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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I wouldn't doubt there's 4 wires in the black wire and you could just hook them in series and put a new end on it ...
https://www.reddit.com/r/EufyCam/...drip_loop/ [reddit.com]
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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.
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.
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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.
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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.
I basically do the same thing, use these to charge and deplete power banks to save a few bucks on the electric. Especially during the summer variable rates that can peak to almost $0.50/kWh on my plan. It does make a difference.
I have one of those cheap 10k units with 3 tiny foldable panels that usually charges within a week or so. Yea, slow, but I don't use it often. I usually remember I have it every couple of week and use it to power my phone while I game for one night, maybe two. That power bank is gettin pretty old, but I have multiple banks that could use these panels, outside of the Ecoflow.
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.
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.
FYI, they screwed up on my orders and sent them to my billing address, not shipping address. I used Apple Pay to check out, because I was driving when this went FP, but I checked my order emails and the shipping address was correct, they just sent them to the billing address for some reason. Not a huge issue, but had to get the neighbor to go grab them for me lol
I'm hoping to make a few Blink XT2 cameras that I got from Woot refurbished for $12 each solar powered.
The XT2s have a USB port on the back that I'm assuming is for powering the cameras. So the power chain will be solar panel to power bank then XT2. Let the half ars experiments begin...
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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.
Incidentally, I know you measured the voltage but did you measure the amps individually on the them before putting them in a series? That's a pretty low wattage reading.
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