WindyNation 200 Watt Solar Panel Kit: Two pcs 100W Solar Panels + P30L LCD PWM Charge Controller + Solar Cable + Wiring Connectors + Mounting Brackets for Off-Grid RV Boat

The P30L controller never really worked correctly from the day I installed it. It's packed with features that I attempted to take advantage of. One feature being the auto load on/off. Absent of a built in photocell, It apparently utilizes the solar panels as the key to switch the load on or off. When it senses the panels are delivering a charge, it shuts the load off. When it senses the charging has dropped to a certain voltage (Sun going down) it turns the load on. Sounds pretty neat. But it never worked correctly from day one. Very intermittent meaning sometimes it did work but often times I’d drive by after dark and the light was off.I never did get the auto on/off feature to work and the techs at Windy Nation were of no help. I ended up purchasing the “Night Watchmen” photocell and wired the load direct to the battery bank bypassing the controllers load feature. It cost more than any other photocell I have ever purchased ($40.00) but it has not failed me yet; almost a year and running. Sometimes, peace of mind and knowing that something is going to work without problems is worth $40.00, you know?Unfortunately the only thing that really ever did work on the P30L was the charge control itself. Up until about a year anyway, then that started not working either leaving the batteries under charged.Several calls over a period of time (from day one till the end) to the Windy Nation Tech Service revealed nothing from their end. They always gave me the run around with go and check this, adjust that, send me the numbers its producing, blah, blah, blah. They refused to accept the controller itself was faulty. It was always my fault and I must have installed it incorrectly or wired something wrong. I spent many twilight hours out there measuring voltages and currents with my DMM to try and figure out what the heck this thing was doing to no avail.I finally replaced the P30L with a MPPT Controller from AIMS (30 AMP) ($140.00) and all of a sudden everything worked flawlessly. Un-believable! Before then, the Techs from Windy Nation almost had me convinced that maybe I had done something wrong. I put the P30L where it belonged….in the dumpster.I really wanted to like Windy Nation but they honestly left me with a bad taste. I have another P30L that has been working up until just recently. It's actually the one that I bought in regard to this very post. It too has begun to malfunction. Looks like I'll be buying another AIMS Controller before long. I’ve read other commenters posts expressing similar dealings with Windy Nation Techs. On the contrary I will admit in regard to Windy Nation that the rest of their equipment (Panels, mounts, wiring, etc.) all seem to be good in quality and none of the equipment has given me any trouble whatsoever. It's just the P30L controller. I see it all over the internet from other manufactures. It looks the same with different names, numbers, and logos. I've seen it as cheap as $19.00. It isn't worth 2 cents in my opinion. When it worked, it was intermittent. I couldn't trust it. Every time I went out to see how the system was running I was disappointed yet again.I have no experience with any of their (Windy Nation) other controllers so I cannot comment on them. I will also admit in regard to Windy Nation that their shipping was very speedy.So, do yourself a favor and don't buy this controller, the P30L. If you already have, I guess keep it until you start experiencing issues with it. When that happens….and it will….don't waste your time calling them or trying to trouble shoot it. Just throw it away and buy a quality controller.

By far the best bang for the buck solar kit. I am getting almost 14amps charging out of these two panels and controller. I tow my toy hauler at 75 with commercial tires so the 4 total mounting points did not seem sufficient to me. I would suggest picking up another pack of the Z tabs and put one on the front and back of each panel if you install them length wise just for extra insurance from blowing off. As soon as I am able I will add two more panels to this kit. The kit performs better than my buddies Go Power 1200 dollar solar kit!

UPDATE: It took about four days upon reaching out to get it resolved. The best assistance came from sending an email to the company as the telephone side of things was fast response, but not trained in tech support. With that being said, the panels arrived working BUT the MC4 connectors ( the plastic pieces that hook from the controller to the branch connectors on the panels ) are extremely touchy. We actually had to take the pieces off completely and hardwire them in because when we used them, the controller didn't register the panels were attached. My batteries are now at 13.7 today, so they are now fully functional. I would love to have given five stars because the set up is so straightforward; but somehow difficulties arose lol!I bought the panels in December and we have been working on our boat getting the electrical up and running. The solar panels still dont run or work in any way and we weren't sure if it was how we rewired the boat or not. Now, everything is working except the solar panels. It's like the wires provided dont recognize the solar panels are connected? Hooking up a volt meter, it's not getting anything. The charge co trolled appears to turn on and work though. I haven't been able to get in touch with them on the phone yet but we are trying. Hopefully it's just a busy company and they will get back to us soon! We definitely need these to work to have any hope of air conditioning in this 100 degree summer. :(

Sept 3, 2019 2:15pm just happened to notice my two 100W panels are charging 11.2 Amps of current through the P30L into my two group 27 batteries. That’s the highest I’ve seen yet. More than I’d have imagined to see considering ‘efficiency’ calcs would suggest maybe just over 10A as maximum potential.Yes, I’m pleased I bought from windyNationDec 26, 2020 so if you send a tech support question on Christmas Eve I found out they answer on Christmas....May 24, 2021 a little disappointed that the MC4 splitters got tired and brittle in the sun so soon. One basically crumbled on me just now as I was unplugging it. Didn’t just break- it broke a release tab and then on attempting reassembly it crumbled in several more pieces.(BTW windyNation sells 8ga ready-made cables which I liked as well. It appears that two 100W panels feed two grp27 batteries just fine- I can do three with 200W of panel after moving to a spot with fuller sun. Recently I expanded to 500W but removed one panel to 2S2P 24V into an mppt that charges @12V. I’ve seen as high as 40V PV.)

Panels have been great! We camp in a travel and have a generator we would run to keep the batteries up. Since we installed the panels this summer so far we have only run the generator to use the microwave. No need to run it at all. With the 30 amp controller and just the two panels at one point I saw it was cranking 9.2 amps. Fantastic! My in laws spent twice the money on another similar system and are now going to buy this setup for their 2nd trailer. Highly recommended for the price.

Built a stand for these out of L - bracket aluminum and added two hinges to the panels , bolting them together and folding up for transport.I used wing nuts for the attachment points on the legs for easy break down. Assembles in about 3 minutes.I drained my fifth wheel batteries down to 2/3, powered up the panels and trailer batteries charged to full in 5 minutes.This is going to be great for dry camping.Will Get a 2000 watt inverter for appliance use..tv, coffee maker, etc.