Topsolar SolarFairy 100W Portable Foldable Solar Panel Charger Kit 18V DC Output for Portable Generator Power Station + 12V RV Boat Car Battery +…
$149.99
Description
- 【Designed For Most Portable Power Station】The 19V DC port is specially designed for charging portable power stations and equipped with cables and connectors of different specifications
- 【USB Smart and Fast Charging Technology】 Dual USB Ports QC3.0 & 2.0 (5V/9V/12V 2A max), and the USB-C port support PD3.0.Designed for smartphones and tablets (compatible with iPhone, iPad, Samsung Galaxy), GPS, digital cameras etc. Perfect for outdoor life and even unexpected power outages. The build-in smart IC chip intelligently identifies your device, and maximizes its charging speed while protects your devices from over charging and overloading.
- 【Foldable&Portable】After being folded, the size is only 9.84*7.87*2.36 inch. You could easily pack it into backpack or trunk to explore the world. At the same time, the panel is equipped with adjustable brackets.You could adjust the angle of the solar panel at will to obtain a higher output power.
- 【Powerful High Conversion Efficiency】 With high efficiency monocrystalline solar cell, you will get greater power efficiency even though the panel is smaller than a traditional model Maximizes system output by reducing mismatch loss. It performs better than similarly rated polycrystalline solar panels at low-light conditions
- 【Durable】 The solar panel is fully Laminated, made by advanced laminated technology and long lasting ETFE material. NOTE：Before test the 14.4V port voltage, need to connect a load/battery to activate.
, Topsolar SolarFairy 100W Portable Foldable Solar Panel Charger Kit 18V DC Output for Portable Generator Power Station + 12V RV Boat Car Battery +…, 199.99, USD,
Additional information
| Product Dimensions | 22.83 x 17.72 x 2.95 inches |
|---|---|
| Item Weight | 5.1 pounds |
| Manufacturer | Topsolar |
English
Julien –
I love the compact design and the sturdy material used. I plugged the solar panel to my Jackery battery to prepare my road trip !
It works but the max Watt I have is 59W that shows up on the battery ???? It says 100W so I would love to have explanations ! I’m in Florida, the sun is hot and it is noon !!! Why don’t they advertised for 100W when it produces 60W ?
Brandon –
I have a ton of rigid panels and few flexibles, even a couple folding panels in the lower wattage range. This was my first larger folding panel purchase and I was feeling discouraged while shopping reading so many reviews of dismal output from many top brands.
I’ve had this panel for a whopping 4 hours and just got it set up outside for a test. The sun isn’t perfectly overhead so these numbers may increase slightly, but I don’t plan to angle it or anything – flat is better than anything I could rig up given the position of the sun right now.
Immediately showed 74-75w being produced when connected to a Victron MPPT (see attached image). I expected this number to fall as the panel heated up – it’s 95* outside and it’s laying on hot plywood with no airflow beneath the panels, or from anywhere – perfectly still wind-free day.
So, 30 minutes later it’s producing 72w. The 2x100w series’d rigid panels on my truck are producing 143w right now and actually have good air flow. So I’d say the output of this panel is a lot better than what I’ve read of Dokios and similar, producing 60w from a “200w” folding panel.
It’s heavy but that’s okay, it rolls up tight and compact and feels more durable than my smaller folding panels. The smaller ones I have can be flexed but these feel like unfolding a book of floor tile, so that’s where the weight is coming from. No other comments on durability though, too soon to tell. Just feels like it’ll last. Unfolding it is straight forward, you just flip the 6 tiles open and then unfold the other 6 from on top of it. I liked that because I could unfold without having the panel producing any voltage until I flipped the last fold over – one side covers the other until this point. People who are familiar with throwing blankets over producing solar panels to halt current will understand and appreciate this.
The flap that hangs off the side where the output box (or whatever you want to call it) is ok, I previously thought it was stupid when shopping. Part of the flap has the output box and the other part is what wraps over the panels and velcros them shut when folded up. I don’t think you could use this panel hanging horizontally (landscape mode!) without that flap catching the wind and being obnoxious, and causing stress on the wires inside that lead to the flap. But would be easy to hang vertically with the flap hanging down.
