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Video Transcript for Review of OptiMate RV Solar Panels - 80 Watt Portable Solar Kit - MA66JR
Hi there, I'm Michael with etrailer.com. Today, we're gonna take a quick look at this OptiMate 80 watt Portable Solar Panel with Controller This is going to allow you to charge up your lead acid batteries while you're out off the grid. I'm just going to use that sunlight to convert into electricity, to charge up your battery. This is gonna work for your 12 volt batteries from two to 240 amp hours. Whether they're flooded, AGM or gel batteries, this will do a good job of charging those up. Now this does have the adjustable stand on the backside here.
So it's going to allow you to easily set up in just about any situation. You've got these little ringlets here that you'll loosen, and that will allow you to adjust the angle so that you can capture the most sun possible. This way stand is set up. You can see, we got this portion down here. It's kind of a full bar around there so you can set sandbags or something like that on the outside or on the bottom ledge here.
And then there's also places to stake it down so that you can make sure that it's not going to blow away if it's really windy outside. And that sort of thing. It is a decent size to collect those solar rays, but still be easy to travel or transport. So our width here. We're looking at right at 27 inches wide, our height, we're about 30 and three quarters of an inch.
And then our depth is only about one and a quarter of an inch deep. This is an 80 watt Polycrystalline construction. So if you're not familiar with the different types of solar panels, the Polycrystalline is more of your economy type material. So the monocrystalline is that the most efficient, your polycrystalline is just a little less efficient. You're really not gonna be able to tell a difference between the two, unless you have them side by side.
And this is still gonna do a really good job for you. And it's gonna be a little bit more economical. If you're wanting to top of the line, monocrystalline is gonna be a little bit more efficient, but this is still gonna do a really good job for you. We do have really nice weather proof materials here. It's got an IP rating or five, four, so it's gonna hold up really well, no matter if it's cut out in a rainstorm and that sort of thing you do, of course, want to make sure that your electrical components are gonna be protected from any weather. We are going to have the cable on the backside of the panel here. This is about 80 inches long, and then you've got your controller. It's got about 40 inches of length to it. And then your battery connecting cables here that are each 20 inches long. So they'll pick one or the other, depending on your situation. So that's gonna give you about 11 and a half feet distance that you can have this panel set up out in the sun. You can have your vehicle or whatever it is that you're wanting to charge up parked in the shade. So 11 and a half feet to I'll work with there so that you can enjoy the cool shade and still have your solar panel set up in a nice sunny spot. So it can get as much solar energy as possible. Our controller here, come a little bit closer so you can see this better. This is our solar controller. It's going to adjust our solar panel output for quick, consistent charge. So it's going to be monitoring your batteries charge as well as the input coming from your solar panel. This does have a controller input voltage of 15 volts up to 22 volts. It does have the automatic multi-stage smart charging system. So you can see there with our LEDs, it's going to monitor the battery to help extend the battery life so that you're not overcharging it. Those LEDs are going to provide the charge progress so you can monitor your charging level throughout the night. This does also have a dual method, smart charging system that's going to efficiently charge the battery in any weather. So if you're out and you're getting full sun, perfect ideal conditions, it's going to allow it to fully recharge with the continuous full sun. And then if there's a cloudy day, a low light situation, it's gonna have a pulse charge of three to five amps so that you're still getting that power coming through as much as it's capable of. It's gonna help save a dead battery from as low as four volts. And so it will do a good job of helping to take care of your batteries. Our battery connection cables here, you've got two different types. So you've got the ring terminals that will connect to your positive and negative. This is going to be more for your permanent installation. If you know, you're getting the solar panel to charge a specific vehicle or battery over and over again, you can get those mounted arm more permanently. The connector here does have a cap to it. So when you're not connected, you can cover up that cap and protect your connections. It's also got holes here on the side that will allow you to pass a zip tie through there so that you can get that mounted where it's going to be easy to access to plug in when you're ready to use it. It's also got a fuse built in and then our other option is our alligator clamps. So these are going to be more for like a. temporary setup, so if you are using an additional battery, I bet you don't have this mounted on very easily, plugged this in, get this connected to your positive and negative for a temporary setup option there. We do also include this heavy duty nylon canvas case that you can pack everything up in to transport. So on inside here got a pocket for all of your cables, so you can pack all that up, keep it nice and organized, stored away so that you know exactly where it is when you're ready to set up the next time. There's all will fit. And some snug in that little pocket. And then we can put our panel away. It's got zips on both sides. It's gonna get pretty easy for us to zip up, protect that. Won't have to worry about it getting scratched cause we're transporting it from one place to another. Again, very, very easy to transport. It's got this handle on the top here. So that gives us a little bit of easier grip. So we don't have to carry it from the sides as we get everything zipped up here. We've got our hook and loop closure for the handle. So and we can take this with us. It's overall a nice option for a portable solar panel if you're wanting to have some off-grid charging options, this is gonna do a good job for you. So that completes our look for today. Again, I'm Michael with etrailer.com. Thanks for watching..
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