Renogy Monocrystalline or Eclipse

[Nrbsrsr]

We have an Imagine 2800bh with two group 24 batteries to which I'm planning on adding some solar. We usually are dry camping as we frequent state parks with no hook ups. We have a Champion 3100 inverter with remote start (boy, is that handy) which serves us well.

I have been thinking of adding some solar in hopes of lessening our reliance and necessity of running our generator . Renogy is currently running a black Friday sale of 20% off on their site. I'm leaning towards their 200 watt solar premium kit. For the panels there is a choice of regular Monocrystalline (21% cell efficiency) or Eclipse Monocrystalline (22% cell efficiency). The Mono kit is $515, before discount, Eclipse is $684.

I am a solar newby so my question is what makes the Eclipse panel cost $160 more than the Mono panel? I think 200 watts will suit my needs, however , for $35 more than the Eclipse kit I could get a 300 watt Mono system. I'm leaning towards the 200 watt /Mono kit but I am willing to go with the Eclipse if there is an overwhelming reason , ie. MPPT vs PWWM.

So am I missing something or is there a real difference between the two?

[livinthelife]

We have an Imagine 2800bh with two group 24 batteries to which I'm planning on adding some solar. We usually are dry camping as we frequent state parks with no hook ups. We have a Champion 3100 inverter with remote start (boy, is that handy) which serves us well.

I have been thinking of adding some solar in hopes of lessening our reliance and necessity of running our generator . Renogy is currently running a black Friday sale of 20% off on their site. I'm leaning towards their 200 watt solar premium kit. For the panels there is a choice of regular Monocrystalline (21% cell efficiency) or Eclipse Monocrystalline (22% cell efficiency). The Mono kit is $515, before discount, Eclipse is $684.

I am a solar newby so my question is what makes the Eclipse panel cost $160 more than the Mono panel? I think 200 watts will suit my needs, however , for $35 more than the Eclipse kit I could get a 300 watt Mono system. I'm leaning towards the 200 watt /Mono kit but I am willing to go with the Eclipse if there is an overwhelming reason , ie. MPPT vs PWWM.

So am I missing something or is there a real difference between the two?

We have the Renogy 200 Watt kit. It came with a PWM controller. We later upgraded to the Rover MPPT controller, and wired the panels in series. This gave us much better charging. We had to buy fuses and a couple of disconnect switches separately. We've had it for 2 1/2 years and we're happy with it.

You might check the physical size of the Eclipse panels vs the Mono panels for mounting on your rig.

We just bought 2 more panels from them to add to our system. Not totally necessary, but we're increasing battery capacity to run the generator less.

[jmbopp]

A few years back Renogy had a folding 200W suitcase on clearance (no controller.) I mounted a MPPT controller near the hookup center & ran heavy cables to the dual 6V batteries. In 2 weeks I ran the Honda 2000 generator 3 times but we had 3 days of rain.
If you're mounting them on the roof and have the room I's go with polycrystalline. For portable use my choice would be regular mono.

[Oregon Fun-Guy]

Both of the kits you are looking at have monocrystalline panels. This link should give you the kit differences in Renogy's words.

I bought the cheaper 100 watt panels five years ago and they have worked well when "dry-camping". My experience with Renogy is that their newer upgraded model will have upgraded and extra parts that create the value difference. In fact I was looking at upgrading to the 200 watt system after I upgrade the rest of the my electrical system, batteries, converter, battery monitor, etc. I sure like the portable suitcase system I have now.

[Nrbsrsr]

I ended up buying the cheaper panels, essentially their 200 watt RV kit. I did, however, switch out the Adventurer PWM controller with the Rover 30A MPPT controller. This will be a spring project.

[jmbopp]

I ended up buying the cheaper panels, essentially their 200 watt RV kit. I did, however, switch out the Adventurer PWM controller with the Rover 30A MPPT controller. This will be a spring project.

Yeah, Black Friday sale. I may pick up 2-more 100W panels.

[DaveMatthewsBand]

The Renogy panels are overpriced in my opinion. You can get 200 watt panels from several other reputable manufacturers for about the same cost as the Renogy 100 watt.

Watch some Will Prowse videos on YouTube to get educated on this. He does extensive real-world testing.



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[Nrbsrsr]

I did end up piecing the kit together as I wanted the MPPT controller vs the PWM controller. Cost ended up to be comparable.
I just received an add from Amazon showing the 200 watt RV kit for $270. The current price on the Renogy site is $464.
https://tinyurl.com/Renogy-RV

[Buckaroo]

I did end up piecing the kit together as I wanted the MPPT controller vs the PWM controller. Cost ended up to be comparable.
I just received an add from Amazon showing the 200 watt RV kit for $270. The current price on the Renogy site is $464.
https://tinyurl.com/Renogy-RV

So this Amazon price seems like a real deal per the camel. I have just begun to explore this topic....should I jump?

Buckaroo

[315RLTSinPA]

That is a good deal. It makes a good starter kit and you can build from there.