Thread: Solar chargers

Have any of you out there had any experience with the cheap solar panel chargers off Uncle Temu or Ali Express? Just to charge a head torch, phone or the like on extended trips. Short trips I take battery tool battery and clip on charging port.

the panels arent the issue, its the cheap controllers that will let you down

I bought the Big Blue 28 from Amazon. Works well. Got 25% charge of a 10,000mAh powerbank in 1 hr of good sunlight. Weighs about 700-800 g and about the size of a A4 piece of paper About $120

Yep i bought a Temu foldable one, works really good..... I use it to top up my goal zero power station on fly in trips.

Weighs bugger all so would potentially chuck it in the pack for walk in trips as well.

Originally Posted by Sika 8

Yep i bought a Temu foldable one, works really good..... I use it to top up my goal zero power station on fly in trips.

Weighs bugger all so would potentially chuck it in the pack for walk in trips as well.

Link?

That’s what I’m after Sika 8. Do you have a link?

We just built a shed for the digger and I grabbed a basic solar charger off Ali, about $100 total. The panel is maybe 500x350 if I had to guess. It happily keeps the big digger battery fully charged so that's all I need from it.

https://www.temu.com/nz/60w-foldable..._id=lhyizx5f6q

My one has been discontinued when i click on it from my order history, but it looks exactly the same as this one to me....

Also bear in mind some of the wattage numbers on the Aliexpress/Temu panels are pretty much made up. My roof panels at home are roughly 1.6m x 1.0m, and the panel is 250W output (midday, middle of summer). Realistically from a say 200x300mm panel, you might get 9W in ideal conditions, but probably more like 5W due to angle, power losses in the charge controller, etc.

I have a 3-panel portable solar charger, weighs around 0.5kg, 15x30x2cm folded. It will give you 2.4A at 5V output in bright sunlight. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001146676560.html

Real output is around half of advertised output, but based on the actual area of the PV panels, its about what I expected.

Originally Posted by bjp

Also bear in mind some of the wattage numbers on the Aliexpress/Temu panels are pretty much made up. My roof panels at home are roughly 1.6m x 1.0m, and the panel is 250W output (midday, middle of summer). Realistically from a say 200x300mm panel, you might get 9W in ideal conditions, but probably more like 5W due to angle, power losses in the charge controller, etc.

I have a 3-panel portable solar charger, weighs around 0.5kg, 15x30x2cm folded. It will give you 2.4A at 5V output in bright sunlight. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001146676560.html

Real output is around half of advertised output, but based on the actual area of the PV panels, its about what I expected.

Interesting what you say, sometime ago I enquired about a solar panel to keep the batteries on a tractor charged up over the winter. I was advised that about 5 watts would be sufficient and got a panel 400x150, it works a treat, the batteries in the tractor were 2x 1150CCA which are big batteries.
I notice that the ad for the folding panel that Sika 8 linked, say that they are 40w panels, do we believe or not?

https://www.outdoorgearlab.com/revie...e-solarpowa-28

https://www.amazon.com.au/BigBlue-Fo...Y2hfYXRm&psc=1

I doubt its 60w to be fair, the one i got is actually "65w" which i doubt..... But it charges my phone, thermal and tops up my goal zero yeti power station no worries!

My one doesn't have that external cord like the one i linked, it has duel usb ports that are "internal" to the end section.
I think i paid $35 for it? They are definitely a good buy and if you get a few years out of it then sweet!

Originally Posted by Lambie

Interesting what you say, sometime ago I enquired about a solar panel to keep the batteries on a tractor charged up over the winter. I was advised that about 5 watts would be sufficient and got a panel 400x150, it works a treat, the batteries in the tractor were 2x 1150CCA which are big batteries.
I notice that the ad for the folding panel that Sika 8 linked, say that they are 40w panels, do we believe or not?

Yeah even a 5w panel is usually enough to keep the starter battery topped up, even big ones.

I did some quick calcs based on panel area (using 150W per sq.m), I reckon true output from the 60W folding pocket sized one would be around 10W. But that's good enough to charge phone/powerbank. I reckon they work better charging a powerbank (doesn't have to be big) then use the powerbank to charge device. Not as efficient, but the powerbanks are usually less fussy when the supply current might fluctuate - clouds, etc. Phones sometimes need a minimum current, which the panel might not always supply.

Have a 200w folding panel for our Bluetti battery bank, last summer in full sun and angled 90deg to the sun it was pulling in 165w that's the best it's done.