If you review this item, try to observe the panel voltage and charge current going in to your battery. That’s useful info in a world of subpar folding panels that barely hit half their rated output.
Oh yeah, wires. Let’s talk wires. They’re terribly thin on all the accessories. I’m using a 10 amp 2.1×5.5mm jack as my solar inlet to my charge controller so I was able to use the included 2.1×5.5 extension cable. The MC4 adapter and alligator clip adapter are both like 22 gauge. It’s very possible the 2.1×5.5mm extension cable is also high gauge. I ordered a 16 gauge heavy duty 10ft 2.1×5.5 extension (but I’m realizing now I should have gotten a male to male – it hasn’t arrived yet). In any event, using as large of wire as possible from the panel’s output box to your charge controller is always recommended to curb voltage drop.
If you really want to give the panel the best shot at producing, get a 2.1×5.5mm male jack with screw terminals (they come in packs of 10) from Amazon and shove as large a wire as possible as you can in to them (12 gauge in my experience) and keep the wire as short as you can to reach where it needs to go. This will allow more voltage to flow through the wire at greater lengths and in high temps.
Ending review, this took me a while to type and its been at least another 30 minutes since I said it was producing 72w. It’s giving me 70w right now – barring a handful of days here in Colorado this is as hot as it’s going to get.
UPDATE after first trip: Took this to the mountains and laid it in the grass to charge up my LiFePO4 camper battery. Had to use their included 2.1×5.5mm extension cable again as the heavy duty one I ordered hadn’t arrived before I left town. This was going in to a Victron 75/15 MPPT charge controller. 72*F ambient temps and mostly clear skies. Didn’t bother angling it, and the grass wasn’t letting it lay perfectly flat either so it was a very slight bowl shape. Was watching the charge controller over bluetooth and about an hour in to charging I hit 80w for a while… covered in bugs (adding new pic). Would recommend.
Scott C –
The good stuff:
It folds into small package with carrying case e.g. its very portable. Has grommets at all 4 corners which are important because since the panel folds you may need to temporary mount it for best sun exposure. Comes with ways of powering a lot of devices including 12 V, car batteries, and more which could come in handy. Customer service responded quickly to all questions (more below)
The bad stuff:
Customer service answers not always understandable. Between that and a poorly written manual it will be hard to figure out what some of the attachments/cables do unless you are electrically savvy. I don’t own a Watt meter but figured this out using a Power Station. The solar panel’s Watt output in ideal but real world conditions can only power about 65 watts from the AC output of the power station and keep the power station battery from dropping or going up in charge. Since there is a power loss when converting the solar panels dc output to the AC output of the power station the actual wattage of the panel is higher than 65 watts, but I can’t say how much higher. Its not giving the full 100 watts in ideal but real world use conditions. I am not electrically savvy, have seen wattage tests where framed permanent 100 Watt monnocrystalline panels output max 81 Watts in the same conditions noted here – given my lack of expertise in this area, to be fair, take this last point with a grain of salt.
Stuff you need to know if you get one:
The manual is not clear and does not address quite a few important points which are listed next.
1. There is a red light and a green light on the gray controller box. The QA on Amazon lists the wrong answer as well even though it was written by their customer service. The green light means there is sufficient charge output. See below for a complete explanation*.
2. To charge a car battery see attached picture which shows the correct set up. Confirmed by customer service.
3. The adapters (manual refers to as “connector cables”) which connect to the end of the DC to DC 6.5 foot cable are in the other attached picture. There is no connector provided to charge a laptop with a USB C charging port.
* When I asked TP solar customer service about the lights they responded that the green light on attached controller means its producing power, the sunlight is powerful enough for powering an appropriate device. The red light will not charge a device. I had the panel out at 8 am in less than ideal conditions and it did charge my Power Station battery slowly. So in my experience it will charge in some less than ideal conditions if the light is red.