Renogy 400 Watt Solar Panel Suitcase, Portable Foldable Solar Panels for Power Station, 23% High Efficiency, Fast Installation with Sturdy Kickstands, IP67 Waterproof for RV Camping Off-Grid Blackouts

It is a beast. It weighs less than our other glass 200W Renogy briefcase panels, yet provides double the power. Folds and unfolds nicely, has two built-in handles and comes in a soft "cordura-like" case, not a hardshell like the glass briefcase panels from Renogy. But it doesn't need that much protection. There is no glass. The folding wire legs seem a bit flimsy, but they do their job. Still, be sure to have some solution worked out ahead of time to stake this behemoth to the ground, if you go camping with it. Figure it out ahead of time... not on site. On a calm day, its a no factor, but even a slight wind, can make this thing go fly. And it WILL fly!It is a really good panel overall, very well built, as I'd expect from Renogy. We have five portable folding panels of various sizes from them and they all work great. I was able to get 385W from this panel on a bright sunny day in Chicago area and that surprised me - I expected way less. Of course, if you add an MC4 cable extension to this, your watt yield will start dropping fast, the longer the cable the more loss, so go with the heaviest gauge copper you can for your MC4 cables. I know they are very heavy, but I never buy less than 10 ga cables for my extensions. It is worth the extra watts you save in reduced loss of amperage.IMO, this panel is not for picnics or day trips. It's an overkill for such use cases, but this is a perfect piece of kit for prepper nerds, zombie apocalypse afficionados, RV-ers, or those who are price conscious and want to save a buck or two during hot summer days and run their small mini split or window A/C, which is what we did - we hooked up our window inverter A/C to an Anker F2000 power station and then ran this panel into the power station. The A/C drew around 600W on average from the battery and the panel fed back 380W into the battery, and on a 2kW bank we were easily running for ~6 hours during the hottest summer days when our energy prices were hitting 50c a kWh. You would spend decades like this trying to recoup the money you put into purchasing the power station and the panel, but that's not the point. The main benefit is the grid independence. The fact that we can run two refrigerators, freezer, some lights, a couple fans, a router, wifi on a summer day, right after a heavy storm knocked our power out for a couple days (happens every year here in Chicago suburbs), that pays for itself many times over, especially when you think of the thousands of dollars in frozen/chilled food you have in your freezer, fridge right now. If you have a hungry family and keep well stocked, you probably know what I'm talking about. I've spent way too many days without power to not be conscious of this.If you need more than a 200W panel, then get this one, instead of buying two 200W units, which is what we originally did. Many power stations these days allow you to "overpanel" them, meaning you can have a larger wattage capacity panel hooked up to them than their MPPT will allow. It will simply only take as much amperage as the station can intake and not more. I know that my Anker C1000X can be overpaneled above its 600W limit. Anker confirmed it. Just be sure to pay attention to voltage limits, if you start stringing more panels in a series and thus doubling your voltage, because this particular panel is actually two 200W Renogy panels connected in a series into a giant 4-piece kit, so its VOC (voltage open circuit) is 47.2V, not the usual +/- 23V. Bear that in mind, if you were planning to get two of these and run in series, you'd be far above the 60V limit most power stations limit you to in today's market. Let alone that anything above 48V could severely shock you and even possibly electrocute to death. This is why I said earlier to buy this 400W panel instead of two 200W panels and put them in a series. Price wise, it saves you a couple hundred bucks.This model I'm reviewing doesn't have it, but Renogy also sells this panel on their website (same price + free shipping!!!) and offer a model with Renogy Rover charge controller, so you could literally hook this up to your RV battery + some fuses or circuit breakers. Their Rover charge controller works very well - I have it on our other Renogy folding panel and it has settings for AGM, flooded, gel, LIFEPO4 batteries and is fully waterproof!As I said, this a a really great panel for back yards as an energy backup or large camping or cabin trips into wilderness, to complement your power station. It's big, even when folded, it takes a decent amount of space in the trunk (and won't even fit in smalll compact car trunks (doesn't fit in my Subaru Impreza hatchback trunk, though, just by mere couple inches...).I bought some plastic tent stakes, small carabiners, and a bunch of bungee cords to fasten this to the ground, because even in a moderate wind, this thing will tip over in a blink of an eye.What I actually bought this for is to act as a secondary off-vehicle array for my cargo trailer I'm converting into an RV - I will already have 900W worth of Renogy CIGS panels on the roof, but need a second array to supplement them when the RV will be parked in a shade and I need to top off the 5kW battery. And this is where this folding panel will come in super handy. Besides the sale markdown price, my main selling point was the weight per 100W of power. It wipes the floor with the Renogy glass briefcase panels we alreayd have. It's no contest. That's how light this panel is compared to those 200W folding glass panels, which are well over 30 lbs each. No, it won't compete with my 150W CIGS roof panels, which weigh mere 6.6 lbs each, but those are specialty, very expensive, and you can shoot bullets through those, drive a car over them, endure heavy hail, partially shade them and they still work perfectly, because unlike regular panels where you shade 5% of their area and lose 30% of output, the CIGS panels lose output proportionate to the shaded area. One 150W Renogy CIGS panel also costs more than this entire 400W foldable panel. You get what you pay for and CIGS panels were developed by DARPA for U.S. military. But, that's another story.This particular 400W one, though not CIGS, is still very good and I do recommend it, as long as you are clear on what your intended use cases and scenarios are. Because I need to repeat this again: it's big...

