just realised (after re-reading several times) I may have sounded a little "combative" and apologize
I was not meaning to
cheers
18' Series Solar Generator
- Thread starter Jennymay
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just realised (after re-reading several times) I may have sounded a little "combative" and apologize
I was not meaning to
cheers
Hey @bigcol , spot on...exactly...................I don't want the BS....will "this" plus "this" run " this "??? end of story, don't confuse me with BS, you loose the sale, end of story ( besides I usually have done the research anyway) and don't crank up the $$$ or I'll go back to brown paper and string. ( sorry I'm a Goons fan).
Most, even the long timers have more kit than is needed, be it solar or FWD stuff, I just shake my head at what some people will buy.
Most, even the long timers have more kit than is needed, be it solar or FWD stuff, I just shake my head at what some people will buy.
Engel and Honda ( .. and Nissan) have earned their reputation. Other expensive products, not so much
Big Brother pushed solar through the renewable energy targets, and the rebate hunting scoundrels all strapped on there bullsh!t bags and attacked the general populous like a swarm of blood sucking parasites.
We got onboard early before the ar$e fell out of the feed in tariff value ..... but in order to get the feed in tariff, we have to pay more per kW for electricity than someone without panels. Whats the point. Im pretty annoyed with the whole government sponsored solar charade .... so i say jamb the solar panels and im using my genny.
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thats what I did umpteen million years ago when I wanted a fridge
who uses them the most? truckies............... long distance truckies
so I asked about 20 different truck drivers what they had and why.......
only had 1 guy say National Luna - because his brother had a shop selling them
had about 5 say they had Waeco's - only because they were supplied in the trucks, and they didnt own the trucks
the rest of them said Engel - every day........ so thats what I brought.....
another of the many many reasons why I like this forum (except there is NO Romans here..........) is the many and varied experiances and ideas from all......
who uses them the most? truckies............... long distance truckies
so I asked about 20 different truck drivers what they had and why.......
only had 1 guy say National Luna - because his brother had a shop selling them
had about 5 say they had Waeco's - only because they were supplied in the trucks, and they didnt own the trucks
the rest of them said Engel - every day........ so thats what I brought.....
another of the many many reasons why I like this forum (except there is NO Romans here..........) is the many and varied experiances and ideas from all......
"Those folding panels cost a lot of $$$ per watt ($A1520 for 200W). The $ 76 per watt is very expensive."
Apologies I made mistake in my division in my post above - $1520 / 200W is $7.6 not $76 per watt.
Though, $7.60 per watt still very expensive when panels are under a $1 per watt, folding panels with regulator and connectors are about $1.50 per watt and flexible panels are about $3.00 per watt. Panel prices are falling and will almost certainly halve in the next couple of years.
So price nowhere as bad as $76 per watt but $7.60 is certainly a high price for portability and a nice bag with some PVC pipe. It is still is a very expensive portable solar power system for a caravan.
Apologies I made mistake in my division in my post above - $1520 / 200W is $7.6 not $76 per watt.
Though, $7.60 per watt still very expensive when panels are under a $1 per watt, folding panels with regulator and connectors are about $1.50 per watt and flexible panels are about $3.00 per watt. Panel prices are falling and will almost certainly halve in the next couple of years.
So price nowhere as bad as $76 per watt but $7.60 is certainly a high price for portability and a nice bag with some PVC pipe. It is still is a very expensive portable solar power system for a caravan.
Hi Greg. The Rolasolar system is a packaged solar panel and battery, very much the same as any generic caravan solar setup ..... just using flexible panels, and being relatively expensive. Its not a new thing, just packaged smartly.
The Solarpod 240 Solar Generator, by name, suggests it generates its own power, but it certainly does not generate anything ... it is simply a very small 20ah battery in a box. Calling it a 'generator' of any description is borderline fraud. It is nothing more than a battery hidden in a pretty box which needs to be charged like any battery either by mains power or solar panels. It is definately not like a genset .... the 20ah battery and subsequent power it delivers is tiny, and will power a laptop as they describe in their fine print
Rolasolars specs for the deceptively labelled Solar Generator will allow you to send an emergency email when the power goes out while your playing a computer game !!!!!! Really???
If you already have solar panels on your van, and a DC battery on board .... you already exceed the specs this expensive and deceptively labelled Rolasolar system will provide.
