Spent $200 on a solar charger last spring and it barely works on cloudy days here in Seattle

I live in Seattle, we get maybe 30 clear days a year, so now I'm stuck with this expensive paperweight for my camping trips unless I drag it to the desert, does anyone actually use these things in real life or just in ads?

3 comments

3 Comments

bettywood1mo ago

The thing nobody's talking about is that those cheap $200 panels usually have crappy charge controllers in them, so even if they do grab some ambient light they waste half of it converting to power. Also, you don't have to drag it to the desert. Set it up in a south facing window on a bright overcast day and it'll trickle charge a power bank overnight just fine. I actually keep a smaller one on my apartment balcony here in Oregon and it tops off my phone battery by the afternoon if the clouds aren't too thick. Most people expect them to work like wall outlets and get disappointed, but they're really just a slow backup that saves you from running out of gas in your generator.

dakotawood2mo ago

i mean those things need direct sunlight to work, theyre not magic. even the best ones are gonna be pretty useless under Seattle cloud cover. you prob would have been better off with one of those foldable panels that are a lot cheaper, at least then you wouldnt feel as bad about it not working half the time.

kimr102mo ago

okay hold on i gotta push back on this a bit. i live in portland which is basically the same weather as seattle and i have a top brand portable solar panel that i use for camping and it still pulls in plenty of power even on heavy overcast days. like yeah its not gonna charge as fast as full sun but its not useless. the technology has gotten way better in the last few years, they can actually grab ambient light and convert it. the cheaper foldable panels are a total joke in low light, they barely register anything. so if you actually need reliable power in the northwest you kinda have to pay for the good stuff.