Batteries: Find The Perfect Solar Panel For Your Portable Power Station

Will this solar panel work with my portable power station? If you’ve ever wondered how to pick a solar panel for your portable power station, you’ve come to the right place!

Disclaimer: We don’t know who needs to hear this, but electricity is really dangerous. Wear gloves, use insulated tools and power down or ensure the panels are covered or not sending power before touching anything. Respect the power.

The sad fact is that some companies use proprietary connectors or insist that you must use this solar panel with this portable power station, as a sort of package deal, or kit. You don’t have to ask: “Will this solar panel work with my portable power station?”, anymore. Apparently, that hits the spot for a lot of folks. If this is you, God bless you.

You don’t have to do that, though. Of course, if one does that you will get the benefits in the short term. We could make a lot more money just serving up that hash. But it wouldn’t help you all that much. And let’s face it. We’re really just here to help people and have fun.

We started our Solar journey with a plug-and-play kit. It was cool. But, in the immortal words of Ulysses in “Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?”, we were aroused but not satiated:

“No, thank you Delmar. A third of a gopher would only arouse my appetite without beddin’ ‘er back down.”

We didn’t learn much. It certainly simplified things, but we found that in the long run, we could have gotten more value for less of our money, and learned a lot of useful stuff in the process. That is appealing to us.

We can’t tell you what is right for you. What we can do is educate you a little, at least to the point where you feel confident in making a decision.

We found that once we decided not to limit ourselves in that way, to examine this thing a little closer; the whole solar generator thing opened up for us. (By the way, a solar generator is just like a fossil fuels generator, except there’s no exhaust, odours, noise, you don’t have to run to the gas station, and that the fuel is electricity that comes from sunshine. We get all warm and fuzzy when we think about that.

Is there anyone left who needs to hear that climate change is a thing? This is necessary. We can do it now, or we can do it later but do it we will.)

Is It Difficult To Understand Solar Panels and Portable Power Stations?

Nope.

It’s math and science. It takes some doing, like everything else in life. It’s not much different than learning to light a fire when everything is wet, or learning to make a killer omelette over a campfire. We began to understand that it really isn’t all that difficult to educate ourselves so that we can make the best decision for us. A lot of information on the web seems a little condescending. “Oh, this technical stuff is way too difficult for the layperson to understand.”

We’re not entirely sure why that is so, but it’s hard not to get that impression. It could just be business – you know, “Hire me! It’s far too difficult for normal people.” That’s possible. Go nuts.

In any event, contrary to a lot of what we’ve read online, if you can do simple math, and understand a few technical terms, you can become pretty knowledgeable about solar panels and portable power stations in a surprisingly short time. It’s remarkably straightforward. But there seems to be a cottage industry dedicated to making it difficult to understand.

That was the problem we set out to solve.

We discovered that the information that we found was either too simple to answer our questions, or you had to have a PhD in electrical engineering to get it. We wanted to Goldilocks it. It occurred to us that If we could just find that elusive sweet spot; the happy medium; well then, everything would be tickety-boo. (Meaning : Great.)

We thought that we could explain this in a way that hasn’t yet been done. Our appointed task.

So, this is the result.

Additionally, this solar stuff is pretty cool. Truth be told, ( something we have to do, because our Mother was kind of funny like that – telling the truth was a big thing for her,) we like the idea of creating our own power from the sun. God love us, We do. Stick it to the man, you know? Power to the People! (Great tune. We can’t say the same for the pun. Sorry about that. Well, not really.)

On the other hand, we’d be lying if we left you with the impression that finding the perfect solar panel for your portable power station is all unicorns and rainbows.

Yeah. No, that certainly wasn’t our experience. It ain’t.

Therefore, we figured we might as well share our mistakes so that you don’t have to make them yourselves.

We’re big fans of Goldilocks: we’re all about getting it juuust right. We’ve discovered that it’s not easy to make things simple, but it can be done with a little elbow grease. We’ve got plenty of that.

