I can see a wiggly burn on the desk from the plastic welder test :)

At least it's camo so you can lose it. 😂

"Of course I will take 40% off" "How can I tear it apart if I send it back?"

I think it's made by the same people who make the 10,000 mAh 18650 cells.

My tip for anyone who is thinking of buying any kind of a portable solar panel for hiking: if your trip is at most a few days (1 weekend), just bring 1 or 2 large power banks. A power bank takes less space and will be enough to get a few full charges for your phone. The power bank will also "just work" even while hiking regardless of the weather, tree cover or other circumstances. For a week-long trip a solar panel might be useful because after a point carrying enough power banks will become prohibitive

ROFL!!! I just found one on ebay US : Portable 100W USB Solar Panel Folding Power Bank Outdoor Camping Phone Charger. Auction 99 cents + 35.99!!! Shipping! I just had to tell you. Thanks for sharing :D

Clive, I think I remember that sunny day last year!!😂😂

I love the new burn mark from the plastic welding gun on your workbench.

This might not be a top shelf comment, but the Schottky diode in the schematic looks like a very determined and slightly mischievous person.

The output of these small Chinese solar panels (Like many of their 18650 batteries) is often WILDLY exaggerated, but none more than the one a friend bought. It was labelled as a "Solar powered 12v car charger" from some random Chinese website. He bought it to keep the battery on his rarely used weekend car topped up. It was only about a square foot of panel, but according to the packaging it put out 50w [!?!?!]......... Wow, those industrious Chinese folks must have made some SERIOUS breakthroughs in solar technology lately ! :D Anyway, he had it plugged into his cars battery for a few months, and he'd check every now and then that the little LED was reassuringly still blinking, but after this time when he went to use the car, the battery was totally dead. I offered to test the charger for him (Mainly because I was curious how many watts it ACTUALLY put out), and found that it outputted NOTHING. I dismantled it, and found that it had a simple board with (IIRC) a CR3032 coin battery, an LED, and a photoelectric sensor. When sun light shone on the sensor the LED started blinking........... And the Photovoltaic panel ? Some sort of screen printed paint on a piece of glass ! :D You've gotta love how creative some of these companies get to rip off customers. :D

Now listed as 80 - 90 watts in description. I'm going to order 10 and run my house!

Thanks Big Clive. It looks like they spent more on the stitching and fabric than they did on the useful components perhaps? Oh those poor campers that got these with their devices going dead.

You enjoyed cutting it open with the scissors, I could hear it, see it and even feel it 🙂🙃 Ah, such a joy. Cheers

Years ago (in 2015) I bought an "8W" solar panel with just two (larger) folds that was mostly a disappointment; practically speaking it could only put out about 3.5W (maybe 4.5W with perfect sun alignment), although it did have much better fill than your example so you got better "bang for your buck" carrying it around at least. I have more recently bought a larger ETFE-coated 4-fold panel for about $50 off Aliexpress that advertised 40W. I knew this was a bit optimistic but was much less unbelievable compared to similar-sized panels quoting 80W-150W, and after testing have found that it will put out a solid 30W peak when angled perfectly in bright sun, and a pretty reliable 15-20W is normal "reasonable" conditions. All told I'm pretty happy with this; it's quite compact (smaller than a laptop and much lighter) and can easily charge any phone at a decent rate, and will charge up a fairly large power bank over the course of a day. Much better than the nigh-unusable 3-4W of the old one, and it's barely larger when folded up. I would say these newer ETFE-laminated panels are somewhat less scammy/suspect than other variants, if only because they only bother putting the better coating/encapsulation on the actually-decent panels because it's a bit more expensive anyway.

We'd probably have better luck with these things here in Australia, but even still you wouldn't expect to set it out for half an hour over lunch and expect your phone to be at full. Maybe if you removed the cells from the fabric and stitched them into the top flap of a backpack it'd be usable as a trickle charge on a powerbank while you walk all day.

To be fair Apple device owners never go camping as it's not shiny enough.

The rough rule of thumb is 150-200w per square meter for solar pannels on a good day in the UK, throw in 10% loss in the buck converter and you are lookingat around a square of 27cm of decent quality pannel to get 10w.

They are not lying - by now it should be a well known fact that Chinese have a different measurement system for energy and power. Coincidentally their units have the same names (much like a UK pint and a US pint), but there is a variable conversion factor between the Chinese system and the metric system, which in average is somewhere between 1/10 to 1/1000.

