[dyna962007]

I know this has been talked about but it seems like its all over the board and no one is tying it all together. Maybe my post and my needs will help us to come up with a comprehensive thread that really covers it.
I am looking for a solar bug out type charger system. waterproof would be nice, high input and output of course. With or without a battery whatever makes most sense. if it needs to have a sperate power bank ok whatever makes most sense. needs to fit nicely into a bug out bag, Id like to be able to charge some older walkies that use the old smaller USB like old cell phones and of course the newer USBC would be great too BUT, Id like to be able to charge anything, laptops, and everything even if it takes adapters to do it. My Baofeng radios that normally charge in a desktop charger that's plugged into 110 also need to be charged. Id like to have rechargeable AA and AAA and other batteries that can all somehow be charged also. In short, I want it to be able to do anything, how do I do that?

 

[wjv]

FlexSolar 40 watt folding panel
Nitecore battery charger with USB power input

 

[dyna962007]

thanks buddy

 

[Jurgis]

Lightweight, high power, portable, choose any 1.
With solar, you have to face reality. You can charge small batteries with a portable system, but for a laptop, you will have to wait 2 days to fully charge.
The flexible panels in the picture will give about 80W each under best conditions. Each weighs 2kg, but they are not really portable because of their size and they move a lot in the wind

, you would need a kind of a stand, which adds weight again. Not included is the power supply in the calculation. So to charge your laptop reasonably, you will have to carry 8kg or so.

 

[OregonDreams]

How much do those panels flex? That's pretty awesome, just curious to know if they would bend enough to make up part of the covering of a hoop house

 

[Jurgis]

90$ on Aliexpress with shipping to Spain. They came in 3 days. Flexing would be a little bit more than in the picture, but not much more. The wafers inside seem to be the "normal" ones which are used on other panels.
Generally these get bad reviews from solar enthusiasts, they seem to degrade rapidly if outside. Check on Youtube.
I use them inside my flat, hanging behind a Window.
Cooling is an issue, so on a black car roof, they will probably not perform well for long.

 

[OregonDreams]

90$ on Aliexpress with shipping to Spain. They came in 3 days. Flexing would be a little bit more than in the picture, but not much more. The wafers inside seem to be the "normal" ones which are used on other panels.
Generally these get bad reviews from solar enthusiasts, they seem to degrade rapidly if outside. Check on Youtube.
I use them inside my flat, hanging behind a Window.
Cooling is an issue, so on a black car roof, they will probably not perform well for long.

Thanks for the info! That's really helpful.

 

[Back Pack Hack]

How much do those panels flex? That's pretty awesome, just curious to know if they would bend enough to make up part of the covering of a hoop house

My understanding is panels that flex aren't as efficient as rigid panels. However, I've never had one of each so I haven't been able race them against each other.

 

[Kauboy]

Direct solar power is "dirty". It fluctuates too much to be a direct source of power to sensitive electronics.
You absolutely want an intermediary battery inline between the solar panels and anything you want to charge to smooth out the voltage.
Then it becomes a trade-off game with how large your panels have to be to charge the battery that will charge other batteries, and how large that battery is to support multiple devices.

There is no good solution which offers compact portability AND high wattage AND large capacity for multiple devices.
To reiterate what @Jurgis said, you can pick any one, but only one.

 

[NMPRN]

...needs to fit nicely into a bug out bag
...Id like to be able to charge anything, laptops, and everything even if it takes adapters to do it.

Those are pretty vague specifications. How big is your BOB and how much of it are you willing to take up with solar? Are you going to use it in northern Michigan in December or in southern Arizona in June? What's the charging voltage and current of "anything" and "everything". I'm not being snippy, it's just your question is too vague for anyone to give you a real answer.

Start with your location, that will tell you how efficient your solar will be. In some locations solar might not even be a realistic solution for a BOB sized system. Then determine the actual charging requirements of everything you need to charge. Those two pieces of information will design your system for you. Without those two pieces of information your just guessing

 

[Jurgis]

My understanding is panels that flex aren't as efficient as rigid panels. However, I've never had one of each so I haven't been able race them against each other.

I compared them with my rigid 100W panels which are unused, but 12 years old.
The power output of the flexible panels was higher in December. They performed better than expected.
However, the flexible ones seem not to be made to be outside permanently. There is only a very thin layer on top of them to protect the wafers. I imagine this thin film layer will degrade rapidly under direct sun. Youtube has some examples, but I cannot confirm it, as my panels are 3 months old.

 

[NMPRN]

Start with your location... Then determine the actual charging requirements...

A USB Tester cost about $20 and will tell you the charge current your going to need for each USB device. ...any ammeter will tell you about non-USB devices. (mine is old, new ones aren't in chinies)

The interweb is full of information about how much solar energy you can expect to get for a particular location