Thanks! I wish I had seen this before I ordered the Ecoflow panels. Also found out the cables don't come with them and had to order twice to get the cables with the XT60I connector. Sure a lot to be desired in advertising and sales sites from them. The charge cables are only shown and have a price listed. When you order them they then put P/N on the invoice and no description except cables. Customer support told me I ordered the plain XT60 connection and I could order the other one. Really a lot of support! I like others think the cables should come with the panels for the price they are charging (no pun intended) live and learn.
I have the 400 watt EcoFlow panel. I agree the stand is worthless. But it’s pretty easy to set them up by leaning the panel against two aluminum lawn chairs. That’s what I do now and it works well.
GREAT, GREAT, comparison video. As always looking at your channel always insures that when I make a purchase of anything solar related it is always an informed decision. Great job!
I have 2x 200W Eenour panels, and combined I see around the same 330W peak. I use them to charge my P2001. An interesting thing about the 200W model is 18V/36V (19.5V/39V on the new version) switchable voltage, for use in series. The older version also has USB A(18W) and C(60W) ports.
Love your in depth analysis! Glad to see both folded and deployed dimensions, as well as your evaluation of the kick stands. It might be subjective, but I would also like to find out how susceptible the panels are to being blown around by the wind, or how easily they could be anchored down to prevent damage from happening. Thanks for your thorough evaluation!
All of these solar panels are pretty heavy so they are less susceptible to flying away vs the smaller 200 watt versions. There's a great product made here in the USA that anchors any of these folding panels down, you can see that product HERE: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-vRbQLbiL_Hs.html
what I found messing with these is the Ease of setting them up factors in when we are almost all near a comparable level.. I find myself just laying them flat alot or propped up against the vehicle.. being lazy.. vs chasing watts.. I have the ecoflow units. but that was an uneducated purchase back when.. however they are heavy for sure as you say.. thank you.. this is good info.. there is 2 or 3 top tier ports Durability is also a factor, for repeated use.. then the question of 400 vs 2x200 or 220BF..etc comes into play.. I actually choose to carry 2x220BFs with me most of the time in the MH with 8000 WH battery. fwiw.. thank you again.. excellent reviews.. Your reviews have saved me alot of money..
Nice review. I got the Bluetti PV420 when they 1st came out. Haven't used them much, as I got them for use in my 5th wheel and as a backup power supply (I also bought the AC500 with 2 batteries). Figured I could use the AC500 in UPS mode at my house and then take the setup with me when I'm in the 5th wheel. It was refreshing to see the Bluetti did as well as it did, and I got it at a pre release price so even better.
I had the Bluetti 800w power station and when I got the Bluetti 350w solar panel I found out really fast that the panel was too powerful for that power station and it wouldn't even charge. I ended up a year ago last Black Friday and bought on eBay the EcoFlow Delta Max 1612w Power Station and got a 110w EcoFlow solar panel deal refurbished. I paid $700 bucks for all of it and boy, what a deal. it blew my Bluetti 800w Power Station out of the water! Bluetti can charge up to 200 watts and the new EcoFlow can charge up to 1600 watts which is insane, plus you know the exact percentage of your battery, plus downloaded an app that lets me not only see everything the power station is doing, but I can adjust the settings from anywhere!
I have the Bluetti 420 and it's worked well. I routinely get over 420 watts at solar noon. My complaint with it is the kickstands only go as low as 35 degrees tilt and in Michigan in the summer I need 18 degrees. That being said I built a PVC frame with adjustable legs to support it. Frame comes apart for easy transport.
i found putting the ecoflow case down below the panel is slightly better setup than having it hang from the edge of the bag, slightly above the panel. doing in grass makes it more possible to get a flatter setup rather than using the bottom clips of the case.
Thanks for passing along your Ecoflow panel suggestion but unfortunately I can't visualize what you mean. I wish there was a may you could share a photo of what you described. I own Ecoflow panels myself and hate them for the exact reasons described in this video. They are an absolute nightmare to set up.
