One thing to closely consider with this panel is it only develops 8 watts max at full sunlight, which is pretty low. I would not consider charging your phone or tablet directly from it as it may not have enough output and will be very frustrating. Even a brief break in the sunlight (a cloud, shadow, etc.) may cause your phone to stop charging, and not restart until you get it back into full sunlight and unplug/replug your device to start charging again.
If you do buy this panel, consider also purchasing a power bank battery pack as well, which won't nearly be as picky to charge as a smart phone. Charge the power bank during the day and then use it to recharge your phone or tablet at night.
Also, I recommend that you turn your phone off when you charge it (it will charge much quicker that way), or if you can't then activate the "airplane mode" to turn off the cell radio, bluetooth and wi-fi also to save power and charge quicker.
One thing to closely consider with this panel is it only develops 8 watts max at full sunlight, which is pretty low. I would not consider charging your phone or tablet directly from it as it may not have enough output and will be very frustrating. Even a brief break in the sunlight (a cloud, shadow, etc.) may cause your phone to stop charging, and not restart until you get it back into full sunlight and unplug/replug your device to start charging again.
If you do buy this panel, consider also purchasing a power bank battery pack as well, which won't nearly be as picky to charge as a smart phone. Charge the power bank during the day and then use it to recharge your phone or tablet at night.
Also, I recommend that you turn your phone off when you charge it (it will charge much quicker that way), or if you can't then activate the "airplane mode" to turn off the cell radio, bluetooth and wi-fi also to save power and charge quicker.
I agree. This really should not be used to charge your phone or any tech device unless you're really desperate. Power banks or simple tech devices like rechargable lanterns and such should would be a much better approach.
Absolutely. It'd be nice if it had a flat pack 1Ah Li-Ion battery built in as a buffer or for days when there isn't enough sun. You could probably buy a scrap of canvas to sew another chamber onto this, battery, and a charge control board cheap on then DIY convert it to that so you didn't have to fiddle with a separate battery pack and cable.
Then again the total size would make a lot of people prefer to just carry a larger battery pack alone, especially with larger capacity packs having dropped in price so much in recent years.
Comments & Reviews (3)
If you do buy this panel, consider also purchasing a power bank battery pack as well, which won't nearly be as picky to charge as a smart phone. Charge the power bank during the day and then use it to recharge your phone or tablet at night.
Also, I recommend that you turn your phone off when you charge it (it will charge much quicker that way), or if you can't then activate the "airplane mode" to turn off the cell radio, bluetooth and wi-fi also to save power and charge quicker.
I agree. This really should not be used to charge your phone or any tech device unless you're really desperate. Power banks or simple tech devices like rechargable lanterns and such should would be a much better approach.
Then again the total size would make a lot of people prefer to just carry a larger battery pack alone, especially with larger capacity packs having dropped in price so much in recent years.
Thank you!