Questions and Answers for Grape Solar 50-Watt Monocrystalline Solar Panel for RV's, Boats and 12V Systems

A:  Yes, as long as it is receiving sunlight, the Star-50W panel is great for keeping a RV battery charged during storage. If you ever want to max out your charge controller, you can always add an additional 100-watt panel to the system. As long as it has a similar output voltage as the 50-watt panel (it should), the panels can be connected together in parallel on the charge controller. Please disregard the earlier community answer; panels of this size are "off-grid" and cannot be used for dual metering to a utility company.

A:  yes it is about twice the amperage of a normal trickle charger. the panel supplies 50/12 volts= ~4 amps on a sunny day. Now on a cloudy, which is most our days in Oregon you might get half that which woould be about right.

A:  Unless you have more than 50-watts of draw on your batteries while stored, you could sell the extra to the local utility

A:  Look in the specifications section for that info. Maximum Power Point voltage =17.5V Open circuit voltage=22.0V Current at Maximum power point=2.86A Open circuit current=3.17A They are using the Maximum Power Point power and current. 17.5Vx2.86A=50.05W

A:  It's a 12 volt panel

A:  Solar panels rated for charging 12 Volt systems have an output of 18 Volts plus or minus .2 volts so all amperages are Watts divided by 18.0 Volts equals Amps. Remember that output wattage is based on a 70 degree F. tempurature at sea level at noon. Output goes up as you go higher in elevation because you have less atmosphere blocking some of the sunlight and the output also goes up as the tempurature drops below 70 Degree F. At 32 degrees F. and at 5,000 feet of elevation the output can be up to 20% higher than rated, so, charge controlers need to be sized at 125% of the solar panel output to be safe. Solar panel manufaturers will understate the output by as much as 5% so the actural output on a 50 watt panel might realy be 52 1/2 watts so watch the amperage rating as well as watts.

A:  actual voltage and amperage are dependent on amount of sun......you are correct that the voltage is about 18v which is enough to charge a 12v battery

A:  You would need TWO of these 50 watt panels mounted and wired in series to a 24 volt charge controler to keep your batteries topped up.

A:  This panel is for 12 volt System, You can added to the one 12 volt battery and Charge one only,

A:  I am using the Grape solar panels with the controller from Harbor Freight and have not experienced any problems.

A:  As long as the out put current and voltage do not exceed the output ratings of the panel you should be fine. The controller should have a sl9ightly higher rating than the max of the panel

A:  so your charger is operating on a 45watt system. Moving to a 50watt system should be no problem. Is the controller rated above 5 amps? If so you are good

A:  No, we do not recommend using those controllers with our panels, as their specs are not public. We'd recommend our GS-PWM-165 charge controller with this panel.

A:  No, you need a large battery storage and inverter (DC 12V to AC 120V) Just like PV panel for house, Use battery power tool (Dewalt, Makita, Riobi.) This panel is use for 12V DC motor (solar attic fan and battery charger with voltage regulator)

A:  Charged a rv battery enuff to start a jeep in about 6 hr.

A:  It all depends on where you are located (how much direct sunlight you will get) and how much usage on the "small" tools. I have mine attached through a charge controller to two 6 volt deep cycle golf cart batteries. South West Florida. This maintains enough 12 volt power to light my back yard with 14 - 3 watt ground lights. They are controlled by a 12 volt timer and are on for 8 hours each evening. You will need an inverter to produce 120 volt, but you may be able to supply power to charge battery operated tools, but you will not be able to run a power saw (120v) for very long.

A:  If you are thinking of powering 110volt equipment w/o a bank of batteries and an inverter, then the answer is no

A:  Your panel will produce 12 volts DC which you will store in 12v batteries. Then you need an inverter to change it to 110 volts AC to power your tools unless you can find 12 v tools. You will still have to store power in a battery since the panel can't produce enough energy to run the tools directly.

A:  to answer your question perfectly we would need an electrical engineer to figure battery drain in amps due to your charging of your battery pack.....and also have to know how often you use your machine and battery drain on the pwr pack. But, since we are just mortal men, I would say to buy two and have both solar panels charging your truck battery at the same time. Of course there are other factors involved also.....such as amount of sun shining on the panels for the days you need to charge.your truck battery. Overall I think you should use the " trial and error " method. In other words.....if the panels are not charging enough you might have to run your engine a bit to do the job.

A:  Ignore the answers below - you cannot use solar to charge automotive batteries, people. Most CPAP machines require 200-300 watts of solar to run, but you would also need a separate deep cycle battery, charge controller, and inverter.

A:  You need to determine the watts needed to charge your machine daily.you will also need to check the amp hours on the battery in the truck, a charge controller would also be recommended to ensure you do not over charge your battery! There are some websites that will calculate the needed watts based on how much sun light you receive in a day. You can use. Kilowatt meter to see how many watts it takes to charge your machine and go from there. There is not enough information to give a good estimate.

A:  number of cells is not a valid question......what is important is the watts output,,,,which is 50 watts for this panel

A:  There are 36 polycrystalline cells in this panel.

A:  yes they are snap-in water proof mc4 connectors on mine.

A:  Yes they are

A:  yep MC4

A:  Cut the plug and hard wire

A:  Yes they are MC4. MC4 can be adapted to automotibe push on round connectors for a lot less money for 12 volt systems

A:  yes it does

A:  No rigid solar panel should be mounted flush to a surface - all rigid-framed solar panels require 2 inches or so of clearance, to allow for air circulation and cooling of the panel. These panels cannot be mounted flush as you describe. Use our GS-ZB-Fab1 mounting brackets for the proper clearance.

A:  As is clearly stated in the item description, the dimensions are: Panel Height (in.) 1.38 Panel length (in.) 26.18 Panel Width (in.) 24.4