Nice one. I'm not in the market, having shot my load on the first new vehicle in ten years, but some of these look nice. If I were buying, I would consider some trust issues as well, and would probably choose Anker or Bluetti, with Allpowers in the basement. That Ecoflow looked like a chore to set up.
Amazingly thorough - thank you. I'm not in the market, but the Eenour would be my choice if I were. One variable I think would have been hard to account for would have been the angle of the panels. They all looked pretty even, so we'll call it good 😁
Reading through some tests on overlanding websites were hilarious. The money they were willing to spend on substandard panels. I tested two Newpowa 100 watt, $100 flexible panels in series and they at times put out OVER 200 watts.
Excellent comparison video, I really hate that these are all so darn expensive, but they definitely would travel well and setup quick compared with less expensive conventional ridged panels! Great Video!!!!
1) I have the Eco Flow 110w which uses the case for the stand also, and agree with you 100%...AWKWARD! 2) I was really hoping to see the Montek 400w panel in here. As I noted in a previous comment, it is only 20 pounds. I had contacted the CEO, Monte, and sent him your last review. He said he would contact you, but thought that 2pcs of his 200W foldable panels would be better (more sturdy), and they are 11.5lbs each. Hoping for next time.
@@Jasonoid I mentioned this to Monte, and he noted that when he launches the new suitcase power units (hopefully end of October) that he will probably send you one to test, along with a solar panel. He is super busy on this launch... it includes NCM and LFP models, both with expansion battery options. I would like to note that I really like your grading scale for these solar generator/power units...until the Montek review. It got dinged due to the higher W/H cost, yet, you did not make a new category for sealing. Sealing is difficult and costly, and you can not be the best sealed and the lowest cost. With that new category, the rest of the herd would have dropped in points, and the Montek would have been rated more accurately. Just my opinion. Looking forward to your review of the new Montek!
@@greensavant2573 I've updated my new grading system with feedback from more than 200 people and provided their opinion. It's quite a bit more strict vs the older version
Thanks for the video! As a future video idea, I'd love to see a test of amorphous solar panels in low-light and shaded conditions (tree branches when camping are my nemesis...), along with a comparison to more traditional folding panels like these ones. Home Depot sells some cheaper and low-wattage ones, and there's larger ones available from manufacturers like PowerFilm, REDARC, Off Grid Trek, etc.
I have both the Bluetti solar panels, well I have a 350w Bluetti solar panel. I love that panel it is great. I do have 2 Ecoflow solar panels. a 220w and a 160w and I totally agree with you hands down the case being a stand is absolutely ridiculous! That being said, you can literally toss that EcoFlow panel in a river and the damn thing will still work amazingly well. The material it is made of like the Bluetti is top notch! A couple other of those solar panels I was surprised they didn't do so well. Not very familiar with them, but that being said, a couple of them do really seem like nice looking panels. All the panels with that fiberglass backing do show they have some good quality. I liked that last panel with the holding rod. That is pretty smart idea. I really enjoyed this comparison. One of the better ones I have seen in sometime.
Amazing video, I have big anker power bank, And I also have the 30 watts anker solar panel. Also my car charger is a blazing fast 52.5 w also by anker. Most of the data cables I use are also from Anker. I love anker product. I would go with Anker becz for many years of trust in the robust and reliableness
I have 3 Ecoflow 400W panels. I live in Hawaii. It is summertime and on a clear day at peak sun...I get roughly 265w out of each panel. I will try cooling them down with water to see if that helps but I have been very diappointed in them.
Have you angled them properly using the can trick? (set a can on the panel, move it around until the shadow goes away completely, that means it's facing the sun exactly). Angle makes quite the difference on power output.
I’m only going to be using solar power in case of a grid down. I think I’m gonna build me a decent “skeleton” using pvc pipe and fix it to be able to be partially disassembled for storage when not being used. Then I’ll spread the panel assembly out on the skeleton when I’m using it. I will create a feature in the design to be able to create different inclination angles. The rest of the time, my panel will be folded up and stored indoors as I’ll be keeping 120v ac hooked up for charging instead of the panels.
