Why I selected Renogy Eclipse panels at 2X the price pic

Yup, I agree....And those guys with taped down flex panels all eventually learn exactly that.

I LOVE the concept of flex panels, I do....BUT right now the tech and materials used simply cannot survive long when they are glued/taped down to any surface.

They seem to work reliably and well as portable panels when propped up off the ground, tho.

Funny tho how even then, the Renogy Eclipse suitcase still out performs them considerably.

I bought 165w panels here in Canada for less than I could by Renogy 100w Eclipses (265$CDN/203$US vs 285$CDN/218$US). I considered using Well nuts but I made my own tilting brackets and spaced them to hit the 4' rafter centers on my 5th wheel. I have 4 panels up now (640w) and if I wanted to cover most of the roof I could easily get 12 up there. The 300w panels are even cheaper on a per watt basis but their sizing didn't work out as well.

I totally agree that quality panels can be had at half the price per watt, where the larger the panel, the cheaper per watt.

But for my particular total system design and equipment specs I was restricted to 12V panels....So that made me decide to go with many high quality panels as small and efficient as possible......Panels were just one piece of a system design where while sorting it all out many possible selections of each piece of the total puzzle were discarded.

Not a single item in my system is a stand alone best in the world class quality item...Not a single one....And not a single method in my madness is either....But, for me, and as a piece of the puzzle on my table, the Eclipse panels fit exactly.

Alto my puzzle is completed, I'm still looking at several pieces(like the inverter) so see if there might be a more suitable fit.

Sounds like you have a quality system.

people desiring flex panels might wanna wait awhile as the new tech develops:

www.independent.co.uk/news/science/graphene-sheets-smart-wallpaper-surrey-internet-of-things-a6903271.html

Good old Ralph talks down on MPPT because he only sells his old school PWM....Rather than invest the bucks and race to keep up with the competition, he instead tries to sell his old stuff by demonizing the new better controllers....I'm certain his old PWM controller was great stuff in its day, but hey, it's a NEW day, yaknow?

Your knowledge of MPPT is very lacking if you truly believe it is ONLY for series 12v and high volt arrays. Yes, there are MANY MPPT's designed to allow series and high volt applications and that is their huge selling point. BUT there are also some very high quality low voltage MPPT's especially designed for small 12V in parallel...Yup, and  I have three of them and I am very pleased with them.

ONCE AGAIN, the driving force I based my whole complex system on was REDUNDANCY and the ability to cross connect and split it into still functioning smaller systems instantly and seamlessly if I experienced a failure.  There were certain places where the systems had to marry, like the inverters, and battery banks....In that reqard, I selected the very best AGM batteries made(Life Line), and I'm just auditioning the Aims unit...Seeing as how they are small 100 watt panels, I can lose several to failure of hail damage or whatever and still have the remaining panels to survive with....That was also the deciding factor on my choice of the MC4 combiner box...The MC4 connectors make it almost instant for me to eliminate failed panels and swap the remaining ones to another controller if required....Guy, I ain't trying to sell my system design here, or the components I used.....And I'm getting tired of attempting to explain it to two particular guys who have elected themselves as gatekeepers to a public forum where we seek to share our ideas and ask questions.

I'm the guy that stuffed a Chevy engine into a Jeep, yaknow, so I certainly ain't brand loyal to Chevy or Jeep. Same for my solar system. I ain't brand loyal to Renogy for everything they offer. I select my components from all offered by everyone...But only if they fit my needs.

That's my Jeep packing a Chevy 5.3 LSX engine....The ONLY thing I like about Chevy is their LSX 5.3 and 6.0 engines, And the only thing I like about Jeep CJ"s and TJ"s is you can extensively modify them into a mobetter vehicle using stuff made by countles others....So as you can see I'ma a gear queer, but not a brand queer....But NOT, BTW, homosexual.