Copied from the Rolasolar website
Imagine you're working or playing your favorite online game on your computer, and there is a power outage. You lost the internet connection and cannot send urgent emails or continue with your game. In this situation, all you need is a Solarpod 240.
One full charge will run a:
15W lamp for 16 hours, smartphone up to 40 charges, 35W laptop for 7 hours, standard 40W TV for 6 hours
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Just looked at their website....................................
are those prices fair dinkum ??????
Not much for a lot of dollars, there are far more economical systems around.
are those prices fair dinkum ?????? Not much for a lot of dollars, there are far more economical systems around.
I think it is summed up nicely by @Drover and @Crusty181 .
A good rule of thumb with solar panels is how many $ per watt, then go and compare prices on the web.
With storage generally look at weight and AH, remembering you caravan battery is usually about 100AH and weighs about 30Kg.
Buyer beware, do your $ calculations and watch out for slick packaging and sales people.
There is an Australian solar supplier web site which looks interesting. This site sells rigid solar panels, flexible solar panels, regulators, inverters, batteries (both AGM and Lithium) and solar kits for caravans. I have not used this site but only browsed it so, no guarantee about it. However, their prices seem competitive (not cheap, but fair) and the site operator seems knowledgable and provides some good info on the site.
I think this mob do stands at some van shows. Well worth a look if you are looking for solar bits for your van.
https://solar4rvs.com.au/our-kits.html
Unfortunately the data used on our website from the manufacturer is outdated and time has not been on my side to update.
The Solarpod 240 is not a RolaSolar System as you incorrectly quoted at no where in our website is it quoted as being built by RolaSolar. The Solarpod range is manufactured by a UK company, Sunbird Solar and RolaSolar is the Australian dealer for these products.
What is the Solarpod?
The Solarpod range consists of three products; Solarpod Buddy, Solarpod 240 and Solarpod Pro 100o.
The Solarpod Buddy is a small device battery pack which contains a small solar panel and a 2800mAh lithuim battery which is trickle charged by solar and charged by USB power.
The Solarpod 240 and Solarpod Pro 1000 are portable power packs which are referred to as a solar generators or solar powered generators. A electric generator converts mechanical energy to electrical energy. A solar generator converts solar (light) energy to electrical energy, well this is what a solar panel does, but it can't store energy. The standard definition is: solar generators capture the sun’s energy via solar panels, store that energy in a battery bank, and release it through an inverter to be used for standard AC power.
The Solarpod 240 consists of a 20Ah lithium 12v (LiFePo4) battery, battery management system (BMS) including a solar charge controller, a battery status and charge meter and an 400watt modified sine wave inverter.
The Solarpod Pro 1000 consists of a 40Ah lithium 24v (LiFePo4) battery, battery management system (BMS) including a solar charge controller, a charge status and charge meter and a 1000watt pure sine wave inverter.
The Sunbird Solar Solarpods are quality manufactured units which provide USB, 12v or mains power while charging through the day and at night from the the stored solar energy in the battery.
The Solarpod 240 is used by us at outdoors shows to power a CCF-45 Waeco portable fridge. Once the fridge is remove from the vehicle at operating temperature it was lasting 12 hours powering the fridge on a single charge. If connected to a 60watt solar panel in good solar conditions the solar generator system will power the 45lt fridge continuously, charged and powered by the sun at day and powered by the battery at night.
For more information refer to the download section of each product and refer to the "How long will my Solarpod 240 last" https://www.rolasolar.com.au/solar-generators/solarpod-240-solar-generator.html
The Solarpod 240 and Solarpod Pro 1000 are premium priced unit but this is due to the quality of the build and the cost of lithium batteries.
RolarSolar's own product is the roll out solar panel kits which is referred to as a solar charge kit. The most common of these is the Rola200-kit. Fabricated by us in Brisbane Australia using custom manufactured Xunlight amorphous solar panels. Over the course of a day our solar charge kits will yield one of the best power outputs available from a portable solar panel kits available in Australia. I know a tall order but the use of quality components and quality amorphous solar modules we stand behind this claim.
Any questions please contact me directly.
Regards
Dave Gurman
Director
RolaSolar Pty Ltd
info@rolasolar.com.au
Just looked at their website....................................
Not much for a lot of dollars, there are far more economical systems around.
The prices on the website for the Solarpod are retail due to the agreement with our distributors. Check out our facebook page or email us for current discounts.
Wow. Ok Dave Gurman Director of RolaSolar Pty Ltd via info@rolasolar.com.au at www.rolasolar.com.au; I just cant recall where I got the idea your products are RolaSolar .... my mistake.