That reflects partly my experience with the solar-panel-added powerbank I bought. The 4 or 5 solar panels barely kept the level of the powerbank (we're talking about direct sunlight on a beach in Portugal in June!), while the powerbank could barely deliver what my smartphone consumed. 🤭 It's rather a technical toy. Thank goodness I'm having a further powerbank that's less bulky, less heavy, but it has robust 20,000 mAh on board, 2 USB-A charger and one USB-C charger and enough oomph to charge my phone even under heavy use! 😉

I was planning to buy one of these. I'm happy that you made a video about it.

It would be interesting to see the solar cells electroluminescence using an IR camera and a current limited supply. I did that on some reject panels and the non functioning/cracked cells show up very clearly.

There are fiberglass backed panels aplenty on eBay all of which claim to be 50 Watts. Just looking at them, the physical dimensions indicate 5 to 10 Watts. If you keep that in mind, they aren’t bad. The output circuit looks about the same as the one in this video with the addition of a direct output jack. I gave one to a friend who had trouble with her car battery going flat because she drives very little. The panel came with a ridiculously short output cable about 15 cm long. I made a cable long enough to attach the panel to the rear window and reach the battery which is mounted in the boot. Since then the battery has stayed sufficiently charged. I considered adding a spare Victron charge controller I have to prevent over-charge, but that seemed like more complexity than necessary.

I used to have one of these, except the solar panels were actually 100% solar panel, rather than 50%. At least you can see it's crap from the picture with that kind of cost-cutting.

Lol, I love to see the burn mark from the plastic welding gun! That is a well-used bench! Huh, I just realize how many others commented on that! :))

5:19 "Please, please, come closer. Too close! A little too close!" (Obscure Aladdin reference)

I would love for you to make a video where you go through how you reverse engineer these circuits, even if it is long.

Do be aware you're not getting what they claim. Good advice for just about everything in life nowadays!

Camo pattern equipment is really a terrible thing to take camping, you put it down in the forest and suddenly you can't see it - I suggest Fluorescent pink colouring, you will never loose it even if you want to.

Saw a video where the panel was used to play sound through a speaker and been sent to the panel by a light... Made sense when I saw it working but I thought it was so cool.. 😊

Evening Big C. Your skills are off the scale. Having one like you to inspire the knowledge of electronics to young minds by building a simple circuit might excite a thought for many. All using parts from other devices. Or suggest and test electronics kits and see if they really do what they are intended to do . Peace DVD:)

Oddly enough, that's the current (sorry) Canadian camouflage pattern.

No, you have to be on the sun to use it 🤣🤣

I bought one of these at an op shop in Australia. It takes all day to put a charge in a powerbank when I had the thing strapped to a backpack. Ok for keeping a phone topped up in emergencies not much else.

Stand this pack on end with the panels facing each other, total internal reflection☀️🔁 will boost output beyond the WTF range 💥 Your charger lead will melt, even in moonlight 🫠

A lot of those that come on a single board have a similar circuit-tumor on the reverse side, and with 5V/usb and/or ~16V raw solar output (coax jack/plug or wires). The 16V is nice to trickle-charge car-batteries through an always-on connection (eg, obd2 port) and can actually supply a decent current, o(1A) or so. The 5V/usb output is usually limited to 1A or less because it's stoopit enough to not have any negotiating circuitry on-board. 500mA is totally within spec, so that may be intentional.

I was thinking _exactly that_ just before you mentioned it at 08:30. One of my mates (Spanish) has a 10w solar panel that delivers, surprisingly, 10w of output. We theorise that I'll need at least a 40w panel to get the same amount of output he does with our weather „system“ like it is... ⛈🇬🇧😉

I have one of those panels, but it's larger and only 2 elements, Wich do have a bit more silicon in them aswell The peak I got from it was about 3.5 watts I do use it when camping and usually it feeds a Portable powerbank the whole day Wich then feeds the phone or whatever else I happen to want to charge in the evening

Side topic...excellent pair of scissors! 👍 👍 👍👍

Thanks :)

I got one from Temu late last year - "15" watt output - 4 panel in which the panels are full as the ad shown - and it works well at charging up power banks or USB powered lights - and does charge up my Fold5 in bright sunlight without it complaining about the charger being too slow but better with power banks than anything else..