Great review, very very helpful and one of the best I've found on youtube. If you normalize the result for the PV420 -5% (420 watts) so we have a true apples to apples reading the PV420 comes out at 350.55 watts total.
I'm surprised you ddn't pass out making this video. You did such a good job Jasonid giving us a fantastic review that I think you should have your better half buy you a yummy lunch.
I have the Ecoflow 400w and it’s been on my shed roof for well over a year now and it’s been flawless, it has a similar coating to the new Renogy flexible panels which I own 1100W of, it performs very well flat and even out of direct sunlight. I think the most I’ve had out of it that I’ve seen was >380W on a cold day in late spring but it never performs poorly, regularly above 350W in directly light. I think if you’d just leaned the panel up against the wall rather than use their kickstand it would have outperformed the rest of the panels in every category, definitely not cheap though, hence me going with the Renogy’s but you get what you pay for and it is quality.
Great content as usual. You pack a lot of info in a quality video. Thanks for being so detailed. My BougeRV Flash 300 you graciously gave to me in a drawing is working beautifully still. Thank you again Jason!
Another great detailed video! I was just thinking about upgrading my 3 panels to 1 400 watt, but think for the cost, i still stick with what i have. Keep up the great vids!
THANK YOU! This gives me peace of mind when I’m ready to buy a portable solar panel - and 400w is a nice option for higher capacity generators! I’m not spending another $250-300 for an extra ~30watts. The EENOUR is a winner in my book.
Great video Jason! Very thorough. Glad I waited to see this review come out before I bought. I was pretty set on the Allpowers, but judging from the price, weight, and performance, now I think I may go with the Eenour's 🤔
Bluetti’s customer service is non existent. They should warrant their panels for 2 years! My 350w bluetti panel just flew to mexico and back in 100mph winds here in the AZ desert…shredded them. But with gorilla tape, I am eeking out some watts. Ugh such a pain.
I’m in the market for a portable 400 watt panel set up.Have an Anker 757 and 767 with two LiFeP04 stand alone batteries that are connected together with its own inverter for backup. Have the Anker 100 watt solar panel but realize this is good for smaller devices or just topping off the power stations. Durability and overall ruggedness was not emphasized in this video, but the warranty, coating, and IP ratings should give some indication. So all in all very informative. I’ve not had the electricity go out in my area for over 24 hrs as yet. So the most I had to discharge the 767 was 42% running only the fridge before power was restored. The other 757 was running my internet and computer peripherals and hardly pulled anything, maybe 5%. I’m considering another 767 for the hot water heater, and possibly another 12v 100 mAH lifep04 battery. I’m also trying to figure out how to convert two older solar panels from 2005 to modern out connections.
I have the ALLPOWERS and I got it for 340€ so about 350$... it's hands down the best foldable solar panel, it is super robust, I have tested in all conditions and I'm getting more power than in this test (330-350W not cooled).
4 Newpowa 100 watt panels are less than $300, are 28" x 29" x 4" when stacked, weigh 60 pounds, and will range from 280 to 350 watts depending on temperature. There are higher output 100 watt solar panels out there, but the Newpowa are the smallest, cheapest, and lightest that I know of. For that, I could never justify buying a portable setup. For my motorcycle, I figured 12 volt charging while riding is more efficient than trying to set up solar for a couple of hours in camp.
I just can't justify the space and weight of glass panels for camping or portability. Glass panels are the best for price and durability but they are super awkward to move around and mount in the right angle.
Ecoflow is a great panel for those that need the power. Just consider the carry case stand as a last resort when you have no other option. Number of videos on YT on building clever portable stands for flexible panels.
I agree about the carrying case, good feeback. I made an aluminum frame for my Renogy flexible panels in this video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-LBel4dpbKqw.html I think using PVC for a smaller setup would work just fine!
The main purpose of that test was to see if the panel would lose all the power vs just a portion of the power. Every panel passed the partial shading test and I didn't 'choose a winner'.
