If you purchase a portable “solar generator” you may purchase it with or without portable solar panels made by the same manufacturer. In many cases, the portable solar panels can be costly compared to “rigid” solar panels which offer similar electrical output. Also, many of these products are difficult to purchase locally or may only be available through online sales. But what about solar panels from Harbor Freight? They are usually available locally (and in stock!) at reasonable prices. But are they any good?

In this video I talk about two styles of 100-watt, rigid solar panels which I purchased at local Harbor Freight stores. One model, featuring a lightweight aluminum frame, is available at a normal price of $129, although they often have coupons to discount that price by anywhere from $10 to $30. The other “portable” model is a folding style with a heavier, black, metal frame. Its normal price is $189 although Harbor Freight often offers a coupon for a discount of about $40.

The performance of these panels is exactly what I wanted. In ideal sunshine they’re able to output 100 watts to my portable Anker 535 Power House power station. I also purchased an adapter through Amazon which allows me to connect two of these Harbor Freight panels in parallel for increased watt output while maintaining the same voltage. This increased output is sometimes referred to as “over paneling” and it allows the Anker 535 to keep charging well even if the sunshine received by the panels is not ideal.

If you are setting up solar panels for a portable power station it is essential that you match the voltage of the panels with the power station’s acceptable voltage range. In my case, the Anker 535 can accept 12-28 volts and these Harbor Freight panels are within that range. If I had connected two panels in series then the voltage would be too high. But when they are connected in parallel they’re just fine.

The only issue folks seem to have with Harbor Freight solar panels is that they use SAE connectors instead of the more standard Anderson connectors, XT60, XT90 or MC4 connectors used by many solar devices. I was able to easily find adapters but I had to go online for most of them, including the adapter to connect two panels in parallel to a single SAE output. Also, the Anker 535 input is a 7.9mm DC connection (sometimes referred to as an 8mm barrel plug). Oddly enough, Harbor Freight’s folding solar panel came with an SAE-to-7.9mm adapter already (to allow it to connect with the Anker 535) but the other panels didn’t, making it necessary to purchase an adapter separately.

One more essential concern as you’re setting up connectors and adapters is polarity. A simple, inexpensive multimeter will tell you if your DC power connector is providing the correct polarity and many SAE cables come with adapters to reverse the polarity if necessary. If you connect power in the wrong polarity it may cause your power station device to simply not respond OR it may actually damage the device. I don’t know what my Anker 535 would do with reverse polarity power. I’ve never connected power to it incorrectly and I am unwilling to test that on my own gear.