The solar charging is supplemental at best Blavor doesn’t even indicate its wattage, so consider it a fallback if you have no other option. The emphasis here is on the power bank-a beefy 10,000-mAh battery.
Let’s be clear, though: The solar cells on the top of this power bank aren’t large or efficient enough to charge your phone in an afternoon. That said, you can step up to BioLite’s 10-watt solar charger, which includes a fold-out second solar panel and a larger 3,000-mAh battery.īest Budget Solar Charger Blavor Solar Power BankĪmazon Blavor Solar Power Bank BUY FROM AMAZONīlavor’s Solar Power Bank does a little bit of everything, and does so at a very attractive price. You only get 5 watts of charging power, though, which is just a fraction of what you get with a model like BigBlue. Want to charge devices directly? There’s a USB port to connect your phone or other device. There’s also a 2,200-mAh battery built in so the solar array can be storing electricity even when there’s no gadget plugged in. The dirty little secret is that the angle of the panel can make a big difference in how much energy you accumulate, and all solar chargers should have a widget like BioLite’s sundial to help you zero in on the right angle. But what’s remarkable about the BioLite’s design-and unique among consumer solar chargers-is the small sundial that you can use to find the optimal angle for soaking up sunrays. The BioLite SolarPanel 5+ has its own kickstand for orienting it on the ground for charging, and you can also use the kickstand to hang it if needed.
#Solar powered battery charger portable#
It’s made of a rugged polymer fabric, is IPX4 waterproof and folds up to just 11圆 inches for easy storage in a backpack.īest Solar Battery Charger Anker 21W 2-Port USB Portable Solar ChargerĪmazon BioLite SolarPanel 5+ BUY FROM AMAZON
Grommets let you also hang it from a tree or even clip it to your backpack as you hike.īigBlue doesn’t have a built-in battery, but it does have three USB ports (two 2.4-amp and one 1-amp port) for connecting up to three devices at once-it’s one of the few chargers we’ve seen that can accommodate more than two devices. And BigBlue does take up a lot of space, unfolding into four solar panels that are nearly three feet long. But it’s significantly more expensive.īigBlue’s 28 watts makes it practical to charge a phone in just a couple of hours-provided you have a bright, unobstructed sky and somewhere to spread out the charger for optimal coverage. Yes, there are chargers which offer more than 28 watts of power-the Goal Zero Nomad 50, also on this list, delivers 50 watts for example. BigBlue’s 28 watts offers the best price-performance ratio of any consumer solar charger we’ve seen.
The higher the wattage a solar charger can supply, the faster it’s able to charge a device.
Or you can plug in any of your other USB-equipped gear, like GPS, tablets, flashlights and more. Typically equipped with one or two USB ports, you can use a solar charger to fuel up a power bank so you can draw that power after the sun goes down.