My first project

After much research and education, I decided to keep things simple and affordable. I ended up purchasing the Harbor Freight 45W Solar Kit. There is no shortages of opinions out there in regards to this kit. Just search YouTube and you'll find hundreds of videos showing this kit being used in several applications (some are entertaining and others are a fire bomb waiting to go off).

Here's why I ended up choosing this kit:

Almost complete package (it includes everything but the battery)
It's my first solar project. I've learned it's best to crawl before you walk. This kit is simple and in my opinion a great first step.
Price! $159 for the kit + $69 for battery. I purchased a few other items and I'll share the entire list below. The "kit" I was originally planning on assembling was going to cost around $2,000. Granted it was much more powerful and contained better components, but like I said, crawl first.
Amorphous solar panels - where I live, it's cloudy most of the time, especially in the winter, plus I don't have an ideal view of the southern sky.
Did I mention this kit only cost $159? So changing it out in the future won't be financially painful.

Here's what I ended up purchasing:

Harbor Freight 45W Solar Kit ($199 minus 20% discount = $159)
Battery - 12V 35Ah AGM ($69)
22 inch toolbox which I used for battery storage ($12.99)
4-Tier Shelving Rack ($14.99)

It took me about 2 hours to put everything together the way I wanted. Here's some pictures and tips I learned during the process. Roll over the pictures to read my comments.

Assembly tip...

Place the completed frame flat on a table. Makes mounting the panels a breeze.

Back of frame

Front of Frame

Washers

I had spare washers and used them on every mounting point.

Fully assembled

Tried to show the length of the wiring.

Shelf

PDU is in the middle. Toolbox on the bottom is used for battery storage. I drilled a 1 inch hole in the back of the toolbox in order to feed the wiring inside.

Some things to note:

I have no plans on hooking up a DC to AC inverter to this setup. It's strictly for DC power usage. I'm saving that for one of my next projects ;-)
The frame doesn't feel solid after you put it together. It does bend and move, but it is PVC, so it's expected. I don't foresee having any issues with it. Just don't over tighten the wind nuts and you should be fine.

What's next?

I'm in the process of building my own small solar generator from scratch, not from a kit. I learned a lot from playing around with the Harbor Freight unit and I'm ready to move on.