Instapark® 30W Mono-crystalline Solar Panel With a 12V solar charge controller

by Instapark

Product Features

• Power (Pmax) : 30W
• Maximum power voltage ( Vpm ) : 17.5V ;Maximum Power Current: 1.68A
• Cable lengths : 12.5'
• Open circuit voltage ( Voc ) : 21.95V
• Charge controller prevents overcharging of 12-volt batteries

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 21.5 x 1.1 x 17.2 inches ; 7.2 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 7.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B004FOGL0K
• Item model number: SPCC-30W
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,932 in Patio, Lawn & Garden (See Top 100 in Patio, Lawn & Garden)

Product Description

Tired of all the noise and smell from your diesel generator? The Instapark SPCC-30W offers you a quiet, clean while carbon-free alternative. Capable of converting virtually unlimited solar energy into clean, green, most importantly, free electricity, the Instapark SPCC-30W includes a 30-Watt mono-crystalline solar panel with solar charge controller.

This solar panel is made of high efficiency mono-crystalline solar cells embedded in transparent vinyl acetate behind tempered glass with heavy back sheet ensuring maintenance free performance. Unlike amorphous solar panels, which only last about 5-7 years of continuous use, mono-crystalline solar panels can still retain over 80% of efficiency even after 25 years of continuous use. Also, the mono-crystalline panels are much more efficient and thus smaller in size while producing higher wattage.

This kit is designed and engineered to primarily charge 12-Volt batteries, which store and provide usable power when needed, ideal for powering your RVs, ATV, marine boats and electronic equipments. The included solar charge controller helps prevent any connected batteries from overcharging. Other than recreational applications, solar power can also help lower your energy bills by reducing your dependence on the main electrical grid and provide back-up power during power outages.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Seems to work - very cheap charge controller., August 5, 2011

By 

B. Locke - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Instapark® 30W Mono-crystalline Solar Panel With a 12V solar charge controller

Picked this up for pop-up camper and a week of dry camping in 90 degree heat at the beach. Our goal was to run two fans 8-10 hours/night and keep two iPhones charged for 5 nights, 4 days without any power source.

Product arrived as described. Controller appears to be very cheaply made, wires seem like they are undersized, and the controller unit was broken on delivery (transistor bouncing around in the box). I soldered the transistor back onto the board (night before departure, no time for a return) and it appeared to work. In full sun and aligned, the panel produced about 17.6 volts and 1.6 amps.

Started off with a new Group 27 Marine/RV deep cycle battery, fully charged. We had two days of sun and two of clouds (the last two). I set the panel on a chair next to our camper at about 45 degrees each day and did my best to keep it aligned with the sun, though most of the charging time it was not perfectly aligned. The last two days, in particular, it was very cloudy and not well aligned. I unhooked the battery from the camper completely each day so the controller was connected only to the battery - completely unhooking and storing the panel/controller at night.

Result: 5 full nights of two fans running 8-10 hours (02 12 volt, 700mA fans), 2 iphones charging each night. By my imperfect math, the battery might have delivered 3 days of fans without any charging before being dead. So - I take this to mean that the panel did the job.

PROS - panel works as described, charging controller appears to have done what it was intended to. For basic uses such as the one above, the panel could keep you running for a long time (assuming it was really working at capacity). Relatively small and easy to store. I can't speak to longevity of either daily charging performance or the panel over time.

CONS - charger is about as cheap as they come - mine was broken. Panel has very sharp edges and limited mounting options. Cable turns out to be pretty short. Charger offers no information about power being generated or battery status.

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Solar Panel for Small RV, June 1, 2011

By 

J. Leonard (MA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Instapark® 30W Mono-crystalline Solar Panel With a 12V solar charge controller

I bought this for my Aliner camper to keep the battery up. Seeing my camper is an aframe it's pretty easy to just lay it out over a bubble to collect the suns rays, although I think we may build a mount so we can redirect it in any direction rather than just two. Initially I set it up in my driveway in full south eastern sun and the battery under load recovered very fast. I also ran the battery low on purpose (less than 12v) and it recovered quickly to 13.6v. I noticed it was also charging on overcast days and even though I checked the voltage with a meter I can't remember how much, but it did the job. We also changed over our light bulbs inside the camper to leds and that has helped with the draw. We do a lot of dry camping. We just came back from our first dry trip with the panel, and a week of charging cell phones and psps, running lights, water pump and other little things the battery is at a full charge and the panel got very little direct sun on a wooded site. So this panel seems to fit our needs fine. We are not running heat yet and we aren't using a ton of power either. Most people go bigger but I didn't want to have to pack up a huge panel or worry about where to store it and the extra weight. This panel is small and very easy to deal with. We picked up a 2 pin plug from Radio Shack so we could disconnect from the battery without having to access it. I run the cord through the electrical cord port. It was packaged well and everything was there. I am very happy with this panel and recommend it to anyone that would like to keep up a 12v battery under light use. I'm also pretty pleased I can leave it set up at home and not have to plug into the house. I'll try to add some pictures soon. (PS. I don't really think the controller is needed for such a small panel, but it is nice to see the led lights letting you know if it's charging or sending power).

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Works fine, not easy to mount, May 31, 2011

By 

Mark - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Instapark® 30W Mono-crystalline Solar Panel With a 12V solar charge controller

The panel seems to work fine - I have no means of measuring its effectiveness other than that it keeps the battery for my gate charged. It is a little challenging to mount. It does not include a mount, and the back of the panel only has four small holes in the "frame". There is not much clearance between the frame and the panel for fasteners.