OptiMate Roof Mount Solar Charging System with Controller - 80 Watt Solar Panel

Video Transcript for Review of OptiMate RV Solar Panels - Roof Mounted 80 Watt Solar Kit - MA46JR

Hi there, I'm Michael with etrailer.com. Today, we're going to take a quick look at this OptiMate solar charging system with the solar controller. This is an 80-watts polycrystalline panel that is going to allow you to use the sunlight, to provide an off-grid charging solution for your lead-acid batteries. Now being in a polycrystalline construction, it is going to be a little bit less efficient than your monocrystalline solar panels out there. So it is going to be more of a economical option for you. If you're wanting the max efficiency, the monocrystalline is a definitely a little bit more effective, but you're probably not going to notice it very much unless you have the two side by side, and this is still going to do a good job for you.

This will permanently attach to the top of your RV or camper. We've got a couple holes on the corner brackets, and that will allow you to pass screws through to get it mounted in place. The hardware is not included with this panel. So you will have to provide that on your own. You will, once you have this mounted in place, you'll have to park your RV or camper in the general direction where it's going to get sunlight.

So unlike some of your more portable options where you can set the solar panel out in the sun, and you can park in the shade where it's a little bit cooler, this is going to be attached to the top of your RV, so you will have to be parking in the sunlight. This is made with weatherproof materials, so it is going to help stand up well in the elements, it does have an IP rating of 5 4, so it should stand up to most rain showers and that sort of thing. There are some other panels that have a little bit higher IP rating if you're more nervous about that, but it should do a decent job for you. This is going to connect to your 12-volt batteries that are from two to 240 amp hours. And that could be any of your lead-acid types, your flooded, AGM, or gel batteries.

So it's going to do a good job of helping to charge those batteries up when you're off the grid. As far as our dimensions go, this is right at 30 and three quarters of an inch tall by 27 inches wide, only about one and three quarters of an inch deep or thick. So the panel itself is going to have on the backside here, you can see the plug or the cable, the SAE fitting on the one end. This cable is about 80 inches long. So it will allow you to route that inside where you'll have your charge controller.

Now, this is going to become the brains of the operation. This is going to control how much power is coming from your panel, going to your battery. So this little guy here, give you that close-up look, this is going to make sure that you have a quick, consistent charge. It's automatically going to adjust to your battery's level so that you're not going to overcharge your battery. It's going to help extend your battery life that way. And it is also going to ensure that the battery is getting charged in any weather condition. So if you have a full sun, sunshiny day, this is going to provide continuous charge for you. If you have, if you're in a low light setting, that's going to provide a pulse charge of about three to five amps for you. If you can see that this does have the LED display here, that's going to allow you to monitor your battery process or fullness so that you can be aware of which stage it's in, how much it's putting into your battery. It's going to allow you to monitor your battery's charge throughout the night. And this can save a battery from as low as one volt. So it is going to do a good job of ensuring that the batteries are well charged, even if they are extremely discharged before. So like I said, that cable coming from your solar panel, that's going to plug in to this end is 80 inches long. This controller cable here is right at 40 inches long. And then you're going to have two different options to plug into this. Two different ways to connect to your battery. So you're going to have more of a temporary option with these clamps. So you'll attach your positive and negative side of your battery, plug in here, and that's going to allow that power to flow through. So this is more of a temporary option. If you're wanting to charge up a another battery that you don't typically charge up. something along those lines, you can use these, or you have this more permanent option with the ring terminals that you'll install on your battery posts. This is fuse-protected. And it's got this cap on here with the little slits for your zip ties. So you can zip tie this in place where it's going to be most convenient to plug in and then disconnect for you. So having those ring terminals, you won't ever have to work with the battery, just pop off that cap, plug in your controller, and you'll be ready to go. So both the battery clamps and the ring terminals are about 20 inches. So to kind of give you an idea of how far that's going to reach out for you. They do include instructions to help you get this installed, ensure everything is set up properly. But overall I'd say this is a decent panel for you. Now, keep in mind, it is 80 watts. So depending on the amount of power that you're going to need, that sort of thing, we do have other options available for you here at etrailer.com. Some help articles to help you determine how much power you are going to need, depending on how long you're going to be off the grid and that sort of thing. So definitely check out some of those other resources. If you are needing a larger panel or a portable panel, you'll want to set that up so that you don't have to have it installed on your roof. If you move it to where it's going to be convenient for you, we do have lots of other options available as well. So be sure to check those out. Hopefully this video has been helpful for you in determining if this is the right option for you or not. So that's going to complete our look for today. Again, I'm Michael with etrailer.com. Thanks for watching..