. The instruction about connecting the battery first comes from the controller manual which is also sold stand-alone. Renogy says the battery does not need to be connected first when the controller is integrated in the suitcase solar system. The 100 watt suitcase solar system does not have detachable cables between panels and controller like the 200 watt system. What I do is turn the panel away from the sun while hooking up to the battery. This minimizes the controller power output.I first connect the MC4-to-alligator clips cable to the battery, then typically 40-foot 8AWG extension cables, then connect extension cables to controller output MC4s. Then turn the panel around to face the sun.I really like this unit. I have purchased 2 200-watt and 1 100 watt versions over the past few years. Last 200-watt purchase June, 2021.I had the 100 watt suitcase first and wanted more power. Then I tripped moving the first 200 watt and broke one of the panels, oops (Renogy, replacement panel?)I have used this 200-watt panel with 40-foot, 80-feet, and 160-feet (2-40s and 1-80)of 8 AWG Windy Nation MC4 cable. The max amps I got were:40 feet: 11.480 feet: 10.4160 feet: 9.4Note: I bought another Voyager 20A controller to use at the battery end at the 160 foot length as I anticipated the voltage drop from the panel-mount controller would be too great to charge the batteries. Max panel voltage output is 21+ V so more voltage to handle the drop.It was great to have the 160-foot cable distance. We were at a high alpine lake in deep shade and had the 200-watt solar suitcase on the lakeside beach (1/2” cable locked through carrying handle to some large stacked rocks). Enough amps to run our motorhome furnace in the cold and clear morning.Our daily charging while dry camping starts early as I usually leave the panel out pointing where the first sun will occur (cable locked) overnight. The current draw of the controller is minimal, 0.008 A. The controller voltage will display what the current battery voltage is, for us usually 12.7 V in the morning (fully charged is 13 V for our AGMs). The charging voltage and current will gradually rise as the sun comes up. At an initial 10 Amp current the voltage will rise to an initial 13.5 V typically and continue to rise from there. Once the max voltage for the battery type is reached( in our case 14.4V) the controller output amps will start dropping as the battery accepts steadily less current as it nears full charge. I try to keep the panel pointed at the sun from early morning and get the charge current down to 4 A, then the aim is not critical and can rotate panel 60 degrees to the west and maintain 4A current and fully charge batteries over the next few hours. We can take off hiking, etc. and when we get back we’ll have a full charge. (Control displays ‘FUL’ and voltage idles at 13.6V, our idle current is around 1A).I like the weight and water resistance of the panel. I have had the panel out in 40 MPH winds and rain with no issues.I recently bought a Bluetti EB55 Portable Power Station and unplug the MC4 connector from the Renogy controller and hook up to the Bluetti MPPT input. Works great.The 100-watt panel had some wear issues. The cables at the MC4 connectors have no strain relief so they tend to fray over time. The cables at the controller have no strain relief so moving the controller back and forth flexes the wires so they eventually fray. And I would slide the panel around on a tarp to keep the panel out of the shade and pointed at the sun and that flexes the legs. The upper end of the legs has just a metal nut press-fit in a plastic block so it got wobbly.Don’t do what I did, pick up the panel to move, and hold the wires gently to prevent flexing.Additional note on panel solar output: Panel output is optimistically rated with the ‘STC’ rating. Cell temperature: 25°C  Irradiance: 1000 W/m² Air mass: 1.5Same with home solar (we have 9000 watts of home solar).The ‘NOCT’ rating is more realistic but lower power:Air temperature: 20°C  Irradiance: 800 W/m² Air mass:1.5 Wind speed: 1 m/sPhotos are of the 200 watt (L) and 100 watt panel. On this trip I would charge the motorhome house batteries until the charge current on the 200 watt panel dropped to 4 A, then put the motorhome on the 100 watt panel and switched the 200 watt panel to charge power stations.-Two Year Ownership Update July 2023-200-watt panel still going strong and using older 100-watt panel also. On the 200-watt panel a negative wire at the controller output to battery broke off just a few days ago so I had to screw it back in with a Phillips screwdriver. I carry tools on the road so not a big issue. Got the dreaded B01 error while moving panel. Longer term fix may be to attach spade lugs to the end of the wires and perhaps heat-shrink tubing to prevent flexing. One leg is a little bent but unit is not wobbly.We have got a good 80 nights of use over 2 years approximately. We do a lot of dry camping.Using the even older 100-watt suitcase too. It had wire fraying at the alligator clips and at one or more of the MC4 connectors. Got a replacement alligator clip assembly from Amazon and replaced the wires from controller to MC4 with Windy Nation 10 AWG 3 foot MC4 cables.Added an Ecoflow Delta 2 power station. Charges from the 200-watt Renogy at 165 watts at 75F and 150 watts at 90F with 10 AWG XT60 to MC4 cable I bought from Amazon, 40 foot 8 AWG cable attached to MC4 cables detached from suitcase controller. The Bluetti EB55 has a max of 8 amps input so it maxes out at 130 watts.Ver más

153 personas la encontraron útil

Cole Whiteard

4 de diciembre de 2025

Awesome Product for Off-Grid Camping

Awesome product! The case is sturdy and well-designed, making it easy to transport. Worked flawlessly during dry camping in Florida kept my DIY power station charged and even powered the fridge for ice cream at the beach. Highly recommend for anyone who needs reliable solar power on the go.Ver más

2 personas la encontraron útil

Glen T.

