The Finest Moveable Photo voltaic Chargers of 2024

Solar chargers are like giant, invisible extension cords that let us power up gadgets wherever we roam. But they don’t just bring life to the devices that fuel our far-flung adventures. The best portable solar chargers free us to focus on the people, places, and activities that truly fill our buckets.

Our experts have been writing about solar panels, charging docks, power strips, batteries, and other trusty travel tech for over 25 years. During that time, charging technology has gotten safer and smarter. Batteries have gotten smaller yet more powerful. Solar panels have become way more commonplace both at home and along the dusty trail.

Specifically for this buyer’s guide, we conducted online research and identified over a dozen portable solar chargers ranging in price from $30 to $649. After careful consideration, we narrowed down the candidates to a handful that we tested in real-world conditions. 

Below are the best portable solar chargers based on our testing. To help you find the best charger for your unique needs, we’ve included a comparison chart, a buyer’s guide, and a frequently asked questions section.

The Best Portable Solar Chargers of 2024

Portable Solar Charger Comparison Chart

How We Tested Portable Solar Chargers

Throughout several weeks of testing in typical real-world situations, we used a wide variety of portable solar chargers. Some were small novelties, including a power bank and a few lanterns, each clad with solar cells capable of topping off our phones. Others were varying sizes of dedicated solar panels, with the larger folding variety able to refill an entire portable power station, one of which we also tested specifically for this guide. All that to say, it’s been months since we’ve seen a wall outlet…and our phones haven’t died once.

We conducted our research on the Big Island of Hawaii, no stranger to sunshine. But we also tested on cloudy days and even left the panels out in the occasional rain storm once or twice. In the end, we rated these products based on such factors as power (relative to price and panel area), ease of use, portability, adjustability, price, and special features.

Why You Can Trust Us

Our philosophy at GearJunkie is simple: embrace the gear that gets us outside. In the world of gadgets, that translates into many devices that inevitably require power. So when it comes to solar technology, we like to keep current.

Leading our testing efforts, Scott Tharler has been writing about consumer electronics for various outlets for over 25 years. Throughout that time, Tharler’s attended CES more than two dozen times. Covering power-related products is one of his favorite beats. He met the GoSun guys right when they launched their first solar oven. And first-hand, he’s witnessed wire-free charging tech that promises to power small devices through the air.

Over that same span, it’s become commonplace to see solar technology helping to illuminate our walkways, tech up our campsites, and lower our electric bills. We’re all about it. And we’ll continue to cull and assess additional portable solar chargers for future iterations of this guide.

Looking for more tech? Check out our roundups of the best portable power stations and the best power banks.

Buyer’s Guide: How to Choose a Portable Solar Charger

As it turns out, we’re suckers for all power-related products. But it’s especially nice to know that whether tailgating, overlanding, or hiking and camping miles from the nearest vehicle, there’s a power source up in the sky that we can tap into from almost anywhere.

As magical as that may seem, selecting a portable solar charger can certainly be a daunting task. Some are as small as a journal, and others as big as a mattress. They can run under a hundred bucks or into the thousands. And somewhere within that vast range is a solar charger that will power the devices you need. But making an informed decision requires dedicated thought and research.

Fortunately, this empowering guide packs all the essential info you’ll need to choose the best portable solar charging solution for you. You’ll learn why you should and shouldn’t consider particular types of portable solar chargers and which features matter most. In a nutshell, it’s everything you need to know about purchasing a portable solar charger that truly deserves its place in the sun.

Power (Wattage)

This number, which often appears in the solar product’s name—as with the EcoFlow 220W Bifacial Portable Solar Panel, GoalZero Nomad 20, and BioLite SolarPanel 10+ — indicates the maximum power in watts that the solar charging system can generate. By multiplying the average watts generated by the time the panel is exposed to sun, you can get a sense of how much energy the panel can actually store. For instance, if a 100-watt panel is able to steadily collect 75 watts of power for four hours, that’s 300-watt-hours. 

You just need to assess how that matches up against your device charging needs to determine if you need more/bigger panels. Some manufacturers, such as Jackery, offer online tools to help you roughly estimate your needs. You input your use case and what devices you plan to use, and the calculator relays which solar panel and portable power station options can tackle that many watt-hours. Remember, as when buying light bulbs, just because you can get more watts for the same price doesn’t mean you should.

The other way to determine your wattage needs is in the reverse, based on how much space you have or how much you want to spend. That is to say, if you’re backpacking, it doesn’t make sense to be looking at a big 100 or 400-watt system you’ll never want to lug around. Likewise, if you’re overlanding, you probably won’t just need a dainty 10-watt panel for all the devices you’re carting along. 