Awesome video Jason! I've been waiting for this one! The EF panel looks like a nightmare to set up, and even when done, the stand looks mostly useless. I'm leaving toward the EENOUR due to weight. In have the Allpowers... Typically only get ~280W due to the heat in my area, but have seen it peak at 320s when temps were cooler. Got it at a great price, but it's very heavy! One more in your numbers, looks like your meter was misreading when you did the early measurements got the Allpowers and Anker. The Voltage and Current when connected don't at up to your measured power (i.e. 32.6V * 12.18A = 397W).
@@JasonoidAllpowers around @2:15, and Anker @4:00. The numbers are also shown in your spreadsheet. I think the voltage is right, but the current seems high.
PSA for folks (and Jasonoid fans): I bought 2 of the EENOUR 400W panels during BF sale. Great price at $515 each. One of them had delamination on all 4 panels, and 1 panel had a sizeable (about nickel+ size) burn after just DAY 1 of usage (was perfect out of the box). I considered picking up a replacement at the sale price, but am now concerned about the overall quality of the panel. I'll be keeping an eye on my other EENOUR panel to see if it delaminates and/or burns. While my Allpowers is twice as heavy (damn it's chunky compared to the EENOUR), it hasn't had issues, though that EENOUR did produce a little bit more (not huge difference, ~10-15W), I'd take reliability over 15W output. Thought I found my go-to portable 400W+ lightweights panel, but back on the search again. Also, once left open for a couple of days, the EENOUR does not want to fold up again. The magnets that are supposed to keep it closed are far too weak as the panel doesn't like being closed anymore.
Thanks for sharing your experience! Wow! I have used my Eenour panel 4 or 5 times so far and it hasn't delaminated or gotten hot spots. I love how lightweight the panel is. I'm surprised to hear you had such bad luck. Their customer support is taking care of you right?
@@Jasonoid No, I returned it on Amazon since it literally didn't survive 1 day of use. The other panel was delivered a day earlier and survived longer. I'm going to deploy it again tomorrow so I'll continue monitoring how it's doing. I'm considering a 2nd Allpowers, but really hate carrying that around compared to the EENOUR. 40lbs is pretty heavy. It's almost like carrying a residential 400W panel.
had the allpowers, cracked the first day of usage ecoflow failed after a very light rain thankfully since these were new so i was able to get both of these returned, but in my experience both were not great
@@Jasonoid yeah, it was a bit of a surprise-amazon customer service was very helpful thankfully the ecoflow 110w panels were fine however! the allpowers 400w panel i seriously doubt is ETFE, everything points to it being just a basic PET panel (with annoyingly long setup! i swapped them for the BougeRV CIGS panels, will let you know how those hold up!
great comparison! I was leaning EENOUR due to weight and price, but its no longer available. Sounds like Alllpowers or ecoflow are my option and both are on sale for prime day and cant decide. Will be temporarily setting them up for my van conversion so portability is key (allpowers points) but non etfe vs etfe =\
I didn't like the partial shade test due to the various different usable surface areas for each panel. The way it was performed, each panel had a different percentage of area lost from the cardboard coverage.
I think people are misunderstanding the MAIN purpose to the shade testing in the video. The main reason was to make sure the whole panel didn't lose power if there was partial shade. The wattage output during shading was kinda just an extra fact gained. Due to the feedback in this video, in future videos I will be using an alternate shading technique to be more fair to each panel tested.
Hi, great video. Do you think you can use the Big Blue for the Anker F3800, it has a 60v max? I see the actual voltage is less. Thanks & keep up the good work!!!
You should get a weather station. It's nice to have local data but I also find them very useful for solar. The other day I was freaking out because I thought my solar was underperforming and I started planning a way to tilt them up. But I checked my weather station which said the sun was around 500 w/m2 so unrealized my solar was producing what it should be. It was a hazy day but I had no idea that haze could cut solar in half. You could add the reading to the results or calculate the wattage considering how much sub it's getting
At least all the panels were tested in the same conditions so you could still see which one gets the most power. I have a digital solar meter in my wishlist, they are just expensive and I haven't pulled the trigger on one yet.
