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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:
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
Editor's Notes
Written by qwikwit | Staff- About this Deal:
- This matches a recent Frontpage deal.
- Rated 4.8 out of 5 stars from 32 reviews.
Community Notes
About the Poster
Deal Details
Community Notes
About the Poster
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:
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
Editor's Notes
Written by qwikwit | Staff- About this Deal:
- This matches a recent Frontpage deal.
- Rated 4.8 out of 5 stars from 32 reviews.
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+73
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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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Incidentally, I know you measured the voltage but did you measure the amps on the wiring before putting them in a series? That's a pretty low wattage if all the cells were connected.
Unless your power bank takes floating voltage input I don't see what the point would be to add another 5V regulator when it already has one.
Unless your power bank takes floating voltage input I don't see what the point would be to add another 5V regulator when it already has one.
If the manufacturer of this thing saw fit to hook their power bank directly without the regulation, I guess that's good enough for me.
I'll put a meter on it and see how the watts compare to your findings. I have a little panel I built half the size of this which can hit almost 10 watts usb (depending on the battery state). This should do a lot higher than that.
If you try to add a QC or PD board to do 9V 18W, it will be flaky. Because if the panel doesn't produce enough to meet that wattage due to a cloud, it will stop fast charging. Lots of devices only negotiate power upon first connection and do not renegotiate if available the power drops intermittently.
Haven't had that happen with a power bank though. Power banks have renegotiated after a small pause.
Happened today -in fact. I was charging a Tozo. Huge cloud cover, sun almost gone for 60 seconds. It dropped out to almost nothing. renegotiated. I did nothing but watch,
Nothing special about the Tozo. Maybe there's something special about the regulator I put in my panels.
Me thinks these panels were custom made for Lion energy and bcuz they no longer make or sell the cub go and the funky cell setup they can't be easily repurposed, thus give away price, after factoring in free shipping they might be losing money on these at this price - seems like they just want them gone lol
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In full 2pm sun with the panel outside facing south, I am getting 5.1V at an average of 1.5A for my iPhone 13 with all optimized charging settings turned off.
So really, I am only getting at most a 8W charge. It didn't matter if it was USB1 or USB2 on the device. When charging a power bank, it's getting 2A so 10W.
In full 2pm sun with the panel outside facing south, I am getting 5.1V at an average of 1.5A for my iPhone 13 with all optimized charging settings turned off.
So really, I am only getting at most a 8W charge. It didn't matter if it was USB1 or USB2 on the device. When charging a power bank, it's getting 2A so 10W.
I'm still waiting on my order after the initial confirmation email (~3 days ago). I haven't received any shipping updates and on I'm on the fence as to whether I should call customer service....or if I should just wait.
I'm still waiting on my order after the initial confirmation email (~3 days ago). I haven't received any shipping updates and on I'm on the fence as to whether I should call customer service....or if I should just wait.
I'm still waiting on my order after the initial confirmation email (~3 days ago). I haven't received any shipping updates and on I'm on the fence as to whether I should call customer service....or if I should just wait.
For what it's worth, I sent their customer support an email requesting a shipping update.
I received a reply a few minutes ago confirming that my order will be shipped today.
Mine did.
All you have to do is copy and paste into UPS website.
In full 2pm sun with the panel outside facing south, I am getting 5.1V at an average of 1.5A for my iPhone 13 with all optimized charging settings turned off.
So really, I am only getting at most a 8W charge. It didn't matter if it was USB1 or USB2 on the device. When charging a power bank, it's getting 2A so 10W.
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