Electrical confusion...

Interesting how Renogy said less than 5% failure rate and are now saying higher than expected failure rate. Man am I scared to take Renogy panels to the middle of no where in Baja. I think I may buy a foldable to supplement my Renogy for my next trip.
 
5% is almost certainly a higher than expected failure rate. That said, I question that rate based on the (biased) sampling we have here on WTW.

Alan
 
The 100W Renogy flex I use as a portable is easy to test independently, still OK, bought in June 2014. The 50W glued on the roof bought in December 2014 (same timeframe as DonC purchase) will get tested next time it is convenient to cover the other panel on the roof.

All these posts make me paranoid. But they say, just because you are paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't after you!
 
I installed my three new bendable panels all of which were confirmed by Renogy to be working and thanks to Ethergore I now have a multimeter and also know how to test myself. Last week and two days into a five day trip I noticed low charging on my Trimetric. Got home and tested all panels and two were dead. Went to Renogy today, 3rd time in two months, and they were confirmed dead. So 5 of 6 panels dead in a matter of months.

Several weeks ago when I got the first set of replacements the supervisor of the tech department recommended I not reinstall bendables, but I did not take his advise. Again, today, they recommended against bendables, and this time I went with two rigids. I also asked about using a bendable as a portable so I could point to early am and late pm sun when camping (figured I could store under the bed), and I was advised against it, again, "go with the rigids".

The flexible are such a perfect concept for our campers and a number of you are having good luck with them. But they are obviously not working for me.
 
DonC-Dont go to Vegas.

I'm really scared because I am going to baja in September with one panel. Dint know what I will do if it goes while I'm there.
 
So sorry to hear this but when the company is telling you not to "re-buy" this product, you'd be foolish not to listen. Of course if you don't mind replacing the panels every few months, you could really cost them a lot of money and maybe they would make you a cash offer to go with the rigid panels. :D

Seriously, the rigid panels are 12 lbs heavier each plus you need a structure to mount them on. More weight might mean you need a roof lifter solution or an upgrade to your existing one and the structure is going to cost you too. I'm keeping my fingers crossed with my replacement bendables, but I have a structure design in mind if these go bad and I end up with rigid panels.

Alan
 
So what is the intended usage of the bendable panels according to the tech department? Something doesn't seem right. Mine are still going strong.
 
Both the Renogy's online store and Amazon are showing the 100W Flexibles as Out Of Stock...perhaps they are temporarily pulling the product until they figure out what's going on.

Has Renogy shared any failure analysis with anyone?
 
When this is all said and done, my guess is worst case, Renogy will pull the flexible panels off the market. They will determine that the failures are due to excessive heat and that for panels to work properly, there needs to be air flow underneath.
 
Got the two new rigid panels laying on the camper and hooked up - not yet fully mounted. Did a test and at 10 am the individual panels measure 4.26 amps (bendable), 4.12 amps, 4.14 amps, for a total of 12.52 amps. At the Trimetric I am seeing 10.8 amps. This is with the battery at 57% - I let it run down last night to simulate camping conditions. Its blazing hot in So Cal so it ran all night.

Is this 15% drop caused by the smaller wire in the camper I read about? Is this about what should be expected?

I see that having a multimeter and Trimetric are important to understand what is going on, unless of course your system "just works", which mine never has!
 
Unlike voltage which just "goes away", current is like water flow - if there are different amperages top and bottom then there is something using or storing current in between. Most likely the situation changed between measurements ie. cloud cover reduced the solar output during your check of the Trimetric inside. Of course your amp meter might not be well calibrated as I think the Trimetrics are really precise. In any case, 11 amps at 10 am means good chance of fully charging the battery back up during the day despite the heat.

Alan
 
Not wanting to give up on flexibles I called Grape Solar who seem to have great reviews. They said their flexible panel can no longer be ordered from Grape and they are discontinuing this product. There are a few distributors that may have some remaining stock but he is not sure how warranty will be handled since they will no longer carry them.

Renogy is "out of stock", and Grape is out of the flexible business. Not sure what this all means, but its another data point for people.

So, I can take a hint from the market, and given my luck with flexibles, I will be installing my Renogy rigids this week.
 
Not trying to start a flood of returns but Renogy told me they would take their panel back in exchange for a rigid panel. Their flexible panel may be questionable but their customer service is not.
 
I read on the Renogy site for these flexible panels:

"To avoid hot spots, please try to mount the panel so that there is minimal direct contact between the panel and the surface it is to be mounted to.
We recommend that there be at least a half inch of space between the solar panel and the surface to allow for air circulation."

http://www.renogy-store.com/100W-12V-Bendable-Mono-Solar-Panel-p/rng-100db.htm

When I installed my rigid solar on my camper a couple of years back, I just remember all of the documentation saying it's imperative they get lots of airflow underneath the cells, and I can't imagine they've now made such huge advances in solar that they require no airflow underneath the cells.
 
On day three of an eight day trip and noticed my one Renogy bendable and two Renogy rigids were not charging as they were right after install last week. I brought my multi meter and immediately went to the bendable first, given my history with them. And yes its dead. So, 6 for 6 dead.

Is it possible that there is something in my truck/camper wiring that could be frying these things? I'll be curious to see how my two rigids go.
 
DonC said:
On day three of an eight day trip and noticed my one Renogy bendable and two Renogy rigids were not charging as they were right after install last week. I brought my multi meter and immediately went to the bendable first, given my history with them. And yes its dead. So, 6 for 6 dead.

Is it possible that there is something in my truck/camper wiring that could be frying these things? I'll be curious to see how my two rigids go.
Click to expand...
When you get back from vacation lets take a closer look at your setup and make sure there is no chance. I doubt it though as the only thing I can think of would be reverse polarity.
 
DonC,

Something is definetly up. I don't think 6 panels in a row is a fluke. What is the story on the rigid panel? Are they still producing power?
You may need Ethergore or maybe even consider an electrician who understands 12 volt (not all of them do) to check out your system.
I am highly suspicious of a grounding, short or polarity problem somewhere in your system.
Keep us updated.
 
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