Portable USB Solar Panel Charger Review / Tests

[MJLorton]

Part 1 - https://youtu.be/MgRloFSeWoE
Part 2 - https://youtu.be/nNnIZeAaaCk

In this video I test 11 portable / folding USB Solar Panel Chargers to see how well they perform.

* SunKingdom 39 Watt
* ChoeTech 19 W Portable Solar Charger
* RAVPower 15W Solar Charger (with iSmart)
* Smart Tech  Apollon P15 15 Watt
* Anker® 14W Dual-Port Solar Charger with PowerIQ
* All Power AP® Solar Foldable Charger 7W
* Voltaic Systems 6.0W "Fuse 6W"
* Smart Tech  Apollon P5 5 Watt
* SUNKINGDOM™ 5W 5V
* Voltaic Systems 4.0W "Amp"
* Voltaic 2.0 Watt Solar Panel

My Amazon Store to support my testing and purchase Solar Chargers: http://astore.amazon.com/m0711-20?_encoding=UTF8&node=46

[sidecross]

I just bought a Sunjack 14W solar panels only for $79 it is 14 watts of high efficiency mono-crystalline, Two 5V/2A USB ports, Size folded: 6.75” x 9.25” x 1.75” (17.15cm x 23.50cm x 4.5cm), Size unfolded: 30.75” x 9.25” x 1.75” (78.11cm x 23.50cm x 4.5cm), and weight is 2lbs (907.19grams).

I use two Anker 2nd Gen Astro E3 Ultra Compact 10000mAh Portable Charger External Battery Power Bank with PowerIQ Technology. My needs are quite light, I have two Ipod Classics (160mb), a simple unsmart phone, and an Ipod Nano 6th Generation for emergency radio and or video recording.

I hope to let the forum know if my choice was a good one. 

[Junglejay]

Martin, there is another video on YouTube where you evaluate the SunKingdom 39W panel with Goal Zero's Yeti 150.  You mentioned you were able to connect the two with an adapter you had on hand.  Would you please elaborate on the pieces/approach you used for connecting the two?

I am also keen to know whether you have managed to install Li-ion batteries within the Yeti 150 and, if so, what the results have been.

Thank you.
J.

[ByteCode]

This is a great resource, thank you!

I would be really interested to hear how durable they are for regular use and also how other competitors stack up,

Such as the Bruntons, Goal Zero, InstaPark, AllPowers, Suaoki. Especially in the >10w varieties. :-)

[nitehawk]

Anker has 2 new products: 15Watt and 21Watt using different solar panel than your review.  I wonder how will there perform.

Will you consider running the tests?

Thank you!

[peterk]

He reviewed the 15W version in the video- it put out about half of its rating under normal conditions, but was among the better panels in watts/panel surface area. It had similar performance to the older Anker 14W, with half the panels.

[ChrisWoodz]

Hi All,

I am wondering if anyone was brave enough to disassemble his solar charger. Especially I am interested on how the ChoeTech 19W is built. I own one but dont want to rip it open without any sense. What I want is to add a plug thats directly connected to the panels. Whatever the panel voltage is I am sure I will find applications where the efficiency can be improved. Either a 5V MPPT converter, 12V applications, directly charging multiple inline 18650 cells or anything. I have the suspicion that the built in electronics is not the best. Also it behaves funny sometimes if the light is low.

I think the electronis is behind the fabric and the plastic box is just a plug...

Looking forward for useful information, thanks,

Christian


 

[JohannHousset]

Hi,

Thanks for the review, very useful and precise!

I have a question, sorry if it is a silly one. I am interested in using the 15W RavPower portable foldable solar panel, but I would like to use 12V output sometime to charge a small 12V battery through a 12V charge controler (a little battery that I sometimes use for the navigation lights of a small boat). Would it be possible to use a USB to 12V converter to feed 12V to the battery charger? I have seen one here:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/USB-DC-5V-to-12V-Step-up-Converter-Power-Supply-Charge-Cable-DC-2-1x5-5mm-Jack-/271939080469
Traditional 12V panels are just too big for what I need and the one in the review with a 12V output (39W) had quite bad review. so I am looking for alternatives.

Thanks for your input,

Johann

[czajunia]

Many thanks for the great reviews and very useful info.

Does anyone have any experience with the new RavPower 16W solar charger? It seems to be using thin film panels instead of monocrystalline. This test includes the older 15W one which is really good (apart from the weight for me) and I am wondering how well the new version performs.

After watching the reviews and doing a bit of research the Choetech 19W (15W) charger seems to tick the most boxes for me but I would like to know how the new RavPower compares. I have a feeling they both use similar or even the same panels but because the RavPower is a newer product I thought that maybe they improved something.

Thanks for your input.

[disco]

Part 1 - https://youtu.be/MgRloFSeWoE
Part 2 - https://youtu.be/nNnIZeAaaCk

In this video I test 11 portable / folding USB Solar Panel Chargers to see how well they perform.

* SunKingdom 39 Watt
* ChoeTech 19 W Portable Solar Charger
* RAVPower 15W Solar Charger (with iSmart)
* Smart Tech  Apollon P15 15 Watt
* Anker® 14W Dual-Port Solar Charger with PowerIQ
* All Power AP® Solar Foldable Charger 7W
* Voltaic Systems 6.0W "Fuse 6W"
* Smart Tech  Apollon P5 5 Watt
* SUNKINGDOM™ 5W 5V
* Voltaic Systems 4.0W "Amp"
* Voltaic 2.0 Watt Solar Panel

My Amazon Store to support my testing and purchase Solar Chargers: http://astore.amazon.com/m0711-20?_encoding=UTF8&node=46

Hi MJLorton, I've watched almost all your videos about the solar panel tests.

I'm struggling right now to buy a solar panel charger that behaves the way I expect.
I've bought the Anker 15W solar port, but it was too weak, so I returned it.

I now have the RAVPower 16W (upgrade from the 15W) which you recommended but it has the issue that doesn't reset after a cloud passes by. The Anker 15W had this feature.

Do you have a list of solar panels that support this feature ? I already ordered a Choetech 19W because I read in a amazon review comment, a user stating the the Choetch resets the USB, but in your tests it didn't work that way. Now I think I did a mistake on ordering the Choetech.

BTW, the RAVPower 15W was upgrade from 15W to 16W, it seems they have sunpower cells (but I'm not sure). Will you be able to do a test on this new unit?

[disco]

Many thanks for the great reviews and very useful info.

Does anyone have any experience with the new RavPower 16W solar charger? It seems to be using thin film panels instead of monocrystalline. This test includes the older 15W one which is really good (apart from the weight for me) and I am wondering how well the new version performs.

After watching the reviews and doing a bit of research the Choetech 19W (15W) charger seems to tick the most boxes for me but I would like to know how the new RavPower compares. I have a feeling they both use similar or even the same panels but because the RavPower is a newer product I thought that maybe they improved something.

Thanks for your input.

Hy, did you buy any of the two ? I didn't realize that the ravpower 16W changed the type of the cell from the 15W model. I still don't know if it was a good purchase, I'm waiting to receive the Choetch to decide the better, and return the worst.