Do Solar Power Banks Really Work? 

I'm very glad you did not have to form voltron because frankly I'm not sure you would know just how to control it's path of destruction.

This panel can put out close to 100 watts ru-vid.comUgkxOqI2yqX0XVrhR2BMJciTWrHJpG8FhJyg when positioned in the appropriate southernly direction, tilted to the optimal angle for your latitude/date, and connected to a higher capacity device than a 500. The built in kickstand angle is a fixed at 50 degrees. Up to 20% more power can be output by selecting the actual date and latitude optimal angle.The 500 will only input 3.5A maximum at 18 volts for 63 watts. Some of the excess power from the panel can be fed into a USB battery bank, charged directly from the panel while also charging a 500. This will allow you to harvest as much as 63 + 15 = 78 watts.If this panel is used to charge a larger device, such as the power station, then its full output potential can be realized.

And on the seventh day the power bank rested... and it was good.

This is, like, the only helpful video on all of RU-vid that I could find regarding solar power banks. Thanks!

It has four 1.5W solar cells, so in total a 6W solar panel, which means in reality it gets about 5W under optimal conditions. The battery is 96 Wh, so it should take around 20 hrs of direct sunlight to charge fully. In the US on average you get about 5 sun hours per day, so it should take 4 days to charge, but being overcast/sub-optimal conditions might push that to 5-6 days which is in line with your findings. But that's to fully charge the battery. To get ~13 Wh which is the average cell phone battery size should be doable in one day or at least get 80% if it's overcast, and that's not too shabby for how big the thing is. Also, putting a solar panel behind a (clean) window reduces efficiency by 50%, even worse if it's double pane or a tinted windshield. It also reduces how much direct sunlight can reach it throughout the day, especially if you're not putting it right up against the window, so that's why you hardly got anything with that approach. I think this is a very cool product, but in reality you wouldn't use the solar 99% of the time when you're near civilization, yet it adds 30% more thickness and some weight. If you go camping or expect to be away from outlets, then you can buy a separate portable panel like the 21W Anker or 28W Big Blue which will give you a lot more power. So it makes more sense to get a regular power bank and just bring those portable panels with you when you think you might need them.

Thank you Randy for a rare, totally unbiased evaluation. Well done.

I've owned at least half a dozen power banks and I was always interested in the solar. I bought one that had 5 total panels and here's my $.02. They will NOT charge under indoor lighting so don't try. Also don't try and charge them indoors next to a window like this guy did. They need full direct sunlight and a lot of it. They are a doomsday device only and not intended for everyday use. I bought one for my daughter's bug out bag.Great for camping and such but not for the power hogs.

People seem to forget that it's not only phones that can be charged off of these things in a bug out scenario you can charge weapon lights or regular flashlights radios all sorts of other equipment I even have a USB chargeable lighter that is excellent for starting fires. It's basically just a coil with induction heating but it's a renewable resource that I can continue charging up off of one of these things and not rely on lighter fluid or bow drills or anything else. You can't expect wall power off of a couple tiny solar panels so I think a lot of negative reviews come from people who aren't realistic in their expectations. If you have a lot of your equipment that runs off the same 18650 batteries or other rechargable batteries and you have a USB charger, you can continue using that equipment long after the power grid goes down and generators run out of fuel. Most of the stuff that plugs into your wall is just a box with a step down transformer that usually bumps it down to 12 or less or 5 or less volts and basically anything that is going to be running in the 5 or less volts can be USB chargeable.

Thank you, Rando, for this video. Really well done and I was able to understand all. It seems this type of device is just made for my aim: long-distance cycle touring when sometimes I can stay at some organized camping ground and some time at wild camping sites. So it permits to maintain the power bank at least partially recharged while traveling between two AC provided sites.

There is also the excellent SUNSLICE, here the review: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-OhDhfTRBPmI.html

I believe I have this same model, but it is only one part of my portable / backup power solution. I almost never use its attached panels (maybe good for 5W); instead I connect it through an adapter to the same much larger solar panel (100W-200W) that charges a portable power station. This device can charge my phone, UV-5R, razor, and other USB devices, plus charge NiMH and Li-ion batteries; the portable power station can run a compressor-cooler, charge tool batteries, and run other larger lights and appliances.

