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bpchristensen
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Oct 5, 2018
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FWIW, I use a Goal Zero Nomad 7 (2-panel 7 watt) charger on hunting and backpacking trips. I pair it with a Belkin 6,600 Mah battery pack and combined they weigh 718g or with the GoalZero Guide 10 pack and combined they weigh 600g . That is only slightly less than the 14w panel and 10,000 Mah battery in this drop, which represents a significant boost in both charging speed and capacity (if the specs are to be believed). If I didn’t have the Goal Zero already I’d be seriously considering this 14w bundle. Very handy for recharging headlamp, Earthmate, and smartphone while on trips lasting more than a couple days. One nice thing about the "Guide 10" battery pack/charger versus a typical "battery pack" like the ones on this drop is that it holds 4 AAA or AA batteries (3,200 mah or 8,000 mah respectively). The Guide 10 can then be used as a traditional "juice pack" like the ones included in this drop (albeit with less capacity), OR you can pull the batteries out to power a device such as a flashlight or headlamp and then pop another set of batteries in to be charged while you're away from base camp.
ONE IMPORTANT THING TO NOTE: Everyone gets hung up on charge times with solar panels. One disadvantage of these Sunjack solar panels is that the charging output is limited to a pair of USB ports. By design, USB ports are limited to 5 volts and ~2 amps each (max output ~10 watts). This means that if you are using the 20w panel to charge a single device, you have more panel than you need, since the total panel output is ~20w, but you are limited to using ~10w of that output. Obviously having a 20w panel will ensure that you're getting 10w of output in less than ideal conditions (assuming that the panels are all feeding the charge controller rather than 1/2 of them being wired separately to each of the USB ports). Charging a phone directly from a solar panel often doesn't work well because if the phone detects a voltage or current fluctuation outside a pre-determined range, it will shut off charging. I experienced this recently with my iPhone Xs and a solar panel. Solar panels are usually better used to charge an auxiliary battery, which is then used to power devices.
Interestingly, the battery pack(s) included in the 14w and 20w panels are compatible with QC3.0 charging, which charges at higher voltages and therefore charge much more quickly. However the solar panels don't support QC3.0 output, and no QC3.0 charger is included, so unless you have one, you'll be limited to old-school 5vx2.4a charging from a wall mount USB charger. Assuming 70% efficiency, that will mean about 6-7 hours to fully charge one of these from completely empty to completely full. With the 20w solar panel, you're probably looking at >a full day to charge from completely empty unless you are in the Arizona desert in mid-summer. :-)
Oct 5, 2018
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