Thanks for the video. I don't know about you, but it is so heartbreaking to see a consumer be so excited about their new purchase and then having to explain to them why it can not live up to the seller's claims.

Love teardown vids.

at the Action here (kind of poundland) they also have these kind of solar panels that are rated at 10 watts during the summer. I never tested them for the output, but i have 3 of them for a project so i might test them to see how much they can supply

I complained about mine and got it for free. The are ok for charging radios and lanterns they are useless for phones.

At long last, a schematic that even I could follow....thanks Clive

I have a briefcase size Togo brand portable Solar panel 120w,it's amazing use it charge my portable lights,battery packs etc.The panel on this look like something from a cheap solar landscape light or battery pack with a solar panel built in.I live in Las Vegas so all we get is Sun, thanks for the tear down.Want something really neat check out the Nocturne Firefly Solar Lamp

Amazing how we seem to be protected from fraud and bad listings but can't deal with the seller without a slap in the face from them.

I bought one of these very devices a few years ago, but I did get the one with the generous silicon on each panel. The Buck regulator is the same but is attached by a short cable to the panels. Mine also has five panels instead of four, all connected in parallel. That said, I measured the open-circuit current mid-day in the winter (northern hemisphere), pointed directly at the sun, and it peaked near 2A. So I can see how these things may be rated for 15W -- which of course is very misleading!

I have a 5W rigid panel for camping that's bigger than that thing even if you count the plastic surrounds. My one actually gives nearly 5W in Australia in summer, and is solid enough that I've had it for 10 years and it still works (many, many camping trips and quite a lot of use). Viz, they're claiming 100% conversion efficiency even at 5W, to get 20W you need 4x that :)

if you watch a random big clive video, you can date it by the burns on the desktop. we have a nice fancy new one from that plastic welder now! haha

I bought a 65w one that's about the size of a laptop. it's works well. In direct sun, it fast charges or can charge two devices. In cloudy sun, it can still charge a bit. Brand was chargeworks. it was 80 bucks.

1x "Tell You WATT" and 1x "OMP" - not bad for a 9 min video. High Average 👍 *Nods Approval* 🙂

That was a vermiciously sharp knif.

A simple boost buck converter or adjustable regulator cuircuit could go a long way. My idea of an echonomy home solar setup was just to focus on electronics, wich would involve bypassing your tv set rectifier and jus making lines for all the different DC line voltages you could try to get away with.. so the kettle and stove would be out and a fridge has awesome camper desighns(runs off a flame etc).. the idea is to avoid energy lossess from DC AC conversion.. and maximising the chances of diverse power sources and states.. and the lowest investment. Or perhaps that your home grid would have all the circuitry to acommodate and rework anything you throw at it into the same load lines.

I don't really need more bits, or a camping solar panel. I'll keep it on file though. Thank you, keep working.

I think that unregulated output option is probably intended for when it's bundled with a power bank. I have a power bank with a similar detachable foldable solar panel, and the solar panel has a USB port for charging a mobile device directly, but also has contact patches where it can connect to the power bank where it seems to provide unregulated voltage. The power bank then likely charges the battery directly from that unregulated voltage instead of using regulated 5V, which should be more efficient and likely also continues to work at lower light levels. At least that would be consistent with my observations, as my phone only wants to charge from the panel directly when it's in direct sunlight, while the power bank already seems to charge from outdoor daylight on an overcast day (though very slowly).

Yes I also saw those on Amazon as 20 watt for 40-50 Euro sometimes 🤦🏻‍♂️😑

Those OUT pads are indeed for a "raw panel output" port on some of these "solar wallets" as I like to refer to them. I have a few here that I purchased a few years ago when they were a bit better quality. (Suaoki is a good brand) Having the raw solar output port makes it easy to tell what the actual max solar potential is, and it's a shame that these controllers are usually just dumb buck regulators. If they were an MPPT controller they would have a much better power conversion as they optimized the draw on the panels to keep them at their maximum power output when subject to a variable resistance load. I don't know if they're made anymore but there are a few of the 60w Suaoki on ebay right now. The 25 watt models are also good and last I tested them they'll give you about 18w in good sun. As you mentioned, use a power bank. That way you can charge your bank when the sun is convenient, and then charge your phone overnight or whenever from the bank. Sort of "time-shifting" your solar power. If you have raw panel out, you can attach an MPPT controller that has USB power on it and use that instead of the built-in controller for a LITTLE extra production. It's sad just how absurd the numbers some listings are spouting for watts on their panels, they really just don't care. A quick-n-dirty method I use is calculate the square inches of solar cells and divide by 10 to get rough watts out. (actual watts, not lab rated, which is always higher) My 100w panels use 36 cells that are 4.5x4.5 inches, which my math would guestimate them at 72w. They test for me at 76w. Hope this helps you, and keep takin' things to bits!