Durable

I purchased this Renogy solar folding panel as a addition to my RV's existing 1000 watts of Renogy solar panelsThe panel is built with a sturdy aluminum frame.The panel is made of a non flexible material. This makes it a bit heavier but more durable for long term exposure to the outside elements. I camp 6 months of the year and these will be exposed to the sun, wind rain, dust, and hail.It has a strong carrying handle that folds out of the way when not needed.It has two latches to secure it shut and a strong padded protective bag for storing when not is use.Setting it up is pretty easy.It has a included instruction manel.The two panels unfold and are secured together by connecting hinges.You pull out the legs and adjust them to your desired angle to the sun then tighten the knobs to secure the angle.There is a 20 watt PWM solar charger connect to the panels that you set for the type of battery you have.It comes with a 9 foot extension solar cable, with alligator clamps on one end, that to connect to your battery first then plug the other end of the cable into the panel's solar charger.Aim the panels towards the sun and it will start start charging your battery. The amount of charging amps/watts will vary depending of how cloudy the sky is. Keep in mind that objects (trees, building, chairs) between the panels and the sun will also effect the power generated by the panels.If you have a solar generator, you can bypass the solar controller to connect directly into your solar generator.These are a great set of panels when portability is need.Ver más

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Darth Wull

23 de febrero de 2020

Solid product with a couple of shortcomings.

I purchased this foldable suitcase solar kit as my first foray into solar power for my r.v. travel trailer. After a fair amount of research, I knew this would be something to get me started and also use in the future as an add-on to my system once I actually build my main system.My first impression was that this unit was performing better than I expected. I anticipated getting around 9 to 10 amps of power in the best conditions. What I actually got was a peak of 13.4 amps and about 12.9 amps on a fairly regular basis during peak sun hours. Note that this was in February so the sun was fairly low in the sky. I anticipate closer to 15 amps in full summer sun. With the exception of the incident described below, the unit performed perfectly throughout our 4 day trip.On the negative side, I found this unit to be quite heavy and cumbersome to tote around. I placed the unit on my roof to avoid shading from surrounding campers at the location I was at. To get it on the roof, I had to have someone hand it to me from the ground while I was high enough on the ladder to then immediately set it on the roof. It was far too large and heavy to actually climb the ladder with it on my own.The second negative is that the alligator clip wires, that were sent with the unit, came with a 10 amp in-line fuse installed. The charge controller that comes with the unit is 20 amp. Within 15 to 30 minutes of use, in full sun, the unit stopped charging. It wasn't long until I found that the 10 amp fuse had melted in the holder. I'm not sure who decided install a 10 amp fuse to supply a 20 amp appliance, but the results were completely predictable. I was only able to source a 30 amps fuse as a replacement at the remote location I was at. Fortunately, nothing bad happened as a result of the fuse that was too large. The unit performed flawlessly for the remainder of the 4 day trip we were onI am very happy with this purchase, only wishing that other options were available for the charge controller such as 40 amp mppt charge controller instead of the PWM controller that is comes with. I'm fairly certain that I would have seen peaks above 14 amps with a better controller.Ver más