Its still an extrordinarily over priced deceptively labled non generating battery in a box .... it may be a terrific battery in a box, but the necessity to label it deceptively suggests it not.
They may well be referred to as solar generators, but the only ones doing that is you .... the fact is theyre not generators of any description. BS generator maybe. Simple question, does the SolarPod Solar Generator as its advertised for $799 generate power, or anything else ...?
My car battery will keep your Waeco CCF45 chugging along a hell of a lot longer than 12 hours ... and for a lot less coin. I'll lend to you. Do i not save myself the $799 by simply connecting a 60w solar panel to my, or any tiny car battery, to run my fridge as you suggest.
..... and you would join a forum just to let me know I got the manufacturers name wrong. Really? Change your website, email and company name away from RolaSolar.... and give me a fighting chance to get it right.
To top it off theres a online sales cart to buy direct, and now a seperate "current" price list via email ......
My apology to the other "genuine" forum members for the rant; snake oil sales is one of my pet hates.
Its still an extrordinarily over priced deceptively labled non generating battery in a box .... it may be a terrific battery in a box, but the necessity to label it deceptively suggests it not.
They may well be referred to as solar generators, but the only ones doing that is you .... the fact is theyre not generators of any description. BS generator maybe. Simple question, does the SolarPod Solar Generator as its advertised for $799 generate power, or anything else ...?
My car battery will keep your Waeco CCF45 chugging along a hell of a lot longer than 12 hours ... and for a lot less coin. I'll lend to you. Do i not save myself the $799 by simply connecting a 60w solar panel to my, or any tiny car battery, to run my fridge as you suggest.
..... and you would join a forum just to let me know I got the manufacturers name wrong. Really? Change your website, email and company name away from RolaSolar.... and give me a fighting chance to get it right.
To top it off theres a online sales cart to buy direct, and now a seperate "current" price list via email ......
My apology to the other "genuine" forum members for the rant; snake oil sales is one of my pet hates.
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WOW @Crusty181
I can understand you perspective - especially about the Brand / company / email name........
Ball boys, get ready
40 / 30 -to Crusty181........................ Mr Gurman, you may now Serve.................
I can understand you perspective - especially about the Brand / company / email name........
Ball boys, get ready
40 / 30 -to Crusty181........................ Mr Gurman, you may now Serve.................
I like your reply Crusty dude, far better than the reply I was tempted to do, I still stand by my original post re: expensive.
My old N70Z battery gives my Engel 3 days of running anyway.
My old N70Z battery gives my Engel 3 days of running anyway.
Yep and seeing how most caravans already have a battery in them now, all you need to do is add a panel and if you need to an inverter for way less and your set.
BJ.
BJ.
Crusty181
I joined the group being interested in the topic, to provide constructive accurate information and learn along the way. Yes some of us still think they can learn a thing or two by listening. Not here to play your game, lifes to short for that.
Yes the Solarpod are an expensive product no one is in denial about that fact. They will last several times longer than a lead acid version. For power to weight, quality, longevity and portability they shine. Hopefully the price will come down on lithium batteries, as its a great product.
You didn't read my post very well, as stated we didn't coin the solar generator name. When paired with a solar panel which produces the power and the power pack store the power its referred to this. Incorporated in most solar generators is a charge controller, battery, inverters and status meter. The Solarpod is one of many solar generators on offer throughout the world, for example the yeti manufactured by Goal Zero is also referred to as a solar generator. Great product for portable power but with its AGM batteries weight in at 47kg. The Solarpod Pro 1000 is 16.5kgs, and when comparing apples with apples, stands up well for price against products like the yeti. To have true portable power its hard to go pass lithium power packs, but gee the price is up there. These units are not for everyone but have a place to offer as an option.
I have 10 year old 60Ah Thumper which has served us well. In the ten years though it has had batteries replaced three times at $300 each cell change. Include that cost with the initial purchase and its alot of dollars. As i state though its served well. But the 60 Ah battery as a approx 30Ah (50%), so for portable power your carrying around 30Ah of unuseable battery. Not so with lithium, true you can buy a couple of AGMs for that cost.
We do what we can with Facebook promotions and shows to offer discounts and this is generally when the Solarpod sells but we can't maintain this for the normal reasons. Anyhow enough from me, i would like to help with constructive input not come on here to defend myself.
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