I purchased my SP 120 last August 2023 and it stopped working in the last week of October 2023. I only use it for about 2-3 hours a day , 3 days in a week. Pretty much light use for my Bluetti EB3A and the Metabunny 400W powerstation. I contacted the seller (Oct 31, 2023), They asked for pictures, videos, and a Bluetti app screenshot of the low voltage error. They are sending me a new one (Nov 1, 2023). No problem with customer/seller service but why did this happen with just 2+ months of light usage? Is there an issue with the SP series that they came up with the PV series? Should I be worried that this will happen again? Or maybe I should just use this as backup and just use a regular, non-foldable, more affordable, 120W solar panel (which I already ordered).
FYI. I handle all my solar stuff with utmost care because these things are not exactly cheap in the Philippines.
Hi @mjolby888
did you use a voltmeter to check if its really low voltage? Maybe the EB3A has the failure and not the SP120.
greetings
Erik
I can charge the EB3A using my car charger. It was definitely the SP120.
@mjolby888 Hard telling what the specific issue might be. Theres alot of tiny little wires in these portable panels that could be “kinked” somewhere or something? I personally love my sp120 panels that I have had since 2020 and still work flawlessly. Not wired in parallel like the newer PV series panels, but the sunpower cells in them work amazing in sunny conditions.
Have you taken a multimeter to the leads to see what kind of VOC you get out of them?
@mjolby888 Is the temperature on the SP120 surface too high? If the temperature is too high, it will also affect the input.
I tested it again today. It works when laid flat on the ground but stops working when upright or slanted using the kickstand even when facing the sun directly.
I’m buying multimeter tomorrow.
@mjolby888 strange that it’d work fine laying flat vs upright like that! Hmm yea I’m not sure. Keep us posted after the multimeter comes in and you can get some readings of the vdc and while moving them around a bit to see if you can possible pinpoint where the issue is coming from
