Cheap Solar Chargers That Don't Suck

Probably at some point, you experimentally bought a cheapo solar charger for your phone. I would guess it was something like this. About the size of an index card, with a built in power bank.

...Only to then discover it doesn't work worth shit. Maybe this caused you to write off solar entirely as worthless and weak. In the same way that Google Cardboard causes many to prematurely write off VR as a shitty gimmick, these cheapo Chinese solar power banks poison the well for portable solar tech.

There's no mystery as to what went wrong. Solar panels need to be BIG to do any good. Only so much energy is in sunlight (1kw per square meter) and even the latest consumer solar cells only get around 22% of the energy. So if you want to have that magical "it really works!" experience with solar, you need to go big.

But that's expensive, isn't it? Certainly, the more capacity you buy, the more it will cost. How much do you really need? First off, give up on charging a laptop. This is what a portable solar setup of the size needed to charge a laptop in a useful amount of time looks like:

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You're looking at between $500 and $1,000 for that kind of capacity. Ask yourself, "do I really need an entire laptop out in the wilderness? How long am I gonna be away from civilization? Long enough that I can't just bring some spare laptop batteries?" As a rule I try not to pack along anything that needs electricity unless there's no non-electrical alternative or it's just that useful.

A smartphone and a headlamp is typically all I bring that needs power. The smartphone has offline maps, gps, its own light, useful pdfs for camping, a camera, and can be used to call for help. That's a lot of utility in a single item, and it's not so power hungry that it's impractical to charge from solar out in the field.

What you need is something like this:

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...Only much cheaper. Brands like Goal Zero cost far too much for what they are ($50-$80). At their core you'll find 5w-7w solar panels of the same type and usually from the same manufacturers as can be found in much cheaper alternatives, which perform exactly as well.

A buddy of mine went on a vacation to Greece some years ago. He asked me what solar solution I recommended for keeping his DSLR and phone charged while out and about, snapping photos. I told him that in my experience, nothing less than 5 watts will suffice.

Any amount of PV will eventually charge your phone. But those piddly index card sized units will take literal days. As in, up to 8 days even just to charge their own internal battery. I find a good size is around 7 watts. That's just enough over the necessary amount to account for varying weather conditions, and to charge your phone very rapidly in bright sunlight.

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I wound up recommending this. It's lightweight, has a hydration bladder and a nice 7 watt flexible panel. But wait a minute, it looks like the panel is detatchable.

In fact, it is. You can buy the panel section separately for much less than the bag costs. Sunpower makes the flexible panel itself, and it appears in lots of different products. I'd suggest buying the panel and attaching it to something you already own, and are likely to take outdoors with you. Backpack, jacket, whatever.

At $22 shipped, you'd be hard pressed to do better than this, although there are a few other decently specced portable panels in this price range from manufacturers like Nekteck and GearIT. Of course there's also loads of innovative, slick looking solar products that cost way more for a lower wattage panel. Usually because of integrated batteries and fancy charging electronics.

That's not to say they are without merit, but what really matters with portable solar is wattage, and most of us don't want to break the bank for something we'll use a few times a year. That's why I generally advise against gadgets with built in solar, the utility of which is greatly limited during the less sunny months, like the Rukus:

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This sort of thing is neato, it just usually comes at a premium price because of the integrated panel when you could save loads of money by bringing a normal bluetooth speaker (or whatever other device you like provided it charges from USB) and a separate portable solar panel. Because the two are separate, they cost less, even though the utility is increased. Funny how that works, isn't it?

There is some merit to integrated solar backpacks, like the wonderfully well made line from Voltaic, but they have a fatal flaw: You have to leave your bag outside of your tent to charge, or keep it on your body all the time. If you leave it anywhere, it runs the risk of being stolen. A separate flexible panel can be affixed to the exterior of your tent with zip ties. It will then be difficult to steal without you noticing it happening, and if it is stolen, you're only out $22 instead of several hundred bucks.

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That's quite a large price difference given that the only physical difference is whether or not the panel is integrated into the bag. Probably you will agree it's worth simply attaching a separate panel to a bag you already own. The panel I recommended has a mesh zipper pouch on the underside you could put your phone in while charging.

However it's a better idea to get yourself one of those slimline powerbanks from a reputable company like Anker, and stash that in the mesh pouch instead. That way you don't need to leave your phone in there while charging, you can keep it out and use it while the power bank soaks up power. Then you use the power bank to charge your phone after sundown, perhaps while you sleep.

Portable solar really can do amazing things, if you buy enough of it. I am often tempted to go overboard. You can even charge an ebike with a solar array that folds up into a backpack (as seen below). It's just a question of whether you have a realistic need to be able to do that and whether you have money to burn.

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Don't go crazy with it. There's no need. Don't overbuy for your application (beyond what is needed to ensure good output in a variety of conditions) but even more crucially, don't underbuy. Don't be one of those newbies who buys an itty bitty $6 no brand Chinese solar charger, expecting miracles from it.

Wishful thinking cannot change how much energy is in a square meter of sunlight, or what percentage of it you're able to make use of. If you buy enough capacity, you can and will have a good experience with solar. The magical feeling the first time you go to check on your phone after 2-3 hours and find it fully charged will restore your confidence in solar as a technology.

Many people need to experience this first hand, to actually see it perform well with their own eyes in order to change their mindset about solar as a technology. It always worked, you just need enough of it to do the job. That's all there is to it. Not enough power? Add more PV until there is, problem solved.

There is nothing inherently weak or inadequate about it, only rubes who expect too much from tiny panels and come away soured on solar. I hope this info helps you pick out a solar charger for your Summer adventures that will do right by you, and open your eyes to the fact that free energy falls from the sky every day. You just need a big enough bucket to catch it in.