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Old 02-16-2017, 07:02 AM   #1
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Eco-Worthy solar panels pros/cons

A few months ago I was in the market for a big solar bank for my camper, not a van but still worth sharing. I wanted 300 watts on the roof and at the time I found these Eco-Worthy panels really cheap on Amazon. I decided to give them a try.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

At only $113 apiece (at the time of this posting) I was pretty impressed. They have about the same ratings as the Renogy panels and look to be identical in every other way. The name applies, they are economical and I guess they're worthy, but there are a couple of things I didn't like worth noting.

They are a little sharper on the edges and the aluminum joints showing the typical cutting of corners in typical Chinese products these days. The wiring looks good, the finish is the same as the Renogy's. As for the rubber meeting the road I can't say yet. It's winter and my RV sits partially under a tree without good sun. I used a Blue Sky Sun Force 30 PWM controller on them feeding 2 Insterstate flooded deep cell batteries. We'll see this summer if they can keep up with our Truckfridge and LED lights 24/7.

Here's what I didn't like. The packaging is crap. I don't have a Renogy box right now to show but Renogy's are packed VERY well with a nice rigid foam encasement. These Eco-Worthy's? Not the case. Flimsy cardboard and soft, thin foam on only ONE side! I couldn't believe how badly they were packaged. They got to me with no damage but I would be this company is replacing a lot of these due to shipping damage. Since they came from Amazon I'm not too worried. I've never had a problem at all getting a damaged item replaced fast and easy, but still headache and a risk I thought I would share.

You can see the lousy packaging and cheaper construction of these in the pics. I would buy them again if ordering 3 or more since panels can get pretty expensive, but for a 100-200 watt bank I would go with the Renogy panels or better.












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Old 02-16-2017, 07:10 AM   #2
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I saw those, too. Thanks for posting real-world info on them! I'm guessing they are basically the same panels as Renogy, but from a no-name company. Renogy 100w mono panels are about $135 on Ebay routinely, with free shipping, so for basically $20 more I think I'll go with Renogy, if only for a (slightly) better chance of them being in business down the road if I need warranty support.
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