Logistics:- Purchased during Amazon Prime deals (July 8 - 11) - great price and savings for high quality product- These are 400 Watt panels- Arrived roughly three days earlier than anticipated -- kudos Amazon and Renogy!- Solid and durable shipping box from Renogy - no product damageCons:-- Kickstands are stealthy looking and allows panels to easily fold, but appear to me a bit small.These panels are great off grid solutions, so perhaps to potential solutions:1. Offer another version of panel with rugged, strong kickstands2. Offer kit to switch between standard and rugged kickstands3. In addition to rugged kickstands, offer another option that allows kickstand to adjust panel anglesPros:- High integrity construction over all 4 panels- Has bumpers on all corners to eliminate sharp edges; also good safety feature- Carring handles are durable- Carrying case also highly durable, with pocket for solar panel cables- Durable outer frame securing panels- Durable hinges to hold panels together, and easily unfolds without kinks or getting stuck- Stealthly placed magnets to keep panels locked in place while carrying- MC4 male-female cables from panel are just right length for me- Overall, very appealing product: high integrity, great astetics, easy to follow manual- Have not connected to Renogy's 40Amp MPPT yet, but I expect great off grid results- If all goes well, I plan on 2nd 400 Watt panels

I absolutely love these solar panels! I love the versatility since I can take them out when I go camping or keep them as an auxiliary power source on my sailboat, without the need to ever install them permanently. They are a little bigger than I anticipated but they are rated for 400W so the added size is expected, over let's say a 200W panel setup. Funny enough, these panels actually produce more power than some of my other permanently installed solar panels.The build quality is excellent, starting from the solar panels themselves to the carry bag. The color scheme is stylish and they look and feel premium. Using them does feel like using a top of the line product. The frame is sturdy and feels like it can easily withstand the outdoor elements. I also love the blue corner protectors that keep the panels a little bit off the ground and protect the edges. I've read and watched some reviews complaining that the kickstand is not adjustable, but it doesn't really bother me. I feel that having it adjustable doesn't add much and can lead to a potential weak point, breakage, or water sipping into the adjustment mechanism and leading to rust or other sorts of damage. The easier they are to use, the more reliable, and less prone to damage they are, the more points they score in my book.Since the build is mostly made of metal with very little plastic, they can be a little heavy. Personally, I consider the added weight a bonus since I don't have to worry that they will fly away with the wind, bend or break if something runs into them. If you're moving them short distances, such as from your car to your campsite, the weight is not an issue. The handles are also really well made and are constructed out of one piece of metal. They don't have any padding to make them softer which is good since you don't have to worry about the material rotting or going bad in the rain or snow. For longer distances, I move them using a collapsible cart/wagon which makes transportation a breeze.Connectivity is easy, just connect them to a charge controller and a battery and you are good to go. If you want to run your regular 110v appliances, just connect an inverter to the battery. Connect your coffee maker, toaster or any other electronics you like. It really is as ingenious and easy at it sounds. This solar panel is more than enough to power all of this. Just makes sure you have a good battery, good wattage on your inverter, and a good charge controller (recommend MPPT). Renogy makes all of these as well and I've owned several of them throughout the years without issues, but you can really use any brand you like, they are all inter-compatible (thank God).Price-wise, you get what you pay for. The cost spread out over years of use comes out to actually be low per year of use. At least, that's how I look at it and it makes sense to me when making this decision. If I buy a cheaper solar panel but it lasts me 6-12 months before the issues start appearing and I have to buy a new one every time, I'm actually financially better off by just buying this product.In terms of the enjoyment of use factor, every-time I use these solar panels it feels really good to use them. They are well made, reliable, and very pleasant to look at. Spread that enjoyment out over years of use and that makes me a happy camper (literally, pun intended).