Good no-nonsense video. I have the AddAcc version, (7.5W) coupled with an Anker 21W panel that connects into it via the microUSB. As most powerbank batteries are 18W I’m pretty sure it’s not getting the full 28.5W I could potentially be capturing, but between its own 5 cells and the large Anker cells I can charge the whole thing from flat to full in about 9hrs. I’m lucky to get a full day of direct sun as I face south and am on the south coast of the UK so have slightly less cloud than the rest of the country. Today I’ve just used the Anker panel on its own to charge a separate 21500mA power bank from 0 to 75% in 5.5hrs. With the power I collect in the AddAcc solar bank and the separate Ravpower bank I charge my phone, iPad Pro, Apple Watch and air pods overnight where necessary and have essentially removed all of the devices I use all day for work from the ‘grid’. They’re all super-low power devices I know, but it’s a start. Any power left in the AddAcc gets used to top up the Ravpower bank and then it goes back outside first thing in the morning. I carry the Anker panel with me too so I can charge power banks in the car (laid across the dashboard), at work (works well in a window, unlike the AddAcc unit, we also have a roof terrace I can use) or even on the beach. If Anker can produce a battery unit that fits in their large 21.5W panel and has a digital readout displaying charge percentage and power input/output then I’d be absolutely all-in.

I have the same one in your video and it works well if it's in full sun and is maximized. Something to keep in mind is that most glass has UV protection and will stop or reduce charging of any solar device.

it took me 1 year to charge cos i live in england

I picked up a single panel solar power bank. My purpose is a little different. People in our group each picked up a single panel one so we can go an entire day without having to use another power bank. The solar keeps the power bank topped up with trickle charge solar the entire day. It lasted me and my friend the entire day. We were doing pokemon go the entire day in the summer for an in game event

Hi, did you do the recommended first charge for 5-6 hours using regular electricity? That's what some of them say to do. It might have affected your results. Thanks for the video. It's always good to know how different settings affect a product.

No you have to have a proper external solar panel with more wattage then Total wattage capacity of the battery inorder to charge said battery efficiently. Solar power is important but dose not and can not replace the grid. You are better off to wait for hydrogen generators which will be very expensive but more realistic then replacement for fossil fuels.

Because solar panels generates electricity from UV (not necessarily sun light) when you tried to charge the power bank from indoor, behind the window, most of UV where blocked by the double glazed window... that's why it did not charge!

YES!!! You Sir, won a subscriber. I was searching for a detailed video and this is the best I have found. After a strong snowstorm and NO power for several days, I really appreciate this very well explained video. Thank you.

It's best to have the panels at an angle to face the sun rather than having it lay flat on a windowsill or table, this enables the panels to collect more sun.

I have a regular Power bank which works very well with any phone. However, i would'nt recommend a solar power bank as this device could take your phone a couple of days to charge while a Regular power bank only takes a day to fully Charge your device. Just a thought.

Why does everyone's lawn look perfect?

The idea is good to have a power bank that charges with solar light, but so far none of these compact ones does charge in a reasonable time

Thank You for All that you are doing for World Peace and for our Planet... Peace.. Shalom.. Salam.. La Paz.. Namaste .. 🙏🏻 😊 🌈 ✌ ☮️ ❤️ 💐 🕊

This solar powerbank is like the Poweradd power bank with 4 panels. It weighs a pound. I left it by the window in direct sunlight here in California, so you can imagine how much sun that is. I planned to leave it for a week to see if it will fully charge since the instructions says 50 hrs of sunlight to fully charge it. Before this, I charged this a few times using a wall charger and used it. It worked as it should. It still had 2 bars in it when I tried to solar charging. The indicator showed it charging when the sunlight hit the panels. Then I totally forgot about it. Over 3 weeks later, I remembered to check it and the charge went up to 3 bars. 3 weeks to up the charge to 3 bars from 2. Blah.

I've used one of those for the last two years of full time boondocking. It's come in handy as a backup to my solar system but it doesn't really charge up all that fast, maybe one full phone's worth when angled toward the sun on the longest day of the year in the desert. Recently the battery started to fail such that it would take forever to charge and then it would discharge far to quickly. Over all they're gimmicks and not meant for regular use.

