Harbor Freight 100 Watt Solar Panels with a Portable Solar Generator (Anker 535 PowerHouse)
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- Опубліковано 23 лис 2022
- If you purchase a portable “solar generator” you may purchase it with or without portable solar panels made by the same manufacturer. In many cases, the portable solar panels can be costly compared to “rigid” solar panels which offer similar electrical output. Also, many of these products are difficult to purchase locally or may only be available through online sales. But what about solar panels from Harbor Freight? They are usually available locally (and in stock!) at reasonable prices. But are they any good?
In this video I talk about two styles of 100-watt, rigid solar panels which I purchased at local Harbor Freight stores. One model, featuring a lightweight aluminum frame, is available at a normal price of $129, although they often have coupons to discount that price by anywhere from $10 to $30. The other “portable” model is a folding style with a heavier, black, metal frame. Its normal price is $189 although Harbor Freight often offers a coupon for a discount of about $40.
The performance of these panels is exactly what I wanted. In ideal sunshine they’re able to output 100 watts to my portable Anker 535 Power House power station. I also purchased an adapter through Amazon which allows me to connect two of these Harbor Freight panels in parallel for increased watt output while maintaining the same voltage. This increased output is sometimes referred to as “over paneling” and it allows the Anker 535 to keep charging well even if the sunshine received by the panels is not ideal.
If you are setting up solar panels for a portable power station it is essential that you match the voltage of the panels with the power station’s acceptable voltage range. In my case, the Anker 535 can accept 12-28 volts and these Harbor Freight panels are within that range. If I had connected two panels in series then the voltage would be too high. But when they are connected in parallel they’re just fine.
The only issue folks seem to have with Harbor Freight solar panels is that they use SAE connectors instead of the more standard Anderson connectors, XT60, XT90 or MC4 connectors used by many solar devices. I was able to easily find adapters but I had to go online for most of them, including the adapter to connect two panels in parallel to a single SAE output. Also, the Anker 535 input is a 7.9mm DC connection (sometimes referred to as an 8mm barrel plug). Oddly enough, Harbor Freight’s folding solar panel came with an SAE-to-7.9mm adapter already (to allow it to connect with the Anker 535) but the other panels didn’t, making it necessary to purchase an adapter separately.
One more essential concern as you’re setting up connectors and adapters is polarity. A simple, inexpensive multimeter will tell you if your DC power connector is providing the correct polarity and many SAE cables come with adapters to reverse the polarity if necessary. If you connect power in the wrong polarity it may cause your power station device to simply not respond OR it may actually damage the device. I don’t know what my Anker 535 would do with reverse polarity power. I’ve never connected power to it incorrectly and I am unwilling to test that on my own gear.
I miss your casio watch videos
I have the Anker 522 so I bought the Harbor Freight folding solar panel; I hooked it up and nothing; I checked the voltage from the panels and they were working fine, I was baffled. Later that night I compared the 8mm plug from the original AC charger to the HF 8mm plug; I saw that the solar panel 8mm would not plug as deep; so I simply trimmed maybe 1/8” shroud off the adapter; it’s working perfectly now (actually charging at this moment using just the solar panel!)
A man with integrity- very refreshing and very informative. Thank You sir.
Great informative and honest video! I just happened to have purchased the folding Harbor Freight panels and tested them this weekend and they work great. Your video explained a lot that I did not know since I am new to solar. Will be subscribing, thank you!
Welcome back, Greg. I miss your videos.
This was great. You are so knowledgeable and explained concepts very well. Thank you.
I have two of the HF 100w solar panels and the joining cable which can go into my Anker 555. When I tested the first panel back in September I was getting 103 watts out of it.
Voltage can be thought of as pressure. Amps is the flow.
Excellent teacher
I picked up a H-F 100W folding briefcase a couple weeks ago. It was $160 on sale and with a 25% E-mail coupon, a no-brainer at $120. As some YTube reviews said, it appears to be two 60 watt panels, as my Bluetti AC50S shows 120 watts input on a clear day. Great value.
Thanks
I use the 100W HF solar panel to keep my Jackery 500 (and 240 when I need to) charged. Now... I'm not by any stretch running EVERYTHING off this. Mainly just the lights and charging my phone and tablet and whatnot.
I have two Harbor freight 100 W panels do you have a link to where you bought your parallel connector?
Hi there, which is the "adapter you got through Amazon to connect two of these Harbor Freight panels in parallel"..do u have a link to that adapter and is it working fine. I know Amazon sells a lot of Chinese junk. If you think your adapter looks sturdy, can u plz share the link to it. Thank you.
Geeze too bad you can't talk less lol