My first solar panel was a non foldable panel of roughly 1 by 4 feet that was rated at 15 watts. I find now that there are foldable 100 watt panels at a good price point. I am using a Chinese Windcong solar controller compatible with LiFePO4 batteries instead of the supplier controller.. Initial tests look good. The controller will throw around 4.5 amps into the battery and shut-off about 13.7 volts. I kind of like that. I have hooked the controller to the battery hard wired. The controller voltage will clamp down to the battery voltage. You do not want the controller to hook directly to the rig as you could exceed the rated voltage of the rig.
My 100 watt Portable Go Box is based on the Icom 7100 and has a 30 ah LiFePO4 battery. So this is NOT a solar panel for RaDAR pedestrian mobile. But could be handy for a field day base camp.
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| testing with 10 ah battery |
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| 100 watt Portable Go Box |