Damn just tell me if it work! Just kidding, thank you sir

Powerbanks are 65 percent efficient. 20,000mAh = 20,000 x 0.65 = 13,000mAh true capacity Or 20,000×3.7÷5 = 14,800 mAh

Hi Randy. I purchased this exact device last week. It is June and we have had some very sunny days. I left the solar charger opened in the direct sunlight for three days. The charger started at two lights and by the end of the three days, it was still at two lights. The device appears to work in every other way apart from charging up in the sun. The device was flashing indicating it was charging. Do you think it is faulty or was 20 hours of direct sun not enough to raise the indicator by one light? I suppose it could have gone from 50% up to 74% and the light not change up to three lights. If these devices had a better way of showing how charged up they were then you would know how much charge is accumulated in the time that you left it rather than thinking the thing is broken. Any feedback would be welcome.

I had gotten a 21w big blue solar charger and it almost fully charges my phone in 30 min. I have an iPhone 8 plus and it can charge a power can't alongside with the phone. Much better than the feob solar power bank which is similar to the one your testing.

It got four lights on the 6th day... It rested on the 7th day! 😆

I doubt that either of those power banks are even close to their 26,800 and 30,000 mah ratings, probably 6,000 or 8,000 mah

i was planning on getting something like this because im going to camping in the woods for 2 weeks straight (army/military service) but then again its most likely gonna be cloudy all the time, its cold like -10 to -20 celcius and in the woods probably wont really charge the powerbank at all. So i think it just means no phone after my other powerbanks go empty with ultra power saving mode maybe in a week.

Seems like one would only fully charge this once. If hoping to use when power is out it's extra panels are really of no use after the first time because it would be being used daily not once every 8 days to let it charge to full again.

they fully charge with 48 hrs FULL sun exposure....meaning not just 2 days

This will be handy for the judgement day guys who run about in the undergrowth in camos with enough firepower of a small army lol 😂

Remember with solar panels, area doesn't lie. Allow 3 W max per 12x12 cm square or per sunpower cell.

i love this! Nice job with the annotations (*not phone) xD Funny, informative, honest review. 👍Great job.

I charge my 15000mah battery bank with an xdragon 20w solar panel in 4-6 hours depending on the sun. This is in Denmark, where the sun dont shine all that much compared to some placed in America. I'm pretty happy with that amount of free power. Keeps my phones and stuff charged up.

Not only will a NON-USBC connection take longer to charge, it will fail in 9 months to a year with normal use!! I'm living proof with 2 Doss bluetooth speakers which are effectively Earth-polluting bricks, smh.

I bought the 43800mAh solar power bank and it only charges to around 4000mAh. Just get a well recognized brand power bank and not those chinese solar ones from Amazon.

mAh in batteries are not equivalent ratings. You have to convert to Wh first to make them a direct comparison. On top that you won’t achieve 100% efficiency of transfer. 4000mAh in battery will not fully charge a 4000mAh device even if same voltage. You will lose power to heat and electrical resistance. I’d like you to charge your phone fully and watch that battery go down 30-40% and make a new video explaining that portable charger would take multiple days to generate the energy to charge a phone. You would need several of them to make regular use of the device if only using solar power.

USB 2.1 Amp is slow and outdated. It will not be good enough to charge my note 20 ultra. My phone requires 3.1 Amp to charge it. I opted for the 40000 mili Amp power bank

I'm sorry, I'm really confused. You laid it out each midday giving you three hours of light in the summer + guessed 8 days would make it an accumulated 24 hours total to charge? :S also I didn't see if you tests whether the quoted mah was correct? I tried watching it a few times :s thanks for sharing

I don't know if power banks operate at 100% efficiently I think its closer to 90%

When the hurricane is over & you have no electricity, for days- Im thinking something (if charged) is much better than having- nothing, so if you have an emergency call to make, they seem fine.