Ready? Here we go…

First: A Couple of Housekeeping items:

You might hear the term PV‘s. This is short for photovoltaic. That’s the technical term for the conversion of the sun’s energy into electricity. We are just going to use the term solar panels or solar energy.

Watt’s Law states that Amps * Volts = Watts. ( You need to know this. If you remember your elementary school math – Making Mrs. Stevens proud – you’ll remember that if 6 * 2 = 12, that means that 12 / 2 = 6, or that 12 / 6 = 2. This is important when we know two of these things and we need to figure out the third.)

If you’ve read our article on choosing the right portable power station, then you know our approach. (What?! You’ve denied yourself the pleasure of reading that? Good heavens!)

Never mind that now. You can read that later. We’ll put a link down below as well, so you can finish this, and then read that. (It’s a kind of companion piece.) We are going to do our level best to de-mystify the process of finding the perfect solar panel for whatever portable power station you either bought, think you might want to buy, or are curious about.

Before we get started, we should just say again that although many manufacturers have proprietary connectors and want to sell you solar panels and a portable power station at the same time, that may not be the best value for you. We can say that we have come to regret some of our purchases. You may or may not be like we were.

It’s hard to say, not knowing. If you are the type of person who doesn’t mind paying a little more to have things work straight out of the box, it might be great for you. There’s not a thing wrong with that. Inevitably, however, you will find that despite yourself, you’ll become more and more interested in this amazing technology, and you’ll quite likely come to find that you could have made a better purchasing decision. We sure did.

So, “The Big Idea”, as our old man used to say, is that we’ve made the mistakes so you don’t have to. We aim to be useful, and we totally believe in the value of this stuff.

There are probably good reasons for this proprietariness. Manufacturers might want you to have a good experience with their product. There’s not a thing in this world wrong with that.

It’s just that we have found that you can get away with spending quite a bit less by educating ourselves just a little. If we were going to do it again, this is how we’d do it.

Their clientele might prefer it that way. We don’t know what their motives are, and it would be speculation on our part if we said anything else.

Furthermore, if we’re being fair, we should allow that sometimes it’s great just to have a plug-and-play solution.

Some people apparently love that. Remember Life of Bryan?

  • Brian: I’m not the Messiah! Will you please listen? I am not the Messiah, do you understand? Honestly!
  • Girl: Only the true Messiah denies His divinity.
  • Brian: What? Well, what sort of chance does that give me? All right! I am the Messiah!
  • Followers: He is! He is the Messiah!
  • Brian: Now, FUCK OFF!
  • [silence]
  • Arthur: How shall we fuck off, O Lord?
  • Brian: Oh, just go away! Leave me alone.


So, you know. You do you. No judgement.

It’s just that you may find that you get a little more “bang for your buck” by exploring other options. You might also learn something that may come in useful in the future. We’ve come to believe that solar power is the way forward. Renewable energy is the way to go.

The more we learn about this, the more potential we see. But enough of our yakking.

Let’s begin at the beginning:

Batteries: Solar Panels Demystified

Solar panels harvest the sun’s energy and turn it into DC, or direct current, electrical power. DC power is the kind of power that can be stored in batteries.

AC power, or alternating current, is the kind of power that comes out of the wall socket in your house. Basically, if your device has a battery that needs to be charged, ( a laptop PC, a phone, a camera etc) you have some kind of device to change the kind of electricity that comes out of the socket on your wall, (AC) to the DC that your phone or laptop needs.

For example, on the left is our Magsafe 2 that takes AC power from the socket in the wall, and changes it into DC power that our MacBook Air can use. By the way, a converter converts AC to DC, and an inverter converts DC to AC. That’s not particularly intuitive. It’s easy to get that backward, but it’s important.

If you read our article on choosing the right portable power station, you already know this. You also probably know exactly how batteries work. Still, we’ve decided to include this cool animation from the U.S. Energy Department, again too.

God help us, we love that.

They’ve also done a bang-up job explaining exactly how solar panels work, so we’re not gonna re-invent the wheel, here, we’ll just link to it. Feel free to go read that now, or read it afterward, but if you’re at all interested in this stuff, don’t skip it, it’ll do you good. You won’t regret it. We swear.

