Instapark® NEW All Black 5W Mono-crystalline Solar Panel with 12V Solar Charge Controller

This solar panel combo is a solar panel plus a charge controller plus clamps all preassembled and ready to go. Set it out in the sun, attach the clamps to a meter, and you should get what I got 20V at .3 amps. My panel came in good condition inside a solid cardboard box within another box. Your mileage may vary. I am pleased with the construction overall, but it does not look overly rugged. You won't want to casually toss it around too much, but it should mount nicely to a solid surface. The aluminum frame has mounting holes on the back, but the clearance is very limited.

I have a Brunton foldable solar panel that cost ten times as much and only puts out 3 times the amps (same voltage).

I will be buying a larger Instapark product in the future. Overall, I am very pleased with this purchase.

SOLAR PANEL: This panel is very well made, reliable, and seems quite weatherproof. It puts out the full 5 watts in bright sunlight. I put some silicone caulk where the wire exits the back of the panel, just to be safe.

CHARGE CONTROLLER: The housing is definitely not weatherproof, but it does work properly. Some reviewers reported rusted connectors. Mine arrived without any rust. I created a battery box for an electric fence. The solar panel is mounted on top of the box, and the solar charge controller is inside the box with the battery and the fence energizer (protected from weather).

Don't use it with a large panel (as one reviewer did), because it's only designed to take a small current. It is rated for only 3 amps. 3 amps x 12 volts = 36 watts. So ... don't hook up more than 36 watts of 12-volt solar panels to this charger.

Another reviewer said the charger allows the battery to discharge into the solar panel at night. That's not really true. I did many tests and figured out what is going on. There is a green "Power" LED light on the charge controller. That light is on whenever it is connected to the battery. That light draws about 5 milli-amps from the battery at night, which is negligible. During the day, the solar panel powers the green LED.

So ... when the solar panel gets no power from the sun, electricity flows from the battery to the green LED. But that is the only draw on the battery. I tested it, and there is no current flowing into the solar panel from the battery. The 5 milli-amp draw is minimal, and really has no effect on the battery at all. Consider that during bright sunlight, the panel pours about 400+ milli-amps into the battery. Even that amount is just considered a "trickle" charge.

I put a blocking diode (1N4001) between the battery and the charge controller, which even blocks the 5 milli-amp discharge at night. Now the green "Power" light only comes on when the panel gets light.

I also verified that the charge controller stops charging the batter when it reaches about 13 volts. That protects the battery from being over-charged.

Hope this helps.

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This is a pretty good little solar panel. I bout this to keep the battery on my camper topped off while not being used.

The Good: Panel performs as expected. In full bright sun I measured around 350mA at about 20V (7 Watts!) The size is nice and small (about the size of a sheet of paper) as compared to the amorphous panels which are much larger for the same wattage. The cable from the panel's junction box to the charge controller is nice and long.

Th Not So Good: The cover for the junction box on the back doesn't quite seal all the way around on mine. I put a small bead of caulk around it. Also the charge controller does NOT appear weatherproof. As a matter of fact it has a USB port on the side of it that is not sealed. My solution was to encase it in a weatherproof electrical box and run the wires out from there. Also, the clamps are small. Finally, the thickness of the frame is very small which makes mounting with the moutning holes challenging.

Overall though, I like this panel and would buy it again.

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Appears to be very well made and a good value for the price except for the clamps. The clamps are too small for the products intended use and tinny. I easily destroyed one of the clamps when trying to grip the 12v battery pole. I cut the original clamps off and replaced them with the appropriate clamps I purchased at Radio Shack.

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i bought this to charge my D.I.Y. battery box/ power station. I use it to charge cell phones and run a 75 watt inverter. I charge two 7Ah 12 volt batteries. it charges them from 50% DOD (depth of discharge) in about 4 hours. Very nice. This kit comes with a 3 amp solar charge controller and a set of battery leads with clips. Perfect for learning about solar energy and small projects. I will be buying another 5 watt instapark panel next weekend to hook up in parallel with this one. For the price you cant beat this system.

Another note is that instapark has slightly underrated this system, which is awesome considering all of the over rating going on in the industry. In Oklahoma I'm reading 19.8 volts and .420 amps right now. And its solid mounted to my porch. Also this panel will put out 13 volts in 60% shade. To get those numbers from an amorphous panel you will need something 3 times as big, physicly. if you want to get into solar for less than $100 buy this an amazon has a $13 SLA 7ah battery. And your ready to do some work.

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