In case anyone is interested Costco has solar panels w/free shipping.

Solar Panels Solar Panels

nice! What could these power?

tro

Good price for 54W of power especially considering it has a charge controller and everything.

54W, for perspective, is enough to run most 12VDC electric coolers (Mine uses 47W peak according to the manufacturer).

Any information about hooking them in series to increase power?

-Blast

I noticed these a few days ago. It's a very good deal, especially if you don't have any of the bits-and-pieces (charge controller, inverter).

54W is actually a useful amount of power. I wouldn't go with less than 45W for a mobile setup. It will keep all your battery-operated items (flashlights, LED lanterns, laptops, NiMH chargers, radios, cell phones, etc.) running quite nicely. Someone has thought this through.

FWIW, I have a couple of ICP panels (a 5W and a 15W). They've been out in the weather, -30C to +30C, for about three years now and have kept trickling out the precious juice.

In terms of hooking this setup in series: I'm pretty sure the panels would take it (most can take up to 10A, though check the documentation). But the charge controller that's included is only rated to 4A. So buy two setups and hook each to a big fat battery. Switch over as required.

I went with the SunLinq 25 Watt Foldable Solar Charger for my car -- just plug it into the cigarette lighter.

Harbor freight has a 45 watt setup for $179.

Nope, Harbor freight $219
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=90599

I would run them in a setup similar to a buss bar. All the units would be hooked to a single feed line to the battery. Each unit would be or is protected by a diode to prevent nasty electrical things happening.

$.02 worth

Agree. Run them in parallel to maintain whatever the output voltage happens to be (~12-15 VDC).

I may run up to the local Costco and see if they have these in stock.