The most important thing to understand is that your portable power station and solar panels go hand in glove. They’re a team. We mean that literally. They have to match. They don’t have to be from the same company, but they have to be compatible.

For a successful match, you have to consider a few things. Both portable power stations and portable solar panels have specifications. These are either on the portable power station or on the panel somewhere. Failing that, they’re in your manual, and most companies will have online versions. (Those are great because you can figure out a lot before you even start thinking about buying anything.)

Some will use slightly different terminology, which can be frustrating, but we’re not here for a haircut. Some participation is required, and with a little digging you can usually find what you need. We’ll try to sort that out as best we can, but it’s going to be some variation of the following specifications.

As a matter of fact, if you can’t find that information, you might be better off just skipping that product. There are plenty of frogs in the pond, and you absolutely need that information to make an informed decision.)

Some are a little easier to understand than others. Some are a little difficult to find, but if you dig a little you can usually find them.

The point is, they don’t just list these just for yucks. These are essential reading. Here are the big things we need to know:

Specifications:

This is what a 100W BougeRV solar panel says on the back. It’s a fairly typical permanent solar panel. We’re mostly interested in portable panels, but panels are panels, and this one is a good, simple (but not too simple) example. It’s also 100 Watts, which makes the math simpler. (BTW – We didn’t list everything, just the things we need to know.):

Max Power (Pmax)
100W (W is for Watts)
Max Power Voltage (Vmp)
18.15V (V is for Volts)
Max Power Current (Imp)
5.51A (A is for Amperes)
Open Circuit Voltage (Voc)
21.4V
Short Circuit Current (Isc)
6.11A
A typical 100W Solar Panel specification sheet. They’ll all vary a little.

Great. What the Heck does That mean?

Excellent question. No, really. It shows you’re curious. In our experience, that’s the most important thing.

First things first: Watts (W) measure power and we can express that with a number. Amps (I) measure current, or the speed or rate. Volts (V) are the unit of measure for electrical potential. The most common way it is explained is a water example. Here’s a link to an explanation of these terms that’s as good as any, using that same water example.

Watts (W) Vs Watt Hours (Wh)

Let’s say we have a light bulb. It says 40W. Flick it on, flick it off. 40Watts. Say we turn it on, and leave it on for an hour. 40W x 1 hour = 40Wh. 2 hours? 80Wh. So we take power (Watts) and multiply it by time to get Watt-hours. Okay? We think you have it.)

Watt’s Law:

Watt’s law states that Amps (current) X Volts (pressure) = Watts. Now 100 watts is 100 watts, right? Yes. But the amps and Volts can be different.

You can have a small hose with high pressure, or a large hose with low pressure but each is passing the same amount of water. That’s really all there is to it.

Let’s take an example:

Let’s say we have a 100W solar panel. It could be 10Amps X 10Volts = 100Watts. Or, we could have 5A X 20V = 100W. You could have 4A X 25V = 100W. You get the idea, right?

That’s it. That’s not so bad, is it?

One last thing: You’ll sometimes see Amps represented in formulas as “I”. (That’s an uppercase “i”) This comes from a French phrase from the 1850’s “Intensité du courant”, which loosely translates as “Intensity of current”.

Back to our specifications that we need to know.

