Description
AN INNOVATIVE COMPANY
Renogy started as a small project by students at Louisiana State University. With the help and support of the Louisiana Business and Technology Center, Renogy has grown into a healthy and flourishing company. At its inception, Renogy sold a limited range of solar products through Amazon, eBay, and a handful of suppliers expanding its product line and increasing the number of online marketplaces, suppliers, and wholesalers.
Renogy Solar Panel
160W
The Renogy 160 Watt 12 Volt Monocrystalline Solar Panel is a key component to any solar power (PV) system. Each solar panel includes male and female solar panel connectors leads that extend from the junction box affixed to the back of each panel. The male and female solar panel connectors leads are compatible with the Renogy male and female solar panel connectors Adaptor Kit – allowing for a quick and simple connection.
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ReliableMulti-layered sheet laminations enhance cell performance and ensure a long service life. EL tested solar modules; no hot-spot heating guaranteed. Bypass diodes minimize power drops caused by shade and ensure excellent performance in low-light environments. TPT back sheet dissipates heat to ensure smooth performance over a long period of time. |
DurableGuaranteed positive output tolerance (0-3%); withstands high winds (2400Pa) and snow loads (5400Pa). A corrosion-resistant aluminum frame allows for extended outdoor use with a typical lifespan of decades. Anti-reflective, high transparency, low iron-tempered glass with enhanced stiffness and impact resistance. IP65 rated junction box provides complete protection against environmental particles and low pressure water jets. |
VersatileCan be used for many different applications. Ground mount compatible. Compatible with on-grid and off-grid inverters. |
Installation ReadyPre-drilled holes on the back of the panel allow for fast mounting and securing. Pre-drilled holes are included for grounding. Compatible with a variety of Renogy mounting systems such as Z-Brackets and Tilt Mounts. |
Phil Light –
Great, solid solar panel. I mounted one on top of my jeep to keep my fridge battery charged. The frame is heavy gauge aluminum with a flawless fit and finish, everything about this panel screams “premium”. Puts out a bit more than advertised even when not tilted. I installed it with a nice tilt mechanism but it’s so efficient that it keeps my auxiliary battery charged even while flat on the roof of the Jeep.
P. Adams –
I bought this panel based on word of mouth. Charging is great and no damage issues on delivery. System here is two LFP house banks (12V, 40Amh), and a seperate e-bike LFP bank for cranking the engine. Small system, 30′ sloop. Chartplotter, Ham HF, VHF, AIS-B, lights, and an Engel fridge. Between this panel and an Air Breeze turbine, I rarely get more than 30% into the banks, but 20% is more normal. This panel is much more effective than the turbine most of the time, but redundancies are golden. Perhaps in the Trades it’d be more equal. Anyway this panel rocks! A buck-fifteen shipped is a super price.
mmblpie –
Thing thing is slightly larger than a typical 50W polycrystalline panel on an RV but produces close to 100W in optimal conditions.This is mounted on my truck camper with adjustable angle brackets, connected to an MPPT controller, and has allowed us to live off grid for the past two months. The panel survived baseball sized hail that damaged many other things including a windshield and vent covers.Overall, I’m impressed with the low light and regular performance this panel provides.UPDATE: I traveled 10,000 miles with this panel on my truck camper and never ran a generator once including boondocking on cloudy days by facing the panel south at an optimal tilt for your latitude.The key is LED lighting, MPPT controllers, and judicious use of electronics. I camped for free every night (seek resources about using public land in the USA), and paid off my solar investment in three weeks compared to nominal RV park fees. As a side benefit, my panel trickle charges my battery every day for free and allows a temperature-controlled fan to manage air flow.
Gothikpunk –
Amazing panels! Bought 4 for my full time RV (I’m a big gamer, need power) and just installed these today. Didn’t get to them until late (8:30pm) but even with that they we’re still pushing 12.9 volts. Bought these with the Rover 40amp and they are suiting me very well!
S.L. –
Purchased 3 of these for my Sprinter Campervan solar system to replace one Canadian Solar 280 Watt Solar panel.These new (more efficient) Renogy panels rock. Installed them in early October. Even with short days and low fall sun, I regularly see close to 200 watts incoming power (pretty good considering you’ll never see a full 300 watts except under lab-like conditions. Even running an ARB fridge freezer, house lights, fan, etc, these panels pull in enough power to put my solar controller into float mode by mid-morning. I’m running the campervan almost entirely off solar with these panels. Plus, the smaller footprint is great. Gained nearly 18″ of roof space over the old 280W panel.
Sean S. –
Adding solar to our setup was essential for this year’s trip to Alaska – land of the midnight sun. Our only regrets are not having invested sooner and only initially installing five panels. We’ll soon be adding more solar goodness. We run a Victron Smart Solar 150/70 MPPT charge controller for these panels. We even had power generation well after midnight, inside the Arctic Circle. Overall a solid product and company with great customer service.
