Description
- ☀️Exclusive SolarIQ Technology: With built-in smart IC chip, it can automatically adjust the current and voltage to achieve maximum power,delivering its fastest possible current up to 2.8A under direct sunlight
- ☀️High Efficiency: Built with SUNPOWER solar cell from US, up to 22%-25% efficiency, while most panels in the market are 15% efficiency
- ☀️Dual-Port Output：USB port (5V/2A) for charging your 5V powered gadgets, and 18V DC output (18V/2A) for charging your laptop or other 18V powered devices
- ☀️Water-Resistant and Safety Protection : PET solar panels with rugged high-wear Oxford fabric offer weather-resistant durability for any outdoor environments and activities. Surge protection, short circuit protection and more advanced safety protections keep you and your devices safe
- ☀️Package Contents: 40W Foldable Solar Charger, 5 laptop connectors, DC cable, USB cables, carabiners, instruction, 18 months no worry warranty and friendly customer service
frank zielinski –
The XDragon 40W solar charger is awesome. I use it to charge my smartphone, IPad, etc. in my work van. I live and work in SW Florida so there is no shortage of sun here. I just set it on my dash and I have power all day. It’s perfect. I will even take it with me out on the boat in the Gulf of Mexico to keep a good charge on my cell phone. I may not have cell phone service way out but with a reliable charger like the XDragon, I will be able to use the GPS app on my smartphone when I am 70 miles offshore.
Peter Sterchak –
I hooked it up to my i-phone on a COMPLETELY overcast day and it still got me 10% charge in about 30 min. On a Sunny day it got me a 10% charge in about 10-15 min. So for small portable devices it works great. The construction is overall good. There are only two things I don’t love. 1. Folding it back up is kind of a pain to get it just right so it closes. I wish they printed little numbers on the panels or something for what order to fold them in maybe would help? and the actual connector area where you plug in just feels like it could have been integrated into the design better. But overall great unit. I loved the accessories it came with, tones of adapters and cables and even 4 little carabiners to help hang and orient it.
NW Customer –
Very disappointing. I bought this to charge a battery for my CPAP which requires 12v to charge. After 6 hours in intense sunlight, with the panels aimed the whole time right at the sun, the battery went from 48% to 47% charge, the battery actually lost charge. Before retuning it, I decided to try the usb charger and again, in bright sun, my iPhone would ding charging on, ding charging off, ding charging on every few seconds. Total waste of money
Enough Already –
This is a provisional review because I’ve had the 40W panel only a few hours, but it was already worth mentioning something fall / winter-related for those who are curious, like I was, whether or not this could do anything with a cloudy day in the northern half of the US. Apparently it can: It trickle-charged, at around 200 milliamps @ 12V (voltage controlled separately), a mostly-charged 12V 18Ah AGM battery I had lying around as a test.
I know the instructions mention charging 12V batteries, but I used a small separate battery charge controller with this panel to make sure the voltage was appropriate for the battery. No comment yet on what the built-in controller does, but the instructions say it’ll detect the device and deliver the proper voltage. Will test that out later.
That trickle-charge took only a couple of hours, but the battery was nearly full already. The point being, this is apparently big enough to supply a little sip of juice for that kind of application even on a cloudy, wintry day. Which is what I was hoping. In cloudy parts of the US, this is the best time of year to put something like this to the test—if it can do this on a cloudy day while sitting on a table inside a dwelling by a window (no trees or other buildings obscuring most of the sky view), then it’ll probably be just fine in full sun.
It’s also over two pounds, if that matters to you, but I suspect this will be useful enough for that to be worth it. Just keep it in mind. It’s substantial.
Will update after more testing. Five stars until it gives me a reason to dock any.
Boid1 –
UPDATED 03/19/17. I have done my inspections and testing of the charger and I am updating my review to four stars and caneceling my return. The reasons are as follows:
I took a lot of time to research solar chargers for portable use and found out a great deal. First, a solar charge should NOT be used for directly charging any electronic item. They do not function efficiently enough to provide a constant source of charge and will never leave most people satisfied with the results. Second, more panels is better, again for obvious reasons. The amount of available charge is directly affected by the amount of available source of sun. The greater the solar surface area available, the better the output and available charge. More surface area should equal less charging time. Next, the best available way to charge is from direct full sun and into a battery pack.
My tests were as follows: First I took the charger in full sun and tried charging just my Samsung s6 edge cell phone with 48% battery directly. It took 15 minutes and the phone was fully charged. If charging directly into any source, protect the output connections and the item by shading them. No electronics are designed to sit out in the sun like the charger. I learned that reading reviews and sources of info. Next, I bought an ANKAR 20100 High output battery bank (based on reviews). It came with 50 percent charge on it. So I tried charging the bank on a very cloudy day in cold temps (40’s). The charger instantly showed it was available to charge, the bank showed it was charging. However due to the lack of light, it took 4 hours to charge 1 bar. Not great, but again, cloudy day. Next I took the bank on a full sun day, again at 50 percent. It took about 2 hours and it was fully charged. The bank (sidenote), then charged 2 cell phones (both s6) from 40% each to full in 15 minutes. Barely noticeable drop on the bank.
Conclusion: The solar charger works for my purposes. There are things I was disappointed about such as the output portion is not concealed, but I am shading that section and the device(s) anyway. The original package came opened. Not sure why, but the vendor contacted me immediately for pictures, and not since. That is the primary reason for only four stars. I can’t give it a full five when I was never sure why it was opened. It is rather bulky, but I wanted the larger panels and this was the largest I found. Overall, It will fit my purposes. I am very sure all solar chargers have issues based on my research. Each person has to decide on their own what is worth the money. Good luck.
UPDATED 2/28/2017 I have had to IMMEDIATELY return this. It came in an opened package and with only Chinese instructions. I would not trust this again and with the other reviews would not recommend this. 02/28/2017 UPDATE: Apparently the condition of the instructions was my mistake and they are in multiple languages, but do not describe what should be in the package. As the package was open when I received it, I am not sure the condition. I am in contact with the vendor and am going to try the product before returning as I really want this to work.
Sash Johnson –
The panel works great for smaller batteries, like a phone external battery or even a laptop external battery. It’s great to take camping. I haven’t used it to directly charge my phone though.
It doesn’t work for a golf cart battery though. It can be in the bright sun all day and hardly give any charge to it.
Just use it appropriately and you’ll really be pleased.