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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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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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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.
I'm basically hoping on doing something similar. I have some power banks that I never use and plan on trying to charge them via these solar panels.
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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Seems like a no-brainer.
- solar tracking to maximize output constantly (even an hour going by the sun will move enough to drop a couple percent of power output
- efficiency losses: charger bank input, and solar USB regulator efficiency is almost always near 70-90% on budget solar electronics. This panel may produce 20W but charging a power bank may only yield <16W.
- seasonally shorter days in winter (but more efficient low solar cell temperatures) and longer days in summer (but lower cell efficiency in warmer climates)
Note: I've been up for over 24 solar hours so this may not make any sense at allThis map shows solar irradiance per day which is equivalent to peak sun hours: https://www.nrel.gov/gis/assets/i...ale-01.jpg
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After checking, mine said it was "on the way" yesterday and arrived at 9am this morning. Only email prior was the order confirmation/thank you.
After checking, mine said it was "on the way" yesterday and arrived at 9am this morning. Only email prior was the order confirmation/thank you.
I emailed them twice. They finally replied yesterday with UPS tracking number.
Normally, online stores don't charge your payment until they ship the item. In this case, mine was charged and didn't hear from them for 7 days.
I've noticed some of these cheap regulators really limit the draw. For instance, I have 4 usb marine chargers on my solar rig in the house. 2 of the USBs are a cheap piece that came with a marine plate. Those chargers get hot and can not support stuff much higher than a phone charge. The other is one I bought separate of higher quality and it can charge a power bank at 19 watts plus something else on the other port.
I suspect based on what this panel is "really for" that the separate USB chargers on it were not a priority. They're probably of cheap design to just be used with a phone. Not all regulators are created equal.
Btw: If you have a regulator/buck converter that you like to use I'd like to know which one it is
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I also did a basic test of the USB-A ports. Under the same conditions where the panel was producing over 16W unregulated, the USB port would quickly drop below 5V if I tried pulling more than 2A from it. Max wattage was around 10.3W at 4.3V/2.4A. I don't think the 4A per port for USB-A is accurate if it can't produce anywhere close to 5V 3A when the panel is receiving 16W.
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