  • Pmax (Maximum power in watts). This is the rated output of the solar panel. That is under optimal conditions. We may get that for a while, but it will usually be a little below that on average. There are different reasons for that, like the amount of sun, the angle of the sun, the amount of shade and clouds will all affect the output. Paradoxically, cold solar panels produce more power. If “it’s cold as a witch’s tit”, you may get more. (Thanks, Rev. Ford.)
  • Vmp (Maximum power in Volts). This is the maximum power output that we will see in Volts from this solar panel. If this output number is higher than the DC or solar input on your portable power station, that’s not good. That can damage the charge controller in your portable power station. That will not be covered by your warranty. So, if you remember nothing else from this, remember that. Usually, this is expressed as a range. For example 12V ~ 18V. Anything in between should be fine. The upper range should never be exceeded or you could damage your battery. On the other hand, if your output is below the lower number, the battery will not accept any charge. You have to meet that lower threshold, and you have to come in at less than the upper threshold. (Remember Goldilocks?)
  • Imp (Maximum power in Amperes, or Amps, sometimes referred to as current, Here’s our friend: “Intensité du courant”). This is important too, but a little less so. This is because most portable power stations limit the amount of Amps they will allow into their system, so for all intents and purposes, it’s less of an issue than the Volts. (In fact, sometimes your power station will not even list max power in amps and you have to work out the Amps for yourself. Relax. Remember our Watt’s law? If we have Watts and Volts, we can just divide the Watts by the Volts and we get the Amps. Imagine we have a 1000W power station and 12V. We do a little division: 1000 / 12 = 83.33333, so we’ll just round that up to 84A. We usually round up.) We’ll get capped at whatever the portable power stations limit is. (So think about that, too. You don’t want to pay for a huge panel and waste the amps. So you have to match the output of he panels with the input on the portable power station. Once again, try to get a solar panel whose output Imp is right in the middle of the input range limits of your portable power station.
  • Voc (Open circuit voltage. The maximum voltage output without a load. This is kind of theoretical in that there is always a load). Even so, we look at this first. The voltage is the absolute maximum output you’re ever gonna get. It gives us a nice little cushion. You probably noticed that this number is 21.4V while the Vmp is 18.15V. That’s a difference of 3.25V. But we can be absolutely certain that if the Voc is below the high end of our portable power stations DC or solar input, then Bob’s your Mother’s Brother. (That’s a Canadian expression that means everything is great! It comes from the expression “Bob’s yer Uncle”, for those of you who may be wondering. You’re welcome.)
  • Isc (Short circuit current) (See? “Intensité du courant” is amps.) This is the maximum overcurrent protection for the panel. It’s good to know this too, although the other stuff is more practical for us. It’s much more useful for arrays (more than one panel linked together) of solar panels to determine the appropriate wire gauge and fuse size needed to protect us against a short circuit event. That’s a little beyond the scope of this article, but we’ll do another blog that focuses on arrays of solar panels, from soup to nuts. For now, just be aware of Isc, okay? Okay.

Now, let’s look at the DC input specifications (solar input is DC) on our portable power station. We’ll use a Bluetti AC180 portable power station for our example:

Power
500W / 10A max
Voltage
12V ~ 60V DC

(We love the Bluetti, by the way! Both of our example portable power stations have over 1000W capacity, plenty of surge/peak power and LiFePO4 batteries, which we prefer. We did a deep dive on battery chemistry which you might find interesting. (Batteries, Or Portable Power Stations-LiFePO4 Vs Lithium Ion) They both may well require an adaptor, depending on what solar panel you choose, but that shouldn’t be an obstacle. The BougeRV that we’re using in these examples only outputs MC4 connectors, (which are the most common kind of connectors) so you’d need to buy some adaptors if you went with that, but a lot of solar panels that we like ship with plenty of adaptors.)

The point is that we’ve come to expect that we have to think a bit about all of these different things. In a strange way, and quite honestly, much to our surprise, we’ve come to realize that we enjoy this process. Look at us! We’re becoming solar nerds! “Join us, won’t you?”

Matching the (Voltage) Output from the Solar Panels to the Input range of The Portable Power Station.

In any event, our Voc output (on the solar panel) is 21.4V and the Voltage input on the portable power station will accept from 12V ~ 60V. We’re fine. We probably could add two of these panels, but as we mentioned, that’s a subject that’s a little beyond the scope of this article. We plan to do an article on using more than one solar panel, this is referred to as an “array” of solar panels. There are three main types of wiring these arrays. In Series, in Parallel combinations and a combination of both of these, called 2S2P (2 Series, 2 Parallel) so be sure to look for that. (It’s cool to have the extra charge capacity at the cabin, and it’s very popular with the RV and Marine crowd, or even at home, but schlepping 1 solar panel to the campsite is more than enough for us.)

