Allpowers 12 and 16 watt 5V USB folding solar panel review.

Woods Walker

The Wood is cut, The Bacon is cooked, Now it’s tim
Joined
Jun 8, 2008
Messages
5,433
Location
New England woods.
Over a year ago I purchased 3 fold up solar panels for my preps and other projects. I have both their standard and higher efficiency models. Often the basic components of these panels are shared by multiple makers. Near as I can tell the Allpowers is the same as Anker etc etc etc. We will be reviewing both the 12 and 16 watt 5 volt models.


Here are the stats for the 16 watt model.


Solar Panel: 16W
* Transformation efficiency: >17%-19%
* Total Output: 5V2A
* Fold: 232 x 160 x 13mm/ 9.1 x 6.3 x 0.51inch(Size as notebook)
* Open: 800 x 232 x 1mm/31.5 x 9.1 x 0.04inch
* Weight: 0.62kg/21.8oz


Package:
1 x Solar Panel Charger
1 x Micro USB cable, 2 x hooks ( as gifts )
1 x instruction manual


12 watt model.


Specification:
* Solar panel peak power: 12W
* Transformation efficiency: >17%-19%
* Total Output: 5V1.5A(Max1.7A)
* Fold: 232 x 160 x 10mm/ 9.1 x 6.3 x 0.39inch
* Open: 645 x 232 x 1mm/ 25.4 x 9.1 x 0.04inch
* Weight: 0.51kg/17.9oz


Package:
1 x Solar Panel Charger
1 x Micro USB cable, several hooks( as gifts )
1 x Instruction manual


For both they state:


"Your Satisfaction is our Highest Priority", contact us firstly if you have any question


ALLPOWERS: Always Power Your Life Whenever and Wherever
Bored with your phone runs out of juice when you're enjoying great outdoor activities? Tired of finding outlet to charge your phone? ALLPOWERS Solar Panel is the perfect solution for these annoyed moments, it can help to get endless power from sunshine easily and save your dying phone. Get one ASAP.


(1) iSolar Technology, deliver the fastest charge
It can automatically adjust the current and voltage to acheive maximum power, delivering its fastest possible current up to 2Amp.
(2) Portable design & Easy to use
Compact size design for portability(size as B5 paper), with the free hook, you may just hang it on your bag when outdoors. Folding down into an small package and weighing in at less than a pound, the solar charger adds minimal weight and size to your pack.
(3) Wide compatibility
Dual USB Ports: ipad, mobile phones, tablet, PDA, MP4, digital camera, video games, iPhone, Blackberry, bluetooth headset, ipod digital products and any other 5V USB devices


Note: Fully charge iPhone 6 only takes 2.5 hours (under standard testing conditions(STD): 1000W/square meter, AM1.5, 25°C (40000LUX)


Lets take a look.





I am guessing each panel is 4 watts.





They both have duel USB charging ports and multiple tie-off loops.





Ready for the test.





I ended up charging an Ipad and Iphone off the 16 watt and cheap android tablet with year old not used totally dead batter off the 12.








So after 1 hour the 16 watt charged the Ipad 30%, Iphone also 30% which is really good IMHO. It was charging two things at the same time after all and that Ipad is a slow charger IMHO. The 12 watt panel only charged the long dead android tablet 10% however I think the over discharged state of the battery slowed the process. I left both the Ipad and android plugged in then went fishing. Came back later at night and both were charged 100%. The next day I tested the 12 watt as normally it's faster than 10% an hour.











10% in 14 minutes isn't bad. It can also charge many USB powered device I have tried.


Fenix lantern both runs and charges off solar.





This never grows old. LOL!








USB battery charger works.


Not charged.





Charged.





Not all USB battery chargers are fully solar compatible. Some chargers and devices will trigger an error mode if the voltage input gets too sporadic. Such as passing clouds.





If you really need the power sometimes it's best to charge a solar compatible battery pack then charge devices from that. Granted there will be conversion loss but could be worth it. Here is a video showing the panels in action. So far after over a year they're working just fine.





Thanks for looking.
 
Top