I think it’s good to have as a back up. May take days to charge but 4 days is not bad as if your only using to say charge your cell phone it will do the job. Good just to have you never know get it why it’s cheap before china stops trades lol 😂

I honestly think the test should happen a different way like the solar panels are meant to charge the phone tablet etc during the day and battery operated during downtime from the sun like cloud coverage maybe for a few seconds then at night when you have no sun I think why it charges the actual device slowly is because two things one if you’re not using the solar panels to charge a device then the power goes into the batteries two you have lithium ion batteries in direct sunlight and when batteries is being charged it warms up also the sun’s rays heat up the batteries honestly I just think it’s a design thing as a safety feature for the device and to conserve battery life for when you don’t have sunlight just my thoughts

Great Video! Thanks! I took cheap solar bank 1 panel replaced original battery because it got puffy with some old 3.7 phone batteries 2 of them run in parallel. And works well for what it is. And found the cell phone batteriez do better in heat! Thanks and good Luck!

I just got my "winlove" branded solar power bank. It looks identical to yours, except the red trim bits. I'm looking forward to playing with it. If a person is relying on the solar to keep their devices running, a minimum use strategy on the devices will help extend battery life and these small solar panels may be more viable. Just a thought.

I think it's good enough for an emergency phone call or for camping .like how it can be carried discreetly like a phone

Keeping them in a window is a good way to ruin the device completely. It will never take a charge and only stress the batteries out and eventually they will start to expand and not hold charge at all

THERE ARE NOOOOooooo MORE!!??OF those power banks left on AMAZON in the video😭

Thanks for taking the time to perform the test and sharing it. I guess the answer is no. If it takes days to charge a bank, that's terrible and completely not practical for any sort of usage. It seems like it would make more sense to charge the phone or devices directly through a solar panel vs taking 6 days to charge a bank and then another hour to charge the phone/device.

That's it, charge it up on your mains, top it off with sunlight when out and about.

Note to self need sun to charge! 😂

It’s crazy that these things take weeks and sometimes months just to get a bar of charge from these things. Sometimes they don’t charge at all. I don’t even know why they call it solar power chargers Lol. My outside Solar lamps charge faster than these things. And they have to nerve to charge $20-$100s for them

The discription sais that it will not be charged behind a window. ( in my discription )

Lol, I bought this just to keep from using power adapters, and saving energy. With a fully charged 25,000 mAH battery, I'll be able to charge my iPhone XS up 9 times, which literally means 8-12 days of use without a power outlet! Not bad, and it would definitely come in handy if a bad storm or tornado came threw and knocked out the power for a couple of days (like it did last year during Easter). Worst case scenario, if I forgot to charge the power bank up, I can just open the panels up and put it on my car's roof and charge my phone that way.

"Do Solar Power Banks Really Work?" Mine doesn't! My Li-polymer 18000mAH 5v power bank should be equally chargeable from its built-in solar panel or from USB. It charges OK from USB, but sunshine causes it to discharge instead of charge. Blue LEDs correctly indicate presence of sunshine on its solar panel, but this sunshine causes battery to go down instead of up. I can only suspect internal wiring between solar and battery must have reversed polarity somewhere. I seek guidance on how to correct this

if you consider that in greece we have your kind of sunshine at least 50 times more it would be logical to assume the powerbank would charge in a days time !?

I don’t know nothing about nothing but six days to charge it is ridiculous.

Seems like all the 4 panel charges take a week in optimal conditions with full day charging. Single panel chargers take a minimum of 2 weeks. You would be done with your camping trip, hike, or rescued by time these things charge. smh Great video, ty, but I think I'll pass on these devices. I wanted one for the SHTF scenario. If SHTF you're probably always on the go, so this may not be a good purchase. Originally I was thinking just velcro it to a backpack with the panel facing upward and let it charge. I don't think it's gonna work. Then again my Bday is coming up, so maybe I should post on FB a link and Bday coming soon msg, and hopefully get lucky. lol

I wish I had seen this before I bought one from "my Patriot Supply". Not only did it cost WAY MORE but its detective and they won't pay my return postage. Please stay honest so people like me will still trust. By the way, it recently got marked down to half. Wonder why?

wow that was totally crap for a charger man. In a SHTF situation you seriously going to sit around and waste eight good days for a charge up? Thanks for saving me the disapointment bro, this product totally SUCKS and goes straight into the garbage DUMP!!

