RICH SOLAR 200 Watt Solar Panel, 12V N-Type 18BB, 25% High-Efficiency

This review is for the 200W panels. I am using multiple panels in an off-grid system. They were delivered in super sturdy boxes with nice heavy foam protection. Panel build quality is very good, no visual cell defects, excellent mechanical construction, edges line up, etc. Sealant is used where required; quality and application of sealant is good. The aluminum frame has multiple mounting holes, and there's ample room to drill more if required without affecting frame integrity. The glass appears to be good grade; it has a slight random pattern texture on the exterior surface. Junction box and connectors are good quality. Box is sealed with an o-ring. Although they are plastic, and obviously of 'foreign origin,' they seemed to be solid and well made. Soldering and component attachments were good. Lead wires are 3 feet, 12 AWG aluminum. Yes, aluminum, not tinned copper. I did a chemical test to confirm. Does it make a difference? Well, compared to 10 AWG copper, these will see a loss of about 1.2 watts per panel. Not significant in my opinion. Now for the numbers. I'm at about 33 N latitude, ~700 ft elevation, date is around April 20; we're on DST so the max solar elevation is right around 12:45 pm. Load is a discharged AGM bank in good condition, charge controller is an Outback FlexMax 60. In cloudless skies, output stayed about 180W per panel from about 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. with a peak of 188W. Power at 1.5 hrs post-sunrise and pre-sunset was 140W. These are all on an azimuth tracking mount. For some other numbers..... On a partly cloudy day, low white clouds with breaks, output was 220W at 4pm. This is typical of the conditions, because the low clouds reflect back some of the light. And because the light is so scattered, I still got 200W even when the panel was only aligned for elevation. On a fully cloudy day, with zero sun, output was a solid 50 watts, which is about what to expect. About 20 minutes before sunset, on a cloudy day, output was 10 watts, still enough to keep a float charge going. Not terribly useful, but just an interesting data point. There was a fair difference in output when alignment was less than optimal. In an Elevation-Only alignment, total output was about 800 watts from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and 1080 watts fully aligned. If you add the "after hours" power, it makes an even bigger difference. This is a higher than expected difference, and I suspect that it's due to the lack of anti-reflective coating on the glass. Bottom line: great panels at a good price, nice for smaller projects that don't need the large full size panels. I would definitely buy these again. Update 8/26/20: So I actually did buy 2 more. However, my experience was a bit less than 5 stars. The 2 panels I received were packaged in old looking boxes, without the protection of the original 8 that I bought. They were not damaged though, except for some dings on the frame. They had a different cell style, and different junction box, but had the same product label and were marked as '200 watts.' In operation, they only would produce about 190 watts under test conditions (I used simulated lighting and loads for a fair comparison). In real world operation, I was able to get about 185 watts. I contacted Rich Solar, and they were quick to respond with a partial refund, and to keep the panels. In this case, I was actually ok with keeping the panels, so I accepted their offer. So what I ended up with is 190 W panels at a slight discount. I may buy again, but I will contact Rich Solar before purchasing to verify what I'm getting.

UPDATE AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS REVIEW - JUN 2025 If you are a fan of EGO batteries and tools this panel fits very well with the Nexus PST3040, PST3041, PST3042 and CH1800 products to charge your batteries using solar energy. EGO does not recommend a panel with a rating over 100 watts, but we all know that panels never generate the rated wattage. Since the EGO CH1800 supports 180 watts, a 200 watt panel seems a good match to provide that extra power to get batteries charged faster in most conditions. It has worked exceptionally well for me for several years. Unless you park your EGO Nexus PST system right behind this panel, you will need a set of MC4 extension cables. You also, of course, need the EGO CH1800 charge controller. Hooking it up is fairly straightforward. I bought a mounting kit for the panel and put it on the remains of my kid's wooden outdoor play set. In North Texas it charged a 7.5 Ah battery with decent sun to panel geometry in about 5 hours but I think optimal geometry would have taken 4 hours. I also charged four 5.0 Ah batteries with mostly optimal geometry in 11 hours over the course of two days. I have since added a secondary position for the panel to pivot for later in the day to maintain close to optimal geometry. It makes a big difference, as I have seen faster charging times than my original observations. UPDATE JAN 2023 This setup has allowed me to cut, edge, weed eat, and blow grass through the entire 2022 season with no need for grid power! I’m not a tree hugger but it’s pretty cool to have been energy independent for all of my lawn care. I also have a battery powered vacuum for my house that I recharge using my solar charged ego batteries and nexus system. I’m sold on this system! UPDATE FEB 2024 Same results as last year. I am surprised how fast a single statically pointed panel is able to charge my 7.5Ah and 5.0Ah batteries. It makes a difference with using the 200W panel as I have heard complaints from others that it takes a long time with a 100W or 150W panel. Regardless, it is working well for me and I intend to continue using this panel to fully power all my lawn equipment. UPDATE JUN 2025 ...and the beat goes on. I have expanded my EGO system of tools and batteries and remain committed to using only off-grid power to run all of my equipment (including the use of two new 12.0Ah batteries). Yes, the 12.0Ah batteries do take longer to charge but I am proof that this panel can be used to keep up with average to heavy use. Something worth mentioning - we had a power outage earlier this year and I was able to run fans and computer equipment for the better part of a day using off grid power in my EGO batteries. The panel continues to provide strong current and I couldn't be happier with the setup.

