Update: This deal is still available.
Lion Energy has
Lion Energy GO 20 Portable 20W Solar Panel on sale for
$8.50 when you apply discount code
BN during checkout.
Shipping is free.
Thanks to Community Member
xjimmyx for sharing this deal.
About this Item:
- 20W Solar Panel with Monocrystalline cells
- Dual USB 11.8" connector wire from panel to Lion Cub GO with max current output of 8A
- 2 USB 5.34V @ 4A outputs
- Dimensions: 18.4" x 14.3" x 1" (L x W x H)
- Weight: 3 lbs
Top Comments
In afternoon sun I got about 24W (13.3V at 1.8A) from the 2 in series which is less than I expected for the conditions, but maybe it was a bad connection (I was using alligator clips to temporarily connect the wires). A 100W rigid panel in the same conditions was getting 75-80W.
If you leave your phone or power bank you'd want them out of the sun. If you put it under the panel's shade make sure the panel is propped up to allow airflow underneath or your phone will bake.
First of all, taking the cover off the back of the panel is a destructive process. The plastic cover is screwed to the PCB from the side that's facing the panel on two opposing corners, and the PCB itself is glued to the panel making those screws inaccessible. You could probably drill out the screws by going through the back of the cover, but I wasn't in the mood for making a replacement cover. I did manage to get the end cap off which is just a snap-in fit over the USB A ports and I was able to see that each USB A output is fed by individual buck converters (2x inductor + 2x unidentified 8 pin chip). So they're not just linear regulators at least, which is nice, and the dedicated buck converter for each port means you can sustain higher current when both ports are in use.
I then tested it with a variable load in full southern california sun at solar noon with the panel pointed straight at the sun, and found that each USB A port voltage starts falling below 5V when it pulls anything north of ~1A. It holds 4.8V pretty well up through 1.8A, and once you get up to 2A it drops to about 4.5V. I was able to push it up to just north of 4A before the voltage fell off a cliff, but at 4A the voltage had dropped to very close to 4V. Long story short, any device plugged into the USB A port is unlikely to ever pull much more than 1.5A just due to the voltage drop, even at peak solar output.
That's not the whole story through, because I repeated the load test with a power bank charging from the other USB A port. The power bank was only pulling about 1.25A at 4.95V, but it kept pulling that amount even as the other port approached 4A. Even better, it maintained 4.95V until the load from the other port completely swamped the panel's output, at which point both ports dropped to < 2V of output. The peak output I saw is very close to if not slightly over the 20W peak output claimed for this panel. Unfortunately, due to the way USB charging works (e.g. devices tend to pull as much as they can until the voltage drops to around 4.8-4.9V), it's very unlikely that you'll hit 20W even with 2 devices charging in full midday sun. The buck inverters just aren't up to the task for 2A of output while maintaining 5V, but that's not the panel's fault...with a proper regulator connected to the unregulated micro USB ports I'd imagine 20W is pretty doable.
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256 Comments
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It has a regulator board for the USB connection where it can supply 4.5-8.5 volts depending on the device. You think this breakout cable is directly to the panel? Interesting.
Edit: Just looked again and the back does say 26 cells, making the peak open circuit voltage around 15.6V...suspiciously close to double 8v. It's possible they have the 26 cells in a series parallel arrangement of 13x2 for the 8v peak output.
I am looking forward to getting them.
Edit: Just looked again and the back does say 26 cells, making the peak open circuit voltage around 15.6V...suspiciously close to double 8v. It's possible they have the 26 cells in a series parallel arrangement of 13x2 for the 8v peak output.
https://www.reddit.com/r/EufyCam/...drip_loop/
I suspect they are dumping inventory. This is 'stupid cheap' for new Monocrystalline cells. Hopefully the build quality of the PV panel is decent. I am willing to try some at this price.
For those thinking about buying a lot of these to emulate larger PV panels on the cheap, consider buying used name brand PV panels from an operation like Santan solar instead.
As for the other, you think this cord is wired directly to the panel without "any" regulation at all? I wouldn't have thought so, the usb panel I built puts out 10 volts.
It has a regulator board for the USB connection where it can supply 4.5-8.5 volts depending on the device. You think this breakout cable is directly to the panel? Interesting.
No wonder they have to clear these out. Not enough Lion Cub users? One look at that cable end and it's like "huh? what am I supposed to do with that?" lol.
here's a link to those regulator boards if anyone ends up needing one. BTW: They do not make it any easier to charge an I-phone directly with a solar panel. It's can still be a PITA.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product...UTF8&
USB-C PD can handle higher voltage and amperage because it requires the other end to negotiate higher power. To conform to spec it would need to be regulated to a stable higher voltage (9V, 15V, etc), not just left floating to whatever the panel is producing at any given moment. The circuitry on both sides would be more expensive and the cable would need to have an emark chip to support over 3A. They went with 2 microUSB that doesn't fit other devices and doesn't conform to USB spec voltage and current-wise because they control both ends of the connection and didn't want to increase cost.
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If it were me, I'd just get a 8-10 watt 12 volt panel and be done with it. Something like that couldn't cost much. You don't need 20 watts to trickle charge, well unless the battery is Gigantic.
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Have UPS tracking numbers.
They are shipping two per box.
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