BougeRV Arch 200W Flexible Review

The BougeRV Arch 200W Flexible is the only flexible solar panel designed for permanent roof mounting. This model is very light and has MC4 cables for charging your battery or power station. It's not a folding panel, but it's light enough that you won't notice it on your roof once you've attached it with industrial adhesive.

Power Efficiency

The BougeRV Arch 200W Flexible is a relatively efficient solar panel at converting sunlight into electricity. It's not the most efficient, but it works well considering how thin and lightweight it is.

It uses a monocrystalline cell design rated at 23% conversion efficiency. These solar cells are protected by a layer of fiberglass on top and bottom to prevent impacts. sandwiched between double layers of fiberglass on the top and bottom of the cell for impact protection.

On a sunny day at 6500 feet in California, the Arch 200W Flexible generated 166 watts per hour during our two-hour solar charging test. This isn't the most charge generated, but it's better than average.

To calculate measured efficiency, we compared the actual watts generated during our test, with each panel hooked up to an identical Jackery power station, to each panel's claimed watts. In our efficiency test, the Arch 200W Flexible converted 83% of its claimed 200-watt rating into real output. This is above average, but not the absolute best measured efficiency, either.

Portability

The BougeRV Arch 200W Flexible is, by a wide margin, the lightest and thinnest panel we tested. However, it's not exactly portable like many of the other panels we tested. This model is meant to be mounted on a rooftop, not carried from your car to a campsite.

We give this panel a high portability score because it's so light. At a mere 6.6 pounds, this is less than half the weight of the next lightest 200-watt panel we tested. And while it's light enough to carry, it doesn't have handles, so you'll need two hands. And when you do try to haul it, you'll see what we mean: this isn't meant to be carried.

The Arch 200W Flexible is 58 inches long by 31 wide. It's about 2 mm thick, and flexible enough to bend up to 270 degrees. This means you can mount it onto curved roofs, boats, or even the hood of a vehicle. And once it's mounted, you'll forget it's even there until you look at it.

We're honestly still on the fence about whether to call this panel the most portable or one of the least portable. On the one hand, it is crazy light. But on the other, it isn't meant to be carried around at all. And on a third hand, when we attached it to the fiberglass roof of our campervan, we barely noticed any extra weight at all, and no added wind drag either. So it is portable, just not portable in the you-can-carry-it-in-a-backpack kind of way.

Ease of Setup

The BougeRV Arch 200W Flexible is easy to set up overall. This lightweight panel can be mounted to any surface using pre-punched holes for hardware, industrial adhesive, or double-sided mounting tape. You can also simply lean it against a rock and plug it into a power station.

It didn't score as high in this category because you have to mount it. But once this panel is mounted, you'll never have to set it up again. And compared to a hard-sided fixed solar panel, this is much easier to mount, too.

It has charging cables with MC4 connectors, the standard connector type for solar panels. This means it will attach to any solar extension cables, or you can feed the cables directly into your battery via a solar charge controller.

The Arch 200W Flexible is IP68-rated for waterproofing. This is some of the best water and dust resistance of any panel. And since this is meant to be left outside, water and dust resistance is even more important than it is with a folding solar panel.

Should You Buy the BougeRV Arch 200W Flexible?

The Arch 200W Flexible is a great deal for a unique solar panel. It's not the most efficient, but it's efficient enough for most people. Its lightweight, flexible design lets you mount it practically anywhere, too, so we think it's a great value. It doesn't fold, though, so if you're looking for a lightweight panel to throw in the trunk of your car for use at the campsite or the beach, this isn't a good option for you. But if you're looking for a panel to mount on top of your van, RV, or boat without adding weight, you should consider this model.

What Other Solar Panels Should You Consider?