- 10 Watt high-efficiency mono-crystalline solar panel with foldable design offers excellent portability, ideal for emergency preparedness, backpacking, camping and other outdoor activities
- Built-in dual USB charging ports for directly plugging in iPhone, iPad and other USB compatible mobile devices
- No additional battery needed for charging external devices, 100% green energy with zero carbon footprint
- Measures only 9 X 6 X 2 inches and weighs less than 1 lb
- 1-year manufacturer's warranty
Here are my test results:
* Charging my wife's iPad 2 was OK. This charged it from 80 % to 100% in under one hour.
* Charging one iPhone was fast and easy.
* Charging two iPhones from 45% and 56% respectively to 100% simultaneously on both phones in 80 minutes.
* Charging an iPad 3 from 28% to 85% in 5 hours. This is a good job as the iPad 3 uses a lot of power to recharge and takes a long time even using the Apple AC wall charger. My iPad 3 did stop charging 3 times due to clouds passing over and the iPad 3 displayed the charging not supported with this accessory error each time. I had to disconnect it and plug it back in to resume charging.
* Charging an 11000 mAh battery was also slow. It charged the battery from 25% to 52 % in about 90 minutes. Charging 2 1/2 hours more raised the battery charge to 62 %. It is good that you can charge batteries in this manner as now you will have both a daytime and nighttime source of energy. This slow charging may have been due to a few clouds passing over on the first day of testing.
* Be very careful of exposing your electronic devices to the hot sun. I covered mine with a white towel and then covered that with a white cardboard box. High temperatures are not good on batteries, electronics and LCD displays. Left in the sun unprotected they will be damaged severely.
* Charging a Kindle Fire worked but again it was slow going due to randomly cloudy skies. The Kindle Fire LED lit power button did not light up but the Kindle Fire did charge.
This solar panel would be ideal for outdoor use by campers and anyone who needed to charge a phone, iPad, or a USB rechargeable battery, GPS or flashlight. This product is great for emergencies when you lose power.
The unit folds up nicely into a portable package that is small and lightweight. It is easy to pack or put into a backpack. The USB ports are contained in a Velcro closed pocket that is also large enough to hold your phone and the cable while it is charging. You can also carry extra USB cables in the pouch for your various electronic devices. The solar panel has multiple hanging loops to hang it on a wall, side of a tent or a line if you need to.
I tested the unit over 2 days and both days had nice sunny skies. Despite that fact the solar panel performed much better the second day. Full intense sunlight provides the best results and any clouds or shadows can stop your device from charging even though the solar panel resumes outputting the proper voltage and current levels when the sun returns. This is due to your electronic device charging circuit and this cannot be helped. Please watch my attached video and I hope it is informative for you.
I was provided a free sample of the device for testing and to provide an impartial review.I'm not sure why as of this writing this product isn't getting amazing reviews but it deserves them! For the $60 bucks I paid, it is phenomenal. In full sun, I can SIMULTANEOUSLY charge an iPhone 4 and Galaxy S2 (two of the most power hungry types of phones). I've only used it a few times so far, but one of those times it was a completely cloudy afternoon & I left my android phone plugged into the solar panel while streaming audio all day. It was pretty neat to disconnect it at day's end with a charged battery all while in the field with no power outlets having been otherwise accessible :) It folds up the size of my hand and is probably half an inch thick or so, weighs about as much as my phone so it's lightweight and sturdy enough to toss into a backpack. There's a pocket to stick your phone in while charging that velcroes closed, handy when hanging it somewhere via the builtin straps on each corner or placing the panel on your dash as it secures the phone/loose wires etc... If you are thinking about getting something like this, look no further.Good power output, enough to charge my phone and Nexus 7 pad in reasonable time, however, I question how durable the device is in the long term.
The entire solar panel is divided into three semi ridged sections. Each section puts out about 600mA under full sun. Each of the panel is designed to put out about 6V under full sun, there is a small regulator in the USB connector to convert it down to 5V for the device.
After receiving the device, although it looks fine, under microscope, I can see two of the panel have half of the solar cell cracked. As a result, the two damaged panel puts out about 450mA under full sun. This led me to question how easily these panel can have cracked cells resulting in degrading output capacity.
Packing weight for the panel is about 600g, it is a bit too heavy to use for backpacking.
Tested under full noon sun, output taken before the regulator, the short circuit current is 1558mA.
Full data:
6.16V 32mA
6.08V 116mA
5.89V 288mA
5.54V 586mA
5.33V 862mA
5.13V 1050mA
4.61V 1327mA
3.60V 1500mAI just spent a good long time deciding between the Instapark Mercury 10 and the Goal Zero Nomad 7 (usually sold as the Goal Zero 19010 Guide 10 Plus Small Adventure Kit). Hopefully you can benefit from my observations.
I spent about a week with my brother-in-law's Nomad 7, and ultimately bought the Mercury 10 (actually, the Instapark 10 Watts Solar Panel Portable Solar Charger with Dual USB Ports for iPhone, iPad & all other USB Compatible Devices, 5,200 mAh Battery Pack Included). Here's how the two compared:
FORM FACTOR:
These two units are almost identical in size. Folded, they're both 6" x 9" (or about the same height as an iPad and about 1.5" narrower). Unfolded, the Mercury 10 is a couple of inches longer because of the closure flap (which can be folded back behind the unit).
The Mercury 10 weighs more. On my scale, it comes in at 17.7 oz., about 5 oz heavier than the Nomad 7. This is because it provides three solar panels instead of two.