Daniel G. –
This size solar panel’s size is perfect for fitting in my sedan to go with me in a on a camping or fishing trip. Still plan on folding your seats down, though. It’s large enough so that I don’t need to mess around with many modules during setup. I reasoned to myself that two 160w units for $360 to get 26.67 amps would be easier to carry and hook up compared to Amazon’s price for three 100w and one 50w at $368 to get 29.17 amps. Less hardware costs and skinnier.The units remind me of a 100w unit that’s taller but not wider. This allows for me to have more time between adjustments of panels when moving shadows of trees (which can move inches per minute during most of the winter day) shift the area where solar panels must be to receive a charge.
SaraCooperS –
The package was received in good condition. Immediately I did testing. I noticed that the cells appeared very similar to my Hqst flexible panels. The electrical parameters are exactly the same as seen on the info sticker. The amperage seen through a simple renogy pwm controller was marginally higher than the Hqst flexible, 7.2 amps vs. 6.9 amps. The open circuit voltage was .3 volts less than the Hqst panel. As a result during the shading testing, the amperage values for the eclipse were slightly higher but proportional to the overall output. I do not see any significant improvement in performance. In fact it is likely that this is merely a solid panel variant of those flexibles on the market. However, the footprint is smaller by 1.25 inches in length and about .75 inches in width than the flexible panel. Putting the junction box on the back allows a smaller footprint as compared with the flexible. So what do you get for the $30 extra over the flexible? To my knowledge this is the smallest rigid, true 100 watt panel. Personally my travel trailer didn’t have enough room to mount the larger 100 watt rigid panels. I went to flexibles out of necessity, they were the only ones that could be used in my system design. There are issues with mounting flexibles and their durability. Now there is a rigid more durable design available allowing for better cooling and secure mounting with an even smaller footprint.
dave –
Update 8/12/20 – I’ve now been running my system since Jan 2020 in Florida. I can’t produce enough continuous current to keep up with my primary RV A/C (~ 10A+, 120VAC) in the Florida summer heat, but I installed a small window unit (5A, 120VAC) in the “bedroom” that runs all night with no problem. 10A 120 VAC would equate to ~ 100A 12 VDC, so my larger A/C would be drawing roughly all that my system could produce while the main A/C’s running, and the batteries would never fully charge. I think I’m partially limited by my 100A DC output solar charge controller. My 10 panels might produce more than 100A DC at times, but the charge controller cannot use more than 100A. The most I’ve recorded from my controller is 1400W and that’s now been common on sunny days. If it’s charging at 14VDC (my max charge setting) and 100Amps, it could of course be producing 1400 Watts. In a nut shell … I’m very satisfied with the panel performance so far.Have ten of these (in two five panel, series arrays) on my RV. That totals 1.6 kw, of course, and I’ve recorded 1.2+ kw multiple times. They’re feeding a Magnum 3012 hybrid inverter, PT-100 charge controller and four Battle Born lithium’s. They’re currently installed flat on the roof (instead of facing the sun) and they get shadowed by the A/C, roof vents and trees, but 75% of their rated output in winter sun seems great to me. I may tilt them eventually. Haven’t owned any others, but researched and watched a bunch of YouTube vids before I bought these. I’m also using LP gas and have a backup generator (if needed), so I’m pretty much off the grid and happy with ‘em. Not impressed with Renogy tech support, though. Pretty weak.
Traveller 1 and 2 –
I purchased this solar panel to mount on the roof of my Toyota 4Runner to keep a 68amp hr AGM battery topped off to power a 12V fridge 24/7. The fridge will drain the battery in 1-2 days of sitting depending on ambient temps so I needed to a better charging solution for when I wasn’t running the engine/alternator. I chose the eclipse line of panels for a couple reasons 1.) Efficiency, I mounted flat without the ability to tilt or angle to the ideal position so I wanted to get the most out of the footprint 2.) Durability, the doublewall frame for increased rigidity was a big selling point since this is mounted on the top of an off road vehicle and will see some vibration and the black finish is appealing for stealthily mounting too. 3.) Name brand, I wanted something well known for the panel so that I could trust that the cells are doing what they should as designed and support would be present if needed.Out of the box, this panel looks good, has the look and feel of a high quality product. Packaged well with no damage, nicks or scratches, and fit and finish of the frame and electrical connections great. I simply mounted it up, plugged it into an MPPT controller and boom the battery was charging! It’s been charging great for a week now, even in indirect sunlight, shade and cloudy days. I couldn’t be happier with it. I will update way later on with a longevity report if needed, otherwise assume it’s doing great since the date of this review.