aristotle
New Member
I recently saw a 150w invertor with usb socket for under £20 and 60w solar panels for £199. would these be suitable for use on my boat. Leaving for the med in july. Any advice would be welcome.
invertors and solar panels from maplin
- Thread starter aristotle
- Start date
vyv_cox
Well-Known Member
The reviews for the panels are very positive. However I note that the panels are mounted on plastic frames. I bought a small Maplins panel to keep my car batteries charged when left in Greece for several months. The plastic was seriously distorted by the heat of the sun.
Beyondhelp
Well-Known Member
Lots of panels much cheaper than Maplin on ebay...
GrahamM376
Well-Known Member
Beware of Maplin inverter sizes, they're often advertised at peak load ie. 150W may be 75W constant.
aristotle
New Member
thanks for the advice, they now have a 300w invertor on special for £24 peak output power 900w max, must be good value
mlthomas
Well-Known Member
Not sure that cost is always good value.
V1701
Well-Known Member
All Maplin gear is expensive, you can get much better value by trawling around on ebay. E.g. the 40 watt solar panel I had from Sunrise Energy (through ebay) was a good quality, basic panel with strong aluminium frame, £105 a year ago, now £90 or £95. There are dozens of inverters on there. Another example, just got a new Plastimo Contest compass for £89 freepost, local chandlers price £143! Ebay is very hard to beat but depending on what you're after worth trying Google shopping search as well...
Beyondhelp
Well-Known Member
Totally agree. Some stuff on ebay is not that cheap, and it pays to shop around for sure, and ebay is good for quickly establishing a normal price and then looking from there.
aristotle
New Member
Very good advice, will try ebay and other sources.
