Could you give us some feedback on how much output you are getting from the flexible panels ie how efficient they are?
There is a thread in another forum, the Helia 44 Performance thread, where the owner is only getting about 25% of what the semi-flexible panel is claimed to be able to produce in ideal conditions, so it would be good to get other users feedback on that.
The panels produce the electricity as I expected. I mounted the panels in May and spent all the summer in the Mediterraneum being, on average, 3 nights on anchor, one night in a marina. Below is the translation to English of a post I made in a Spanish forum after the first week using the panels.
Regards, Vladis
hi,
I had promised to tell you how the panels behave. This is what I'm doing now. I came to San Antonio in Ibiza, about a week ago. We have been anchored in coves of this beautiful Balearic Island and my observation is this:
- 08h - idle 12.6 V (12.3 V when the refrigerator is ON)
- 10h - more than 13 V
- 12h - 14.2 V
The shadow on the panels is rare and difficult to note regarding batterycharging.
My conclusion: the 220W panels offer more than enough for my 280Ah bank. Put in another way; the panels are capable of providing near 15A for about 8 hours and are able to replace about 120AH. I estimate that I spent about to 3A for 16 hours when there is no sun is, ie 48Ah. So all is well!
You are getting much more than 25% of expected current output, so I wonder why some users are getting such poor results, and others are getting about 80% of expected output? Assuming there is no obvious explanation such as shading?
I have used some semi flexible panels from eBay. I am only getting about 3 amps short circuit current from each 80 watt panel. Sun angle does not seen as good compared to a normal panel. These were low cost about $200 each but very disappointed.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app
Now that I have the boat in the marina for the winter and the panels at home, I may test them more precisely, on some sunny day, namely the short circuit current and the open circuit output voltage.
The panels cost me about 100USD each and I got them from