Can this thing can charge other devices not only phone

Thanks for the useful info. Has anyone ever told you that you look a little like the comedian Jim Breuer? You've got those slightly "stoner eyes" too, lol. That's a good thing, btw. ;-)

I believe that glass blocks some light, so it would reduce the effectiveness of the solar panels

I can’t find one that actually uses sun . The solar panels are fake on the one I bought abd every other one I research . Is there a single one on the market that actually uses the sun to recharge or is it all just bullshxt? Edit: So this one does, just slowly?

simple , clear , informative , well delivered,,,,thank you for your energy !!!

So would you recommend the thing?

I have the single panel version an got to say it let me down big time, I spent 8 nights out in a heat wave. Took it out fully charged it worked for 1 an a half days. An that was it it was literally in direct 20 odd degrees of beaming sunshine an maybe got 2% out of it. It doesn't look broke or there are no lights to signal that its broke.

2-3 Days with a usb-c cable, assuming constantly plugged in the is 48-72 hours, that is a crap charging rate

Forget that! Buy a regular powerbank and get a 10-20 watt solar panel that is usb compatible. I just charged my nitecore 14000mah power bank in about 2 days. ...but then again I'm in Texas lol.

Excellent review. Thank you sir. I liked and subscribed.

A solar charger through glass works at only 9% of its capacity.

I wonder how many phone charged it would take to recoup the initial cost of the device itself. I like the idea of solar to save money but not sure if this would save me money. Hmmm

In short, I believe they do work. No they dont charge your phone as fast as a regular charger but they have good battery and a led light. Plus some of them are even waterproof and drop proof. I have a 4patriots one and I love it.

mine also doesnt turn light right away

I like the video. The product disappoints me. Its hard enough to charge Mobil phone on the mains. But 6 days!!?

Does the USB send and receive signals

All of the Amazon reviews of these type of products say they carry extra power, but get no power from the sun.

“Still not a phone” 😂😂🤣😂 For real though. Cool video. Liked.

yes the do very slow char rat 1 or nuot ohibe charge prr day

should do a voice over for the outside parts cant hear u

Interesting..

Cool video. In your opinion what is the best top 5 solar banks on the market? Is there a practical option between 200 to 700 dollars or will I be getting junk? I'm new to this type of device but looking for a good device for emergencies? Thanks buddy.

Subbed. Very practical information.

They do work, you just gotta get one built with quality parts!! You get what you pay for.. But yeah I’m a Extended Black-out situation they come in handy with keeping ya phone going, plus other small to mid size devices

The heat from direct sunlight would destroy and degrade the battery significantly. Solar powerbanks are extremely slow because of the small surface area of the panels and is inefficient.

Your maths is wrong with the lights i think. 4 lights is not 100% it is i above about 80% that is why the fourth light doesn't turn off the moment you plug a device in to charge and the battery bank drops to 99%. So 6 days in full sun probably charged it to somewhere closer to 80%

You're actually better off getting a single cell power bank and a separate 30 watt 12x8 solar panel charger. On a sunny day you can charge this in a few hours.

Hey I’m in the market for one of these solar power banks but I’m sketched by all the fake ones on Amazon, do you recommend any with a legitimate high capacity mIlliamp hour rating?

The ONLY useful video on solar power banks on youyube

Can it power up using inside lights in house ? Also what’s the cable for ?

You're going to trust you life something with a name like, Be Charming?

I bought one of these but it will not charge by the solar panels. I discharged it by charging my tablet 3 times and my phone twice. Then I put it out in the sun for 7 hours 3 days in a row, and there was only 1 blue LED lit. Piece of crap.

Yikes this video was a mess. But hey least you showed everything including the flaws in the video. Like not knowing the product by not knowing how to turn the light on. Then testing it indoors from a window. We all make mistakes and learn from them

I charge my phone using solar panel only during the day and night time use power bank to charge my phone. I’m Saving battery life on power bank.

You got a good one, my don’t charge in the sun I got rid of my Amazon £48,00 UK 👍🇬🇧👋🙏🇺🇸