There's a difference in the thickness when they're folded. Both units have a tri-fold design. In the Nomad 7, two sections have solar panels in them and the third has the power connector and a storage pocket. With the Mercury 10, all three sections have solar panels in them. The storage pocket is on the outside and has the power connectors in it.
If you were to put the folded units side-by-side, the thickness would be about the same. But there's a subjective difference in feel. Closing the Nomad feels like closing a folder with a deck of cards inside, since it has its power connectors and battery chargers on the inside flap. It feels lumpy and awkward. The Mercury 10, on the other hand, folds completely flat, with accessory pouch and the bulky connectors on the outside. Again, it's purely subjective.
I will say this, though. I think Instapark came up with something brilliant when they decided to put the USB connectors on the back of the unit, inside the Mercury 10's storage pocket. This makes it so you can put smaller devices, like cell phones, in the pocket while they charge. This keeps them off dirty surfaces and uses the shade of the solar panels to protect them from heat.
It's also worth noting that both are housed in sturdy, black fabric with a Velcro closure, both have loops for hanging the panel, and both cover the solar panels with a thin plastic sheet for protection. Virtually identical.
POWER:
Which one you go with will probably come down to your power requirements.
The real measure of a solar panel's potency is how much current it pumps out. More current = faster recharge times. The Mercury 10 puts out twice the juice: 2 amps vs. 1 amp from the Nomad 7. Both panels can increase their output by working in tandem with a battery pack. The idea here is that the solar panel keeps the battery pack charged, and the battery pack charges your devices.
The Mercury 10 aims squarely at the USB market, since most devices charge off of USB these days. It offers two USB ports and can supply up to two amps of charging current. That's some significant juice for such a small unit. You'll be able to charge even large devices like iPads straight off the panel.
The Nomad 7 goes for a broader range of power options. If you want USB, it provides one port, but at only 0.5 amps. That's fine for phones and small devices, but isn't enough for a tablet. To charge a tablet, you'll have to use Goal Zero's optional battery pack in tandem with the panels.
The upside of the Nomad 7 is that it also lets you charge AA batteries (if you get the optional AA/AAA battery pack/recharger the Guide 10 Plus). That's a bonus for adventurers who need to charge batteries for their flashlights, GPS units, etc.
To charge AA/AAA batteries off of the Mercury 10, you'll have to get a separate USB battery charger. Instapark doesn't make one (why?), but Sanyo has a fantastic one the Eneloop USB battery charger. The Mercury 10 produces enough power to run four of these (eight batteries at a time).
The Nomad 7 also has a 12-volt option with a standard cigarette-lighter-sized plug. But at that voltage, it only produces 0.2 amps of juice, only enough for very small applications.
SUMMARY:
With the Nomad 7, you get lower weight and more power options, but at a lower output. If you get the add-on battery pack to improve the power output, you lose the weight advantage.
With the Mercury 10, you get a slightly heavier package because of the additional solar panel, but you gain twice* the output. However, you're limited to charging USB devices.
For me, power output and charging time matter. So the Mercury 10 was a no-brainer, especially paired up with a couple of AA/AAA USB battery chargers, which I could more than afford at the Mercury 10's lower price point.
[*How do you get twice the output from only 50% more panel area? Because the Mercury 10 keeps its operating voltage down to 5 volts. Lowering the voltage gives it a current boost. You see the same principle in reverse with the Nomad 7: it normally produces 1 amp at 6 volts. But when they double the voltage to 12 volts, the current gets cut in half.]
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I really highly recommend this solar panel by Instapark. It is simply amazing to watch this panel charge up my 5200mah to 6000mah rechargeable power pack batteries As fast as it does. This Solar Panel has got to be maxing out really close to its 2 amp potential as is stated in the product info section.As the above reviewer mentioned, I too simply can't understand how it is possible that only two people ( as of now ) have reviewed this item.I have been shopping around for really high quality and well priced solar panels for almost six months now. I have a 12 watt panel, very well made, totally up to new tech standards, and I really think just from observation that this 10 watt panel is putting out a good amount more then the 12 watt, 5volt model I purchased. And these panels are half the size of that one. They take up no room at all.
This is a really great buy! I love this panel and already have bought myself a second one. Right afterwards they raised the price about ten per cent! LOL!!
It also keeps charging even when the clouds move in, although I can't say at what precise output levels since I don't own a micro volt meter measuring thing.
I bought both of my 10 watt as kits with Instapark batteries. The 5600 mah one, is working fine. And it is the least expensive of the two offered. I also bought the panel along with the series 1800 I believe, it is the one that is rated at 5200mah, and it totally burnt out last night when I went to use it for the first time with my IPhone 4. I was kind've disappointed!
So the panel is beyond great. ya gotta get one for yourself to see its high end performance. But I do not know about instaparks batteries. I had to return a much larger one that also was brand new but was already acting up. If I mixing up battery info with the panel review it is only because they offer this panel alone and also with the two different battery kits. But putting that aside, the panel even looks great, comes with a well designed foldable system that reduces it to a very small and cool looking paperback book sized black kit with a separate well designed compartment where you can store your battery or evn your phone and has this wonderful Velcro closed pouch cover. So the whole kit will fit in any small to medium shoulder bag, knapsack, or even a large coat pocket. I will update my review since I bought these a month ago and am curious to see how long they maintain their outstanding performance. They work so well, that if they bring their prices back down that ten percent I am going to be getting a third one.
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