Harbor Freight Still the Best? 100 Watt Show down Harbor Freight VS Renogy

You asked for it, so here it is. One year later does the renogy panel out last the HF. See here and let me know your thoughts #harborfreight #renogy #solar

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[johnnysweekends]

You asked for it, so here it is. One year later does the renogy panel out last the HF. See here and let me know your thoughts #harborfreight #renogy #solar

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If you feel I helped you out..Buy me a Coffee 👍🏼🙌🏼👊🏼😀

[winterwolf]

Bought 2 harbor freight ... years ago & still have them. They did a great job helping my family get thru a hurricane with the loss of power.

[buscampers]

Last weekend I went camping for the first time since mounting two 100w HF panels on my bus roof. They did excellent. I was running 2 max air fans and a 12v chest fridge and during the day my 200ah batteries stayed topped off. I woke up the next morning and I only used about 8% of the battery capacity. Usually I was in the 20% range of depletion in similar situations before adding the panels.

[RamblinBobReviews]

GREAT VIDEO JOHNNYSWEEKENDS

We do like Renogy products, but in this case, with these harbor freight

These are the BEST "cheapy" panel we have ever bought. For a few HUGE reasons....

1. You can walk or drive a few miles and buy a panel right now. and have it home it 10-15 minutes (ZERO WAITING OR SHIPPING)

2. You can buy the extended warranty if you want and have exchange/return the panels whenever you want with no questions asked.

3. We pulled 122.5 watts the very first tests (on video) on a cold day with these panels (still pulling as high as 105 watts one year later)
(we own 6 of them now)

4. No more busted/shattered solar panels showing up at your door because the companies boxed it like crap, Or the knucklehead delivery person threw it up on your your porch or driveway. (Just uploaded some knucklehead throwing a bluetti battery pack onto the porch this morning)

5. They always go on sale every month (with coupon) for $89.99 to $99.99

EDIT: Johnnysweekend also reminded us about another AWESOME feature that these panels have built into

6. Built in legs set to 45 degrees for EXTREMELY easy portable setup or building a foldable briefcase

If Harbor Freight / Thunderbolt would only start watching youtube (videos like these) and start making 200, 300, 400, 500 watt panels with the same quality, They would destroy every company out there for quick, cheap, temp solar panels. We really do believe that.

Ramblin Bob

[DragonPilot]

Great video! One thing the Renogy has over HF is they sell complete kits. A Renogy kit includes charge controller, extension cords…plug and play outta the box. I think currently their 200w kit is $230. I’d prolly spend more than that if I went with HF, buying ala carte. Whatever works. 😊

[justintempus]

I can't vouch for the HF brand specifically, but my renogy panels are still outputting like new after 6 years in Fairbanks AK. My cheaper panels got hairline cracks and discoloration on the panels after 2 winters with lows down to -40. Their output was rapidly dwindling. Just some info for my fellow cold climate folks.

[makodaniel]

The harbor freight panels are slightly oversized for 100 watt panels to give them an edge. most 100w panels are around 18"x40"=750, harbor freight is 36.5"x27"=985.5. Size matters.

[chrisp]

I couldn't cross verify my readings but I was getting stupid good numbers from the harbor freight panels I got so far I am extremely happy with mine.

[karlsoffroad]

I have 21 of these, and love them! I try to buy when the super coupon is available, but I bought the first 6 at full price.

[karhumt]

These are great comparisons. Out of curiosity: Have you tested how the panels handle partial shading? I.e. covering a part with a piece of fabric and see what happens.
Apparently the way the individual cells are bussed together can make a difference in that regard.

[stanants]

The Voltage is the important reading with a load test reading. Since your loading to a wattage. the formula is P (watts)=E (volts)*I (amps) so as the voltage goes down the amps go up to make the same Watts. In a load test what you are looking for is the voltage to stay above your usabe voltage level as you increase the load (more watts of draw). (40 year Electronics tech) Your test was great and exactly what I was looking for, a long term reliability test. repeat it again in 24 ;)

[HandySolution]

I have 3 HF panels to a 1500 Jackery and I’m getting 95w per panel! I have them mounted on top of my van. HF is killing it on the 100w panels! Big power out of a small panel. They need to make a 200w panel

[jdtexas]

I have tested HF panels against Eco-Worthy and Northern Tool - HF always produced more watts

[michaelmawhinney]

I’m still going to get the renogy because I believe the consistency and service will be better. Renogy guarantees output up to 25 years not sure about HF. Also HF can change suppliers at any time w no knowledge to consumer. Lastly, renogy is cheaper at the moment.

[DanHodge-kb]

Good to see your Harbor Freight panel is still working!!

[wam]

A few months later now. Harbor Freight costs $120 and Renogy costs $78. That means HF is 58% more expensive while providing 10% more power. If buying with a HF coupon the break-even is $86 should they ever get that low.

[forcom]

Funny thing having watched the first one recently! Thanks for the follow-up!

[livinMicro]

the voltage needed for the MPPT needed the panel to be above 16v regadless of amps. This is why the harbor freight panel stayed afloat longer. If you had a charger that could do MPPT all the way down to 15v they would both have shown acceptable numbers within variance for 100w panels. the charger and MPPT circuit needing to be at 16v is kinda silly when a lead acid battery is 13.6 on float and 12.9 when full... there are chargers that work in different voltages and they vary from make and model...

[TheAdvent]

at the time of writing this. the renogy panel is cheaper at $97 vs 120. also the harbor freight panel has more surface area. 985.5 sqr inches vs 873.62. so i think we can see where the "extra power" is coming from. i couldnt find anything on the effiencency of the HF panel but the renogy one is 22%

[Jasonoid]

Interesting test these panels using battery load testers. There are so many ways to pull a max load from a panel, thanks for showing us another way! I wonder why the load tester would shutoff once going over the max power. Shouldn't it just hold the previous max load, it's not like the panel is stopping the power output?