Another outdoor session with 2 different USB solar panels - the Suaoki 16W panel and a Vinsic 22W foldable panel. More interesting results and the sun managed to stay out today - mostly.
Suaoki Panel links:
UK: http://amzn.to/1UC5avz
US: http://amzn.to/1Nd7Wa4
Suaoki Panel links:
UK: http://amzn.to/1UC5avz
US: http://amzn.to/1Nd7Wa4
im totally glad, if i buy 10W panel i can good lucky take out 5W or max 8W out of panel, wery weak, no good. same if have 22W panel can take out 10W shit, have same at 100W panel can take out only 50W ??? thats mean not have cheap because need douple all panels more. if my house have 700W panel true have only 350W shit, no can use all house good. need buy 5000 W or more panel have little power to all house. wery expensive.because normal panel cost 1W/1$ normal today, before has expensive but have drop last 2 year have normal cost 1W/1$ 100W cost 100$ if cost more have overpriced lot. 1000W cost max 1200$ 5000W cost under 5000$ save lot how more watt you buy sametime.
Returned just yesterday from a brief visit to the doctor, who did a small surgical procedure to my SI joints, relieving some of the pain, so I am, today enjoying the relief form the pain, but the added discomfort of the procedure, thus I am laying around and watching some of your old videos. They are quite good, and I learn a lot from just revisiting them. I picked up a used solar panel made for a backpack, it is mounted in a green canvas pad that can be hooked up to the backpack for use while hiking. I keep it in the RV that we spend our winters in, exploring the Southwestern US while snow covers our home in South Dakota. The solar panel is a good one, I have never measured it's output, however when we are camped in a quiet area (no generators allowed!) I have used it to recharge both our cell phones and my tablet computer, it can do those and much more if I keep it in the sun all day, especially down near the Mexican Border where the sun is very strong all day. I am quite pleased with it. The fellow who sold it to me said he purchased it from a sporting goods store and not from the chieap china devision of Ebay, so that may be why she does such a nice job.
Does charging a power bank using a 5V USB output of a solar panel harm the electronics circuit of the powerbank in any way?
Under ideal conditions (bright, direct sun) the panel probably generates ample power equivalent to charging the power bank from a USB port. Say, upwards of 500mA, it works fine.
But, under cloudy / sundown conditions the voltage & current drop off to charging threshold levels, does operation under such conditions harm the circuit of powerbanks?
One of the power banks I tested, I could hear a humming sound when charging under non-direct sunlight condition. The same had no sound when charging from the laptop USB port. I am keen to find out if left unattended, charging the power bank this way would cause any harm. Would very much like to harvest as much power from a panel as possible without having to monitor.
Assuming – the power bank is connected through a Schottky diode to ensure there is no reverse flow of power.
Try the choetech 19W. Theres one vidoeo it achieving over 9W. While charging sn iPad
I know it was published a year ago, but i am wondering what is hidden inside the small usb boxes? one of a "Let's look what's inside" video could be great, thanks
I was surprised the hear that the powerbanks use linear regs to step down 5V to 3.7V. Isn't that converting more than 20% of the input energy to heat in the reg? If so it would be worth replacing it with a buck convertor for use with solar.
Julian, I need 12v 1amp continually for 14 days for a gateway and there is no mains available. What sort of solar/battery setup would I need? I am new to solar power but understand some basic electronics.
That cranefly liked your experimentation on USB solar panels it wanted to be as close it could be to the whole thing.
Go to Inplix if you'd like to build it yourself.
Solar panels or any other electric device they will all be top efficient at 25 Celsius … All the data sheet will also say'd that info
Great video and very thorough 🙂
Was thinking about usb solar charger for e-cigarette(4500mah), bluetooth speaker, and laptop
Would love to get a solar system to charge this lot at home via usb battery pack or 2.
The battery packs seem ok for the price from your reviews but the problem I find is the solar panel, 60w panels are £200+ with usb connectors built in which is a portable kit.
Can you do this via a fixed roof panel and if so can you please point me in the right direction please?
🙂
Hi Julian, I'd never seen a review for solar powered products like your video before, it's exciting with all the tests and data!! Great job! But can you offer a purchase link? So I can check over it directly?
I think you should connect the panels to a power resistor(passive) (adjustable) instead of power banks (active) to correctly rate the panel production. If not at least connect them to a 10W LED trough a driver circuit to draw steady power. Further if you connect both the power meters in series to a wall charger and to a load, interchange them, singly, you will find the power consumed by each of them by solving some linear equations.
Julian, would it make sense to create a motorised mechanism to track the sun, would the current draw of the tracking and movement mechanism, provide enough gain to make it sensible ?
Wonder if a 5vdc MPPTwould help? I know a heavy load really causes solar panel efficiency to drop considerably…
Great review though!
I want to start up my old solar harvesting with a panel, car battery, and charge controller, which should I get?