Review on 🔋 Efficient and Convenient: ELECAENTA Portable Solar Panel 120W 18V ETFE Monocrystalline Foldable Solar Charger for Power Stations, Camping, RVs, Generators, and Smartphones by Rick Booth

October 10, 2021 Update See Photos Added Below - DO NOT assume the 79W shown in the photo is the limit of the panel - Bibene Portable Power Station. The MPPT charge controller is limited to around this power (85W +/- 5W) and the Bibene was actually showing 80W and 81W at the start of the test. Use on campsites near the car. It could be carried over a distance as part of a larger line of radios operated by multiple people rather than alone. I'm not comparing it to very light, small, or flexible panels that are more expensive per watt, so I'm not deducting points for size or weight. On July 16th in the Mojave Desert, I didn't feel like setting up a lot of devices and taking detailed measurements of the panel in action. Instead to check the main work I turned it to face the sun, pointed it fairly closely, noticed that the built in supports turned it to the sun very well at that hour, let it warm up for a few minutes (while inside, stay cool!) and then measured VOC (open circuit voltage) and ISC (short circuit current). These numbers indicate the performance limits of the panel. It generates slightly less current at operating voltage than at short circuit, and the MPPT's maximum operating voltage can be estimated, allowing one to estimate the MAXIMUM LIKELY output power for my test conditions. Note that solar panels always lose some efficiency as they get hot, so they'll probably work a little better in cooler air temperatures to keep them cooler. The open circuit voltage (no load) was 21.2 volts. The short circuit current was about 6 amps (from 5.9 to just over 6 amps). Assuming an MPPT voltage of 16 volts (conservative, could be higher) and a current of 6 amps (optimistic), this gives a probable maximum output power of 16A x 6V = 96W. Other reviewers have seen that the power draw of "solar generators" with MPPT charge controllers is around 90 watts, which fully agrees with my estimate based on simple measurements. My particular panel seems typical, non-faulty, and particularly inefficient. I haven't tried any of the USB outputs, only the '12V' charging output as that will be my main use. When testing for power loss with partial shading, a 6" x 10" cardboard rectangle moved over it (sometimes with added shadow of part of my hand and wrist, etc.) to form a moving area of deep shadow. The short circuit current dropped to about 4.5 amps (4 to 5 depending on board position and angle). Then flipping the other end over (away from the electrical connections) shaded two panels (out of four) and generated almost exactly half the current (3 amps). Why is this panel so resistant to partial shading? Further testing suggested the answer. Shading a strip about 3 inches wide at the bottom of all 4 plates suddenly reduced the short circuit current to about 0.1 amp (1/10 amp). four connected in parallel. Total or partial shading of one panel knocks it out in whole or in part, but the others continue to give their full performance. If you need less power, you can, for example, directly charge a modest battery without a charge controller Shade as many panels as necessary and only draw power from fully isolated (illuminated) panels. Note that two of these complete panels CAN be connected in parallel, although you'll need to provide your own cable for that - another result of how they're wired internally. Eventually I moved the entire array into the shadows of my balcony while still affording a view of most of the almost cloudless sky (there were a few very small patches of cloud covering fractions of a percent of the sky, which wasn't the case in the meaning of my tests). In direct shadow, but with the stray light from the sky plus some of the light scattered from the ground (concrete), it produced 0.4-0.5 amps (about half an amp). I would expect it to be able to generate enough current to charge a small device like a cellphone under bright overcast skies or partially diffused shade as some have reported. to the end of the plug - see "Red Right/Tab Up", tab is a metal contact, red is a plus). Anderson connectors can be terminated any way you like, but this polarity is essentially standard for radio amateurs. However, ALWAYS verify polarity (not just physical assembly, but electrical polarity as well) of all Anderson Power Pole connectors - trust, but verify! This applies to any DC power supply with any plug used for any purpose. Many people have suffered device damage due to incorrect polarity of the connectors they trusted. Cables with some connectors (e.g. SAE) can easily be stacked on top of each other to create reverse polarity. Some have found that the removed panel (removed from the power connector) is poorly supported by the two built-in supports and tends to sag. I plan to use the grommets on this end to attach some sort of simple support. Performance update (October 10, 2021): I tested the 120W Elecaenta foldable panel with the new 500W/614Wh Bibene portable power station ("solar generator") available here at Revain. The panel came with a DC5525 adapter that matched Bibene's input 83% charged Starting from this state of charge and around 2:30pm today in a clear sky with an air temperature of around 75 degrees, the Elecaenta panel initially delivered 80 or 81 watts for Bibene NOTE : Bibene's MPPT charge controller is LIMITED to 80 watts +/- 5 watts so is a perfect match for a panel delivering full Bibene performance, it's possible that a panel with a higher MPPT peak voltage point will increase this by a few watts. After After a few minutes the delivered power collapsed to 79 watts where it remained unchanged until 15:42 when Bibene was 99% charged and I stopped the test The photos were taken at 14:50 when Bibene showed an hour to full Charge (which turned out to be about right). The slight offset of the panels to the sun made no difference - a clear indication that Bibene was at the maximum with this panel and that the panel was not the limiting factor. This panel and Bibene make a good combination, with the panel maximizing the (admittedly modest) loading speed of the Bibene even under less than ideal conditions. many reviewers, but (for now at least) it's attractively priced and solidly built, with a good selection of included ports and a decent power cord. It may or may not be the absolute best watt-per-dollar with a solid build, but at least it's a worthy contender. Based on my preliminary testing and consistent reports from others - recommended.