From LenSun to Cascadia 4x4 - Why quality matters with solar panels

Cascadia 4x4 is the originator of the vehicle-specific, hood-mounted, solar panels. In this video, we help our buddy Jesse, known as the Overland Chef, regain control of his electrical system by removing the failing LenSun solar panel and installing the Cascadia 4x4 pannel.
If you would like to grab a solar panel for your vehicle and keep your battery topped off, or maybe to avoid having to go with a costly dual battery system, you can grab them here:
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We asked Cascadia 4x4 directly to give us some information, from their perspective, asto who Lensun is, and why the Casscadia panels are better. This is what we got:
-Cascadia 4x4 is the inventor of the VSS system, we perfected our systems through 2 years of R&D to ensure the products function perfectly.
- Our proprietary design and process allows the panels to always stick down to the hood as they should. We don't leave it up to the customer to figure out how to attach it!
- We offer a complete plug-and-play system. With Lensun the customer will need to shell out another $50 minimum to figure out how to mount the panel.
- Each of our systems is designed and tested specifically for each vehicle, which we 3D scan in-house to ensure the best fitment possible. (Lensun just bases their panels on rough measurements sent in from customers, they have never tested any of them on vehicles themselves, hence the very poor fitment).
- While even some of our solar panels delaminate or fail, we have the quality name brand and customer service to back it up and will replace any issues like that without question.
- When dealing with us, you are dealing with a small North American brand, you will always speak to one of the two owners of the company and inventors of the Vehicle Specific Solar Systems! We care about preserving our brand and taking care our loyal customers.
- VS Lensun, a large Chinese solar manufacturer that doesn't supply a quality product, doesn't honor warranties, has never tested a panel on a vehicle in-house (they don't have any of our standard vehicles in China), and blatantly stole our kit and design. They even went as far as to copy and paste our content directly to their website!
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[@newhollandoverland]

Weve gone through 3 of the lensun solar panels in the last 6 months... super dissapointed and cant wait to upgrade to a cascadia panel in the future!

[@BlazeOffRoad]

I’m unfortunately not surprised, copycat items aren’t usually the best quality!

[@tylerlongwell90]

hell yea loved the video brother !!! Keep grinding

[@BlazeOffRoad]

Thanks man! We have a ton more videos coming!

[@CruisinMiles]

What causes the de-laminating? My Lensun solar panel on my 80 series is starting to do this.

[@BlazeOffRoad]

Poor quality. They essentially knocked off the cascadia 4x4 design and did not make it nearly as well. We see it with all LenSun panels eventually unfortunately.

[@DriveLikeShana]

How does this hold up in heat? and with engine heat as well... Heat is the worst thing for any solar panel as it drops the efficiency massively. I'm not able to wrap my mind on how they are able to over come that..

[@BlazeOffRoad]

Great question! The short answer is that heat is not an issue. The longer answer is that the panel is really meant to be run when the vehicle is off, as when it is running the alternator is providing more than enough charging. Beyond that the pannel is designed with an airgap behind it, and thanks to the high-quality cells it is actually very efficient, so even with a bit of heat that does not become an issue. Keep in mind that new vehicles also all have insulation on the back side of the hood, along with multiple layers of metal structure giving you a bit of a gap. So we have seen no issues with heat, and they are easily able to withstand heat well over 100 degrees, as all solar panels are on hot days, sitting in the sun!