152 personas la encontraron útil

J. Praay

Simple setup, lots of power

If you are like me, then this may be your first venture into solar power and you may have a few things to learn, so I am doing my best to write this review with you in mind. This is for the 200W solar suitcase, but you can probably just cut the Amperage and Watt values in half for the 100W suitcase.First, it’s pretty heavy. Don’t plan on whipping it out and flipping it around. But, I knew that when I bought it. It’s 35 lbs. For me, that doesn’t make it unmanageable by any means. It’s still pretty easy to open up, adjust the tilt, and spin it around for better sun exposure.As far as performance, as you can see from the photos, I was able to get values that actually exceed the specifications, and on the two cloudless days that I had, I was able to get 11+ amps for most of the good daylight hours, from about 11am until 5pm, and that is in Michigan in mid August. Keep in mind that I was also reorienting the panels at least every couple of hours to keep them fairly close to perpendicular to the sun and making sure I didn’t end up in the shade. So, from the pictures provided, I got 157 Watts (11.5A x 13.7V) with the supplied PWM controller. Realistically, that’s about as good as you can expect with a PWM controller. Well, except in certain situations like in the last photo. Due to something called the “edge of cloud effect,” I briefly got 13.2A output, which far exceeds the 10.5A spec. But that is a brief occurrence and obviously only happens when there are clouds which otherwise obstruct the panel’s cells.Keep in mind that the supplied PWM controller will reduce the voltage from the panel (optimally 18+ volts) to match the voltage of battery being charged. So, if your battery is at 13V and you are producing 11A, your total Watts will be 143. But if your battery is depleted at 11V, you will only produce 121 Watts at 11A. That is where a more expensive (and probably much larger) MPPT controller can do better, and will produce the same amount of power (in Watts) regardless of the battery charge. Additionally, an MPPT controller (like the Renogy Rover) can produce quite a bit more power than a PWM when the panel voltage is near optimal. Is it worth it? If you plan to extend your system, it may be worth getting an MPPT, but unless you need every single watt from these panels, it’s probably not.Finally, what about on cloudy days? What can you expect? On a dark cloudy day, I was typically getting 0.5A or less (about 6W). On bright cloudy days (like the sun is shining everywhere but you have a cloud where you are) 2-3A was pretty typical. In general, figure about 1A for a cloudy day and similar values around sunrise and sunset. Yes, solar panels do produce power on cloudy days, but at about 1/10 of what is possible on a sunny day. The upside is that you probably don’t need to reorient the panels since the whole sky is equally bright.If you have a 100Ah lead acid (flooded) battery, you will be able to charge it from 50% to full (or pretty darn close) on a good sunny day with the 200W suitcase. In June or July, or perhaps in other places in this planet, you could do even more, especially if you keep it pointed at the sun. But don’t expect miracles. Additionally, you can simultaneously charge a battery and run an inverter to power things. A lot of people don’t know that. During a power outage, I used it in combination with a 500W pure sine wave inverter to watch TV, which was drawing more power from the solar system + battery than it was producing, so it simply drew the extra from the battery. Nothing special, that’s just how electricity works. Without the solar, it would have depleted the battery much, much faster.This may be too simplistic a review for some, but I hope I have been able to detail what to expect for people who may not be familiar with solar. That was me a month ago.

K. Bennett

Works, but worth taking some care in use

TL;DR: Works well with our small camper.MANY THANKS to Amazon for the free overnight shipping on this panel, the extension cables, and the adapter. We ordered this on the day our power went out during a tropical storm -- 850+ outages just in our county, thousands of trees down, 5 million w/o power statewide. The panels showed up the next day and we could keep the 12v fridge in our camper going. Power was out for 4 days.REVIEW:Our camper runs on 12 volts - refrigerator, furnace, hot water, lights, water pump, everything. So we can boondock (camp w/o hookups) as long as the batteries last. I wanted a solar array to keep the batteries topped off at music festivals, in park service campgrounds, etc. And, of course, during power outages. After doing some research online, I decided on this Renogy 200w panel with the 20amp controller. There is a "Zamp" brand solar input port on the camper, which I wanted to use. Here are some thoughts on what I purchased:Renogy 200 watt mono suitcase solar panel. It's large and noticeably heavy, and also fragile, so take some care in carrying it and setting up. It comes with a heavy canvas case with a zipper, and a spring loaded carry handle. The panels set up with two lightweight aluminum legs and twist-tighten locks. Make sure they are tight.Voyager 20amp solar controller. The power output from the two panels goes into the controller, then out to your battery(s). The controller is attached to the back of one panel with a hinge, and a piece of Velcro keeps it from swinging -- pull it off the Velcro to hang vertically so you can see it. From what I can tell, this is a pretty good controller. Not the best, but not bad.There are two standard MC4 solar connectors on the wires running from the panels to the controller. UNCLIP THESE. The controller must be connected to the battery(s) FIRST, then to the panels.There are two wires coming out of the controller, marked on the controller as BATTERY. These go to your battery. The red one should be connected to the positive side of the controller -- it's marked. Black on the negative side. ***This is where it is super important to start paying close attention to the wires and where they go.***You'll need some extension cables, 8 or 10 gage. The included cables are pretty short. If you want to hook up directly to the battery, you can use the included alligator clips -- they are huge, like a jumper cable. Make sure you hook up positive to positive on the battery.If you want to use a built-in solar port on your camper, this is where it gets tricky. You'll need an adapter cable that can connect to the standard MC-4 solar connectors on one end (coming from the controller) and into the SAE port on the other (into your camper.) NOTE THAT SOME SOLAR PORTS ARE WIRED IN REVERSE OF THE STANDARD. I looked over the wiring diagram for my camper, then took off the covers to confirm exactly which side of the port was positive. I purchased the iGreely Solar Panel to SAE Adapter, and it came with a "polarity reversing" dongle which I ended up needing to use. (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07K8GMRDJ/) Just carefully follow the positive wire from the controller, to the adapter cable, and to your input port -- then see if you need the polarity reverser or not. At some point the color of the wires may switch, so pay attention. I taped the wires to show polarity.Once you know the polarity and how it will connect, connect the controller to your battery. Check to make sure the proper battery type is selected. Ours defaulted to AGM, which is probably the most common "house" battery in a camper. Then set up the panels and reconnect the controller to the panels. You'll see the display show how many amps are being generated. You can click a button to toggle through volts and total amp-hours.Take it down in reverse order -- disconnect the panels, then the battery, and put it all away.