Quote:
Originally Posted by Sailing4Jesus
This NEW Solar Generator MAY or MAY NOT be a welcome addition to any yacht. Personally, I do not have the required Electrical Engineering studies to give it a Thumbs Up, or a Thumbs Down. But just maybe there might be someone here on Cruisers Forum that might have the needed knowledge to rate it as GOOD or perhaps BAD. Click below under my Sign Out.
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Nothing special. It's just a 10 Ah USB
battery pack with a small 1.5 W solar "panel." You can buy a battery, a small panel, and a tube of
adhesive on Amazon for about the same amount of
money. Recharging the battery will take all day in good light and may never reach full charge. I expect they chose the panel for physical size and
price point.
Here is one with twice as big a battery for less
money:
https://www.amazon.com/Taoxiwave-Cha...90524383&psc=1
I carry two battery packs in my go-kit. One is a relatively small 5000 mAh battery I got as a "thank you" for speaking at a
trade show. My big one is 20000 mAh. On most boats I keep my
phone charged from the
boat. On long flights I have my
laptop out and charge my
phone from that. The battery mostly gets used on short flights and in airports when I can't find an outlet near a comfortable seat. I also lend them to crew when there are no
power points in cabins. Lots of ways to charge the battery back up on a boat.
For the functionality I'd use a larger more powerful panel like
https://www.amazon.com/Lixada-Charge...39870496&psc=1 or
https://www.rei.com/product/123283/g...IaAsinEALw_wcB .
For one's own boat I'd put the effort into lots of 12 VDC and USB
power points. Much more efficient to use your house bank to keep personal devices charged. If you want solar get solar.
To my mind the listed product has limited use cases and is an expensive version of what is otherwise available.
Overall I give it a "Meh."
That said, never miss an opportunity to eat, sleep, go to the bathroom, charge something, or press up
fuel and
water. (tm)