I'm glad that i didn't order one from Ali now. Bought a used Sandberg (13W) one, was cheaper than a new Ali one. The panels look a bit different to the usual Ali stuff and its a bit bigger too. Tried it on a sunny winter day and it charged my phone with 1.9A, pretty happy with that. A powerbank is pretty much a must with these anyway, apparently many phones dont like the fluctuating power (when moving, clouds, etc) these panels provide and stop charging, Then you need to unplug and replug your phone to continue charging it. Powerbanks (at least most of them) dont have this problem.

I have one similar to this, and the output from the USB port was rather dismal at something like 250ma, BUT the output directly from the panel put out a good 5 watts. The USB converter was just garbage by itself. One tiny little I.C. in there and a few passives and wasn't worth 25 cents

5 volt 500 mA at noon in the middle of July . Can't charge a phone. e-Bay, e-Scam. Thank you for the informed warning, Mr. Big Clive...

Decent quality solar panels are typically rated for 250W per square metre but that's with perfect alignment to the sun at the Equator and absolutely no haze, dust, cloud anything in the way. The further north or south you go from the Equator the lightpath through the atmosphere reduces that 250W figure substantially even on a nice clear summer day on the Isle of Fog. If you look to use these sorts of portable solar panel arrays for camping, boats etc. just accept that they're never going to produce the output the seller says they will and get used to disappointment.

Interesting!

I got one of these and yeah it puts out at best ~0.5A in direct sun. Yes, it is painfully slow, but it beats nothing, especially if you do not have access to a way to recharge your equipment. My biggest complaint with these was the fact that the sellers were intentionally overrating them and your average consumer isn't going to know this... Edit: For reference if you had a fully dead 5,000 MAH power bank and it was charging at the peak of 0.5 A the whole time, an online battery charge calculator says it will take ~10.5 hours to charge up.

It would further reduce efficiency (one more step) but it might work better to charge up a power bank, which isn't too smart ("it just charges" without any fancy detection and cut offs) and then use that to charge a phone/device at a higher current, like 2A (5V).

If you go on a hiking trip, don't bring solar panels. They are bulky, and don't work at night and when it rains, or it is overcast. I found out that a couple of 20,000 mA power banks for each person on the trip are more than enough to keep the phone and walkie-talkie charged, and provide some night light. For sake of power efficiency, bring with you a phone with a Snapdragon Gen. 2 SoC, and a professional rechargeable lantern, like the Fenix CL26R Pro.

I have something similar from Anker. Rated 10W IIRC. a bit bigger. 4 panels each 8x5 inch 24 cells (12 cell series row,x2)

Always check your equipment before going out such as camping. I even test my GPS app in my local area so I will not get lost if the app gives me poor or incorrect directions.

Apple devices will _say_ they’re not charging below 1A, but they do still charge. Very slowly. I think they just say they’re not charging so Football Mum doesn’t get angry when it’s only gone up by 10% in a couple hours.

I love how you have a burn mark from your last video in the bench 😂

Interestingly I have a very similar designed panel from temu which does have the full silicon. I'll get it tested some day.

I have the same one, i bought it for £10 from a car boot market, it was brand new. Ive never even used it, i just bought it because i wanted it. Now im watching this im kind of regretting buying it now.

i have a few cheapo panels like this. been really handing at keeping a phone and a couple of flashlights charged up.

Obviously, if you want the full rated power from the device, you need to get nearer the sun. But even that is fraught with difficulties, because if you do manage to get close enough, it will melt.

Tip :when you open textile stuff that is sawn together: cut the stich loops on above the outside surface of the product and you can rip the stitches up separateing the layers. If the stitches are done on sawing machine with both tread spools on the top side : (no under tread spool in the machine table part ) ,the seem will Basically fall apart after one cut loop Then you dont need to cut into the thing with siccors. Possible making discting more neat for the video ,with the wires still connected to the components. In this case it doesn't matter so mutch because its not good product ,you should save the pixel camo fabric doe ,if you want to make a camouflaged electronic gadget or something.

I'd just buy the usb regulator alone and use little panels salvaged if I didn't already have a buck converter 4 usb hub that is for clipping to any battery between 10 an 45v's. Still works with 2 scrap spotlight panels instead. Sad about the false claims, that's why I can't hardly buy anything online anymore. Need to test my amazon car blade fuses now too.. thanks to you.

The power output would be regulated by the circuitry. It would have to be more than 500 ma coming from the panels to be regulated to that

That's really unusual they exagerated to specs. I don't think anything off ebay is ever as described.

I'd argue with that "best conditions possible". If it was summer in a tropical country, the sun's energy per square meter could be twice as much. (I missed you tried it last summer, too. Then only 20% maybe)

I bought two styles of solar panels, one like that style and I noticed right away it didn’t have the power. The second one I bought was rated at 16w, that’ll change a phone up in the middle of winter and not much bigger than that one

As someone with a little experience with solar panels I can say that any panel that is easy to carry won't give you many watts. You might want to bring 10

Apple devices might tolerate lower charging speeds, but that depends. If it's too low it may error out saying "Not charging" on the battery indicator, however, it could still charge despite that error just incredibly slowly or the apple device will just use whatever it can to slow down if not negate the battery drain.

I think these solar panels would be a good thing for keeping an emergency powerbank topped up. Keep both on a windowsill and know that you have some 5V power at hand.

You should try some name brand like Blitzwolf. It give 2A in full sun in Poland.

I got mine from Temu 😂 not used it yet. I also have one similar what’s a battery bank what I’ve used for years and I do want to open it up and upgrade the battery

I wonder if the panels output power exceeds the spec of the buck - some over provisioning is normal on solar cell systems. I'm also sure they are telling porkies too as I doubt they are doing 4x over provisioning...

Would have been nice to do a quick panel test, to check your suspicions: 4 x 150mA = bugger all. Think I'll stick to my DIY semi-portable (not good if walking) 2x50W panel setup, to charge my 4S9P 18650 ammo can powerbank. That way I know my phone is safe; & will fully charge. As well as anyone else who might be nearby, wanting a top-up.

I have a source in the US of a much better solar panel that gets close to meeting its stated specifications. 5V (unregulated) at almost 1 whole amp in full summer sun. 1 downside: it's not foldable or pocket-size. Clive nailed it again; You're better off with a bigger panel and/or a powerbank. Preferably a powerbank that takes whatever it can get and stores it efficiently.

I'll stick with the solar panels I got from Maplin and a 12v battery. 🤔

Even Decathlon ones in most cases won't charge a phone, just powerbanks and not that much

I bet the pv modules are coated in resin that goes opaque in a month in the sun.

@4:12 - I have a beautiful 4 in 1 screwdriver carefully crafted from alueminium with a lovely screw-on cap at the back. Lovely and anodized red. First bounce you get off 240, you toss it right in the "wifes" tool bag. I speak from experience.

Here in AU ALDI have a 200W solar mat @$229AUD and a 100Ah li-on battery for $449AUD, wonder if they'll live up to their claims, I'm in no need of them so won't be getting one, but be interesting to know if ALDI sell junk stuff or they have some kind of regulation telling them they can't pull an ebay.

Ahhh nothing like Big Clive fun exploration time! How often do you replace (or refill) ink cartridges?

I obviously never believe them about output but I have a cheap non folding version that works great for what I wanted. I never charge the phone directly though. I use the panel to charge power banks. I don't really trust them with a phone. 😂

Curious if the ns chip provides reverse current protection since I don't see a diode in there. Solar cells are ostensibly a diode junction while in the dark- and without a reverse protection diode they can actually drain the device on charge. Less likely with smart USB but I could see some USB c devices thinking it was a load.

I bought the same thing that was claimed to be 200w, they then offered the same discounts, and eventually fully refunded me the money. And, yes it is now a free emergency trickle charger for my android phone.

I commented on this last night. KZfaq appear to be removing lots of my comments. 🤷‍♂ Interesting setup, not the best system if you need to charge anything 🤣🤣

Thank you for a nice video! Are all 4 panels actually working? I wonder if that red dot doesn't mean that it is faulty (but still good enough for an eBay product).

It's like house solar sellers "hey our panels work even on a rainy day...and on roofs that don't face south " yeah...of course they will. But do the measurements/ physics....the output drops off vastly!!!