Solar panels have come a long way over the years, and the technology continues to improve. My first set of polycrystalline panels weren’t very efficient at all. It was a 100W kit, and the best performance I ever got from them was about 50W. Did they actually charge anything? Not really. They just slowed the rate at which the battery was being drained. It was cheap kit though, and it folded up into an easily portable size. It was better than nothing, but as the saying goes…you get what you pay for.
Times have change though, and solar panels have greatly improved over the years. The monocrystalline PV200 from Bluetti is far more efficient, and more affordable than the ones available in previous years. You’ll never get 100% efficiency from a solar panel, but they are improving, and with the costs coming down so much due to mass production and improved manufacturing techniques, they are becoming affordable for RVs and Overlanders. I’ve been using the PV200 for a while now, and although I don’t live anywhere near the equator, where I would see the greatest power conversion, I have regularly seen over 160W of power being sent to my battery banks. This could charge the Elite 30 V2 in just a few hours.
Like most solar panels though, you can connect them together by way of their MC4 connectors, drastically increasing their charging abilities. It’s important to not exceed the maximum voltage, or wattage input of whatever battery you’re connecting them to though.
When deployed, they are about 2.1m (4ft) in length, but pack up to about 1/4 of that (four folding panels), making them easier to carry, and stow in a vehicle.
I use these mostly with my AC240+B210 combination, and because they have an IP67 rating, I don’t mind leaving them out overnight to get wet should a storm roll in.
For Overlanders, or weekend campers, this would compliment most battery banks really well. If you’re an RV camper with higher power demands, consider pairing two PV200s together. A second PV200 would certainly make a nice addition to my setup for sure.