By the way, we should pay attention to the lower end of the Voltage range (12V), too. That’s really important. While it’s true that if you go over the max input voltage (60V, in this example) you’ll damage the charge controller or inverter, and nobody wants that, but if your solar panel is under 12V you’re not gonna be able to put any power into the Bluetti at all! You have to have at least 12V to get in the game.

So keep that in mind.

But for now, we’ve got a match! (The Vmp is 18.15V which is much more likely, but the Voc kind of belt-and-suspenders it. (Meaning it’s very safe.)There is no way we’ll ever get more than the 21.4V Voc output, so we’re safe as houses.) The Imp is cut off at 10A and our panel only puts out 5.51A so we’re good there, too.

(We should mention this: More and more portable power stations have an MPPT. This was a big thing with off-grids, boats, and RVs.

It’s becoming a lot more common in portable power stations. As we said, these used to be found in solar charge controllers for RVs, or larger setups. Both of these guys in our examples do.) An MPPT (maximum power point tracker) is an electronic DC-to-DC converter that optimizes the match between the solar source (Solar panels, or to be fair, any power source), regulating the output of the panels (source) down to a usable voltage. That’s a great feature to have on your portable power station. It’s not absolutely necessary for smaller units. (You might also hear of a PWM, (pulse width modulator) which does almost the same thing in a slightly different and less efficient way. It’s also cheaper.)

Let’s look at another example: The Anker Solix C1000 Portable Power Station. We think they are running a promotion, right now. (It may be over now, but they often run special offers, so it never hurts to check the prices if you are in the market.) In any event, here are the input specs we’re interested in:

Power
600W / 12.5A max
Voltage (Total)
11-60V DC
Volts Range and Amps
11~32V @ 10Amps
Volts Range and Amps
32~60V @ 12.5 Amps
Connector Type
XT60

These specs are a little different than what we’ve seen. The important stuff is the 11 ~32V @ 10Amps, and 32 ~ 60V @ 12.5Amps. So, for example: This one will also work well with our BougeRV 100W panel, because the Voc output (21.4V) of the panel is well within both the 11 ~ 32V input range of the Anker. We will need an MC4 to XT60 Adaptor, though. (Don’t forget that we need the Voc to be both above 11V and below 32V to be safe. The higher range 32 ~ 60V could be used if we had an array of panels in series. But that’s for another article.)

You really can’t go wrong with this one, either. You can check the price of the Anker Solix C1000 at Amazon, too.

We talk about this (among others) in our portable power station article.

Question 2 on the FAQ informs us:

Q2: What should I do when using a solar charger to charge my power station?

The solar input supports an 11-60V solar charger with an XT-60 connector. If you use an 11-32V solar charger, the current supports 10A max. When you use a 32-60V solar charger, the current supports 12.5A max. We recommend using Anker solar panels (200W or 400W) for the best compatibility.

That’s never a bad idea, in terms of compatibility, but don’t limit yourself. We suggest you look around a bit. It’s easy to spend more money than you need to. Besides, this is fun, damnit!

Batteries, Solar Panels and Real-World Output:

As we have noted in our article on how to choose a battery, or portable power station, batteries do not give us all of the rated power. (The BMS or battery management system reserves some power to protect itself, and the DC to AC inverter (a lot of folks screw that up – DC to AC is an inverter, and AC to DC is a converter, don’t be one of them!) process is lossy.

Most importantly for us, the same sort of thing is true for solar panels. You can get the rated output ( ie: your 100W solar panel actually produces 100W) but that isn’t something you should count on. The reasons are a little different, but the point is that we’re not going to get the rated output of a solar panel. Here is a non-exhaustive list of reasons:

  • Conditions. A sunny day with no clouds will result in a far higher output than an overcast day.
  • Cold panels output more power. (We know that’s sort of counter-intuitive, but it’s true. It’s possible when it’s very cold that the Voc can provide up to 5 or more volts than it’s rated for. So although this is pretty unlikely, be aware of that if you find yourself in really cold climates. We’re looking at you, fellow Canucks, it is possible.)
  • The angle and direction of the panels. Some people use the can trick to make sure that the panel is angled correctly. It’s pretty high-tech. You put a can of corn, (we’ve also heard of folks using a can of stewed tomatoes or Irish Stew – The important thing is that it is a can – ) on the panel. When you can’t see a shadow, you’re good. It’s pointed directly at the sun. (Sorry to use these technical terms.)
  • Polycrystalline panels are a little less efficient. (Cheaper, too.) Monocrystalline panels are a little more efficient. (Less cheap).
  • There are also two different kinds of coating: ETFE – Which is a little more durable (and expensive) and PET which is smoother but requires more surface area to deliver the same output. We like the ETFE a little better, but we’re sort of the opposite of the penny-wise, pound-foolish folks.

How Can I Figure Out the Output of My Solar Panels

You can measure it with a multimeter to get it exactly right. But that is for the conditions of that particular moment. The output will change if the sun goes behind a cloud.

Not everyone interested in solar panels has a multimeter or is interested in taking it camping. If you don’t, it’s hard to say with any real precision, but there is a formula to get yourself in the output ballpark:

Output = STC (Standard Testing Conditions) X Peak daily sunlight hours. (Most people agree that about 5 hours of sunlight is about right.) (Then multiply the result by .75 – which should give you the average output of 75%.)

Let’s take an example:

100W (Rated STC) X 5hrs = 500Wh. (Watt hours)

500Wh X .75 = 375Wh.

That’s gonna get you in the neighborhood. You might get a little more, you might get a little less, but it’ll be right around there. That is actually a really good mantra when it comes to solar panels. “It’s gonna vary.”

Solar Panel: Connectors:

One thing that seems totally more complicated than it needs to be is the way that solar panels connect to the power stations. That’s just us, but holy options, Batman!

The most common type are MC4 connectors. They are waterproof, and almost always used for permanent home-type installations. We can certainly find a lot of adaptors to hook up your solar panels to your portable power stations, but it seems (A) more difficult than it has to be, and (B) Proprietary. (Our pet peeve.) Here are some of the most common:

  • MC4
  • XT60
  • Anderson
  • DC5521 -(This means 5.5mm diameter, and 2.1mm inside)
  • DC7909 -(7.9mm and .09mm)
  • DC5525 -(5.5mm and 2.5)
  • Aviation Style.
MC4
XT60
Anderson
An image of an MC4 Solar panel connector.
An image of an XT60 solar panel connector.
An image of an Anderson solar panel connector.
DC5521
DC7909(This is actually an MC4 to DC7909 adaptor, the DC7909 connector is on the right.)
Aviation Style
An image of DC5521 connectors
An image of an MC4 to DC7909 adaptor for solar panels
An image of aviation style solar panel connectors.

Remember that there are adaptors for almost every kind of connectors your portable power station or solar panels come with, so while it can be trying, it’s nearly always possible.

But say, if you do find this helpful, we’d be mighty glad if you’d tell your friends, or link to us. It helps us out a lot.

Solar Panels We Like:

Allpowers ALLPOWERS SP029 140W Portable Solar Panel (Specifications below:)

Peak Power
140W
Solar Cell
polysilicon
Efficiency
21%
Open Circuit Voltage (Voc)
23.5V
Short Circuit Current (Isc)
6.7A
Maximum Power Current (Imp)
6.2A

LUVKNIT 100W Portable solar panel.

This ticked a lot of boxes for us. It comes with lots of different connectors, so that clears up a lot of headaches right there. (8mm/5.5*2.5mm/3.5*1.35mm/5.5mm*2.1mm – we referred to all of these as “DC+those numbers” -/Anderson DC adaptor). That’s pretty cool. So you are compatible with a lot of portable power stations. There is also a USB -C (5V,3A) and a USB-A that can charge small devices (think phones etc) at the same time as you are charging your portable power station, which is convenient, especially if your phone is almost out of juice.