I've bought 7 of these in the past five years and they have performed great. Off grid camping in my cargo conversion and as long as I have sun they juice up the batteries just fine. I also have 2 trucks with pull outs and 12v fridges and a 200w panel on each. I use the truck fridge for a freezer when camping and as a drink/grocery keeper when in town. Never failed yet and am putting 3 on my new build. Well pleased.

What can I say? Rich solar is the best. Have 1,000 watts of panels on the roof of my RV. Runs all the minor electronic devices, TVs, lights, fridge and what nots. Don't have the system to run the A/C, Microwave or Keurig, yet. But they could. Works really good keeping the Starlink running. Keeps the Mrs. happy.

These panels I have on my van. I've driven thousands of miles with them on my roof and not one problem. We just went through a HUGE storm in April. I received a weather alert in South Texas of high winds, it was windy out 15 to 20 MPH. Within 5 min. 95+ mph we took cover in our bathroom and we thought this was it. When it stopped 45 min later it was devastating. roofs torn off trees and even bushes were torn off. Huge hail. these panels! Not a scratch, nothing. My windshield busted out and the panels were fine. That metal in the photos is from a neighbor 2 doors down the street. I'll buy these again soon, as soon as I get my trailer back from the shop.

I purchased this 200 watt panel earlier this month. I went with Rich Solar, because I had seen the name mentioned many times online and I figured it was in a better category than other lesser known brands. Most reviewers had commented that their packaging was good and that the output was decent, so I figured it was a safe choice, eventhough their price is a bit on the higher side. There was a flash sale ($180 for the 200watt panel) and I decided to buy it. Before I could finish the checkout process, the price shot up to $230. So I asked if they could match the flash sale price and they did, which I appreciated and made my first interaction with Rich Solar a pleasant one. The panel was shipped soon after and arrived in decent condition. I say decent, because the box had a big dent in it and the edges appeared as if they had been dropped a few times. But the protective foam on the panel, seemed to have prevented the panel from getting damaged. Upon inspection the panel appeared to be in good condition, with some minor imperfections here and there. My feelings changed from positive to disappointment after connecting the panel for the first time. I got 133 watts MAX output at noon. I decided to do some thorough testing over the next few days, I elevated the panel for cooling, angled it towards the sun and wiped it clean just to be sure there wasn't any dust or dirt on it. I proceeded to test it all week and never got a single reading above 135 watts, most of the day in clear sunshine, with very few clouds, 90 degree weather, it would hover between 80-124 watts. VOC measured at 20.8V. I'm fully aware that you will never get 100% of the rated capacity out of a solar panel, but normal figures are between 70-90% and I'm getting between 40-60% with clear skies, bright sun and average summer temps. So I sent RichSolar a message through amazon reporting the issue and was given an email and phone number to contact for tech support. The email was automatically redacted by amazon and the phone number has been going to voicemail for the past 3 days. I'm in the process of making a video review for youtube and I will update this review if a solution is found or offered by RichSolar. UPDATE: I updated my review from 2 to 4 stars because RichSolar offered me a full refund. While the panel I received had issues, I appreciate RichSolar standing by their product and taking the hit on this one. This gives me enough confidence to buy from them again in the future.

So I installed a pair of these flat on the roof of a van, and so far even though it's been cloudy here in Sunny California since the day I popped them up there a pair of these is giving me just under 1 kW a day. The build quality is at least as good as every other solar panel I've bolted on a roof of a van but the output is probably the best I've ever gotten out of a pair of 200 W monocrystalline panels.

Solar panel project worked well with these panels. Installed at pond to power ⛲ fountain. Not as much power as I hoped to generate. I am averaging 30-40% of listed capacity. Too far north to get rated capacity.