Hardkorr 15W Personal Solar Panel

G'day Kay,

Hard Korr solar panels can withstand some rain, however, you won't be generating much/any power in poor weather.  It's generally recommended to pack these panels up if you can. If your solar mat gets wet, please ensure it is thoroughly dried before putting it into storage.

G'day Rebecca,

Its potentially a great option, but there's alot of factors that impact the panels output.  These are things like cloud cover and dappled shade, the angle of the panels (eg. 45º to maximise output), and how hot the panels get.
In theory if you have the panels on the back of your pack whilst hiking, you'd be relying on walking with your back to the sun, and through areas with no overhead trees or clouds to limit shading.  In these conditions you may get as low as 1A output which would take 4-6hrs to charge your phone.  If the panels arent able to get consistent clear sunshine, the phone will actually chew up more battery with charging flashing on, off, on, off, etc

If you are not planning to use your phone much, so will only need to keep it topped up, you'd be ok, but it's not something that you should solely rely on for keeping your phone charged.

A better bet would be to either:
1. combine with a small portable powerbank which could give you 1-2 charges.  Then during the day your panels can charge the powerbank whilst your getting optimal sun and wanting to use your phone.  Then you can use the power bank to charge your phone at night.

2. consider getting a large power bank, something 20,000mAh which has the ability to provide 3-4 full charges of your phone.  This generally negates the need to carry panels at all.

If you pop your phone on aeroplane mode, its likely you'd get 2 days minimum out of a single charge anyway, so you may not need to charge your phone as much as you think.

G'day Sarah,

These panels have a maximum output of 2.5Ah.  How long it takes to charge a device is dependent on the capacity of the devices battery, but you can easily work it out with alittle math.
My phone battery is 4700mAh or 4.7Ah - so 4.7 (battery size) ÷ 2.5 (solar Output) = 1.88 (hours) - meaning it will take approx 1.8hrs minimum to charge my phone in ideal conditions, which provide maximum output.
If conditions are less than ideal - eg, cloud cover or shady campsites, or if the solar panel becomes too hot - the output will drop and the charge time will take alittle longer.

Hope that helps.

G'day Tina,

Solar Panels are generally pretty water-resistant.  Portable ones are not necessarily designed to withstand year-round weather abuse, because they are obviously expected to be only be used in sunny or clear weather.  It would be recommended to pack them away when you're not actively using it for best long-term usage, but there won't be any damage if they get wet.
If you are packing them away, just make sure they're dry before you do.

They'll be great as a little solar power buddy for outdoor adventures, and can literally go anywhere with you.  You don't need to be precious with them, but use your best judgement/common sense & you should be fine.

G'day Brain,

The USB ports are rated at 5V and the max total output is 2.5A. If you're using one port you'll get max 2.5A, if you're using both ports you'll get max 1.25A from each.
Hope that makes sense!

G'day Rachel,

Yes you can charge a powerbank with this panel, there are two USB outlets, so as long as your powerbank is USB rechargeable it shouldn't be a problem.

G'day Peter,

The only version of the 15W Personal Solar Panel I've seen is this one, with the two USB outputs for power bank or device charging. In general, most smaller solar panels won't have an Anderson or alligator style clip until they're a higher capacity, like a 100W panel or larger as anything smaller than this will usually be too small to charge a larger battery with clip style attachments.