Fantastic comparison. Since you rep the Anker solar generator so much, will you do a video on how to max out the Anker's limited solar inputs with traditional non-portable solar panels? it's a bit of a challenge to plug in more than 2 panels into it.
I already did that on my full SOLIX F2000 review video, I got around 700 watts using normal glass solar panels. In order to get closer to the max charging amount you'll need panels with their peak power near 48v and 20 amps
I think price per watt is not eveything. What about durability?. If it for example degrades one year later. The cheapest watt may turn out more expensive in the longrun.
I have the EcoFlow 400 panel and yes it’s ridiculously heavy. Yes it’s a pain to set up! Yes it’s floppy. But it does work well, seems high quality, puts out good power if magically adjusted to the sun 😂
Hi I have 2x 400 all powers I brought mine on eBay direct from all powers had great discount from them plus eBay was doing £75 off so got mine for £220 each so was a great deal and I use it on a jackery… 1500 pro..and I can’t complain
I like your reviews, but I think you missed something here, I don't think speed is important, but what is important is the stand being able to withstand a breeze/wind as a portable would need. Only one the Bluetti seemed to have a metal stand that could withstand wind within reason!
All these portable solar panels would fly around in any significant wind, metal kickstands wouldn't really help with that. I did find a neat product that would keep most portable panels from blowing around. The product acts like an anchor: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-vRbQLbiL_Hs.html
They are more vulnerable to damage. Standing on them, putting heavy items on top of them. Folding them up aggressively... there are lots of things you could do to damage them and how would a company know if it was abused or not?
I’m really confused by the conclusion. Seems like Ecoflow is the best given that it’s (1) produced nearly the most energy of all the panels, (2) is over $100 cheaper than Anker, (3) is the third cheapest per watt, (4) is backed by an excellent warranty and is just as good if not better than the completion.
This new panel is priced similarly, puts out the same power, is more durable, and has a 5 yr warranty! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-6XC0HSPMfJQ.html
Great review, and monster panels... though there's something up with the current readings; on one you were seeing 40V and 12A, which would mean 480W, well above advertised spec. Even with some MPPT inefficiency you'd be getting well over 400W into the battery. Contactless current meters are notoriously unreliable, especially dealing with DC, so it might be worth investing in an RC-style current/volt/wattmeter with powerpole plugs. :)
Newbi to Solar and power stations, iv just purchased a anker f2000, so the question I have is does all the solar panels you tested fit directly into the anker or the anker solar connector without adapters. Thanks
I guess if I had a full yard of concrete and 6 people that would be possible. Laying them in the grass isn't fair since the grass blades shade the panels.
Awesome video. Thank you for the comparison. Eenour FTW. To me, it's not even a question. I do think that folks should be realistic about this though. Get a DC to DC charger to do the heavy lifting and use panels to top things off, given that the majority of camping is done without staying in the same, sunny, non-sky-obstructed location for multiple days. Certainly, this is dependent on how much power one needs on any given trip.
I got the Anker 400 when I got my Anker c1000 power station. Just looking to add another panel since I can take up to 600 watts an wanted to see other options
Have had similar results with my EENOUR panels, and given the price I feel like it was a decent compromise. On a related (?) note, if you have a powerstation without an app, have you found a way to remotely keep an eye on it when you're charging with the panels to know when they are ready to be pulled? I mean I can walk outside every 30 minutes, but I have to think there ought to be some kind of bluetooth device to tell me when the battery is charged (extra credit for a device that will warn me if the battery is getting to 10% or lower as well). Thanks again for all the helpful videos!
I usually run my solar cables under the door so I can monitor the solar charging without having to go outside. You could also route them through a window seal depending on the design type of your windows. You could have a wireless wifi security cam thats looking at the screen so you know what it's at all the time. Not sure of any other options.
Interesting idea! Here's an awesome video from my friend Todd about portable small panels: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-X23yfuQELJk.htmlsi=kXoJHJn9RcxCD4pU