Brand
Luvknit
Material
Monocrystalline Silicon
Product Dimensions
23.6″L x 20.9″W x 1.06″H
Item Weight
8.16 Pounds
Efficiency
24%

It’s foldable, and has monocrystalline solar cells, so it’s pretty efficient. It has an ETFE surface, which is more durable than the PET covering. It has an IP65 rating, so it’s not going to be damaged by a sudden rain shower. It’s not heavy and it’s got a handle and a carrying case with a pouch for storing your cables or whatnot. It’s easy to carry. It’s also easy to set up. It’s a good one!

(Callsun) 100W Portable Solar Panel for Power Station

Brand
Callsun
Material
Monocrystalline Silicon
AC Adapter Current (amps)
5.25 Amps
Maximum Voltage (Imp)
24.3 Volts
Product Dimensions
48.43″L x 21.06″W x 0.98″H
Item Weight
9.48 Pounds
Efficiency
23.5%

  • 100 watts, lots of adaptors. Great! (MC4,7.9*0.9 adapter / 5.5*2.1 mm adapter / XT60 / Anderson Cable)
  • Monocrystalline silicon solar cells. ETFE Surface, IP67 waterproof.
  • 9.48 lbs, 4.3kg – pretty light, 2 kickstands that can be adjusted.

EF ECOFLOW 110W Portable Solar Panel

ECOFLOW has a great reputation in portable power stations and solar in general, for good reason. This 110W panel is foldable with a carrying case, 23% efficiency, and an IP68 water & dustproof design which makes it pretty appealing. It also has a monocrystalline silicon surface, which we favour over the polycrystalline, if we have our ‘druthers.

On the other hand, the carrying case is the kickstand, which we didn’t love. The MC4 cables make it easy to add adaptors, but we found them a little short. A small quibble.

It’s a great choice from a great company, and it’s on sale now for something ridiculous like 45% off at Amazon.

GRECELL 100W Portable Solar Panel for Power Station Generator

We liked this one, too. It has a monocrystalline silicon surface, which we prefer over the polycrystalline for efficiency and durability. We liked that it comes with a lot of adaptors, – everything we listed above. (8mm/5.5*2.5mm/3.5*1.35mm/5.5mm*2.1mm DC adapter/Anderson Cable)

We liked the grommets, it’s a small thing, but useful for either storage or use. The kickstand was pretty easy to set up and the case (which folds up into a compact size) has a convenient zippered pouch for all of the adaptors. (Which we also like.)

Anker SOLIX PS200 Portable Solar Panel

We like this company, and we really like this product. It’s a quad (4) panel folding solar panel. There’s quite a lot to like.

  • There are four options to angle the panel’s location. (30, 40, 50 or 80°) (Get out your Irish Stew!)
  • Waterproof: At a rating of IP67 you don’t have to worry about a sudden shower of rain.
  •  Monocrystalline solar cells. (Our preference.)
  • It has a 3 metre MC4 Solar charging cable, which is convenient, and a 5 metre MC4 to XT60 cable.

(We liked the little brother too. If 200W is too much solar panel for your power station, you could do worse than the Anker SOLIX PS100 Portable Solar Panel 100W, but very similar to it’s big brother..)

Anker Solix PS30 Solar Panel, 30W Foldable Portable Solar Charger

This is really cool. It’s not going to charge a portable power station, (it only has USB-A and USB-C ports) but if you have a little charger, it could be just the thing. IP65 “Weather-Resistant” (Not waterproof, but we can live with that.)

It’s super light, (1 kg, or 2.2lbs) and folds down tiny. It should easily charge your smartphone, tablet, camera batteries, etc.

Conclusion

We hope that this has helped to de-mystify the way that solar panels work with your portable power station. This should empower you (Haa!) to confidently choose the correct solar panel for you.

The big takeaway you should get from this is that camping (or living!) with solar power is not that difficult, and it’s getting easier (and cheaper!) to use this technology every year. So don’t be put off. There is a relatively steep learning curve, but as long as you stay with it, you will be glad you did. This is really fun stuff to learn and use. And it’s the way of the future. Get out in front of it!

As always, if you like this, tell your friends. If we got something wrong, tell us. If you found any of this stuff useful, drop us a line. We appreciate it. See you out there!

Other Articles We Hope You’ll Like: