Review on 🌞 Renogy Portable E.Flex Monocrystalline 5W Plus Solar Panel: Efficient Charging on the Go for Hiking and Biking with USB Port by Barbara Goodwin

Update 04/22/20: I had a few more "perfect" bright sunny days to evaluate and am still impressed with the stability settings. described below. I compared it to a larger 21W folding panel from another manufacturer. On brighter days, the 21-watt panel produces more power than these two 5-watt panels, but when the cloud rolls by and causes the panels to reset, the two 5-watt panels remain powerful enough to keep my device active to load. I think they're either more sensitive to low light and don't require reloading, or tend to reload at slightly different intervals. In any case, the benefit of continuously charging two of these two small panels seems to outweigh the faster charging speed of the larger panels for charging my battery in all but ideal conditions, especially when I can't be sure I'm doing it. There is no need to manually reset the pack's charge (unplug and plug the USB connector back in) via the larger panel, which is minor but does happen a few times a day. Update 04/16/20: I continue to use two of these panels with USB. y adapter and believe this will be my new transition to a lightweight solar system. The result is significantly more stable than other larger folding panels and shows no signs of wear when folded. If the Y-adapter wears out with use, it's easy to replace and is cheaper than replacing a larger panel if it fails. The Y adapter I've had the most success with is "HIGHROCK 30cm USB 2.0 Y Power Amplifier 1 Female & 2 Male Charging Data Cable Extension Cable (1pc)". Glamorous test setup. Original Review: This 5-WE.Flex panel is small, most days I get 2-3W from where I use it. This tells me I'm only getting 3-5 watts from the larger "21-watt" panel. I wouldn't compare this panel to fully waterproof panels designed for permanent installation, but compared to other "portable" panels, this one exceeds my expectations! An exception, but paired with a battery that is "always on" with "pass through" power, this panel offers the best value for money I've found. However, when I bought this panel I was able to get the included battery for a few bucks more. The battery that came with the kit is unlikely to meet the requirements for charging with this panel. The battery I received loses charge overnight and often puts out almost the same amount of power it gets from the panel, leaving the phone charging issue unsolved. If I had paid more than a few bucks for the battery pack I would have had to give a much lower rating, but the panel itself deserves all 5 stars. I connected this panel to a Voltaic Systems V25 battery and the combination of the two was perfect for my needs. If you need more power than one of these can supply, I'd probably buy two of these and use a USB power amp Y cable instead of a larger panel. I've found this combination to perform best when the panel dims frequently, often there is still enough current between the two panels to keep all charging circuits open on my devices. One of my favorite things about this single panel design is that they don't have any wire folds in them to wear out. Of course, there are still some points that will wear out over time, but this style has fewer folds than any other folding option. If you connect 2 or more of these with USB Y-cables and one panel fails, you can still use the others. If the cable in the folding panel fails, it may mean that charging is no longer necessary. 5 watts and this will probably only come into play in IDEAL conditions, if you are happy with a combination of several of these knowing that in 'good' conditions they can only produce 2-3 watts you will have a reliable portable Minimal wear kit. Points. When you combine the two, keep in mind that USB 3.0 has limits on how much power it can actually transfer, but I find that a couple of them together maximize that performance far more often than my large 21-watt panel.