Furthermore, if your budget maxes out at $200, it doesn’t make sense to eyeball way more expensive systems. So, you should look at solar charging systems based on the factors that are most important to you. If it’s the price, check out our Value pick, the Outdoor Tech Dawn Solar Panel. And if it’s space, the EcoFlow 220W Bifacial and GoSun Solar Panel Backpack offer the greatest number of watts relative to their respective solar panel areas.

Efficiency

How effectively solar panels convert the sun’s rays into electricity is ever-evolving. Not so long ago, you might have been lucky to get 15 to 20 percent. But today’s solar panels can routinely achieve efficiency in the 22 to 23 % range, maxing out around 25 %. After all, though capable of being translated into electricity, those rays also generate heat and light. So it’s not a perfect system, but the technology is always improving.

Though manufacturers don’t always indicate the efficiency of their solar panels, it’s a good thing to know when you can. Because the better the efficiency, either the more power a same-sized panel can generate, or the smaller and lighter a panel needs to be to generate the same wattage. And that has direct implications for the system’s portability.

Portability

The three biggest factors at play in whether you bring along a solar charger on your adventures and how easy it is to use are size, weight, and how you carry it.

Size

How much space does it take up in its most compact form? From this group, the EcoFlow 220W Bifacial is heads and shoulders above the rest—in either a good or bad way. It’s the size of an art portfolio case. On the small side, the BoomPods Neutron Power Bank is fairly pocketable. Obviously, those represent two very different use cases.

But it’s important to think about how much space you’re willing to dedicate in your pack and/or vehicle to a solar charger and where you’ll likely be using it. For instance, the GoSun Shield is too tall to stow in a backpack, but that could be fine since you’ll mostly be using it on and around your vehicle, as opposed to hiking with it. Bottom line: Pay attention to a solar charger’s dimensions when folded/packed.

Weight

Other than the EcoFlow 220W Bifacial Portable Solar Panel — the perennial outlier of this group, which weighs just north of 20 pounds — the average weight of the solar chargers we tested was just under three pounds. As a rule, though solar panels do vary somewhat in efficiency, expect their weight to correlate to how many watts they offer. Thus, a 20-watt solution will probably be twice as heavy as its 10-watt counterpart. But as you’re about to see, how you’ll carry the solar charger is also a factor.

Carrying

Obviously, it’s easier to carry something with a case and/or handles, but it’s more so for the heavier, bulkier solar panels on our list. For instance, the fact that the 5-pound Outdoor Tech Dawn’s built-in handles magnetically clasp together makes it super easy to carry. The BioLite SolarPanel 100 we tested is not only almost twice as heavy but also a little awkward to carry because we had to work harder to grasp the built-in handles together. 

And yet, twice as heavy as that, there’s something about the weight distribution of the 21-pound EcoFlow 220W Bifacial in its case that doesn’t feel so daunting. So it’s all about how carryable the panel is, especially if you plan to haul it over a significant distance to use it.

Since, with gear, the little things can ultimately make a big difference — it’s worth mentioning that we’re fans of the solar chargers that feature webbed pouches or zippered pockets attached to them. Very handy for storing charging cables—or perhaps even the device being charged. For instance, the single-panel version of the Pale Blue Earth Approach Portable Solar Panels doesn’t have (or need) a carrying case, but it does feature a handy pouch on the back. We used it to stash our phones, avoiding potentially damaging wet and sandy surfaces.

A few of the systems offer digital feedback. For instance, a readout is built into the Outdoor Tech Dawn. There’s also one built into the external batteries we used alongside the GoalZero Nomad 20 and EcoFlow 220W Bifacial. In each of these cases, we were able to track in real-time how many watts the system was pulling and make small positioning adjustments until those numbers maxed out.

Connections

To a large extent, the degree to which a solar charger can connect to other devices determines how useful it is.

Outputs

One of the big factors that drew us to the GoalZero Nomad 20 is that it features not only a USB-A port but also an integrated cable designed to charge solar-optimized power banks, such as their Sherpa 100AC. That unit features not only two USB-A ports and two power delivery USB-C ports, each capable of charging a laptop, but also an AC outlet into which you can plug small appliances. So it’s important to consider both the number and types of ports offered on the solar charger itself and an external battery if you’ll be using one.

Battery vs. Direct

In addition to offering more functionality and power when the sun’s not around, using an external battery (a power bank or portable power station) provides an extra layer of safety for your devices. Today’s batteries tend to be smarter about doling out power in a way that’s consistently safe for the mobile device on the other end, as opposed to just freewheeling it by connecting directly to the solar charger and crossing your fingers. 

This is what makes solar chargers with built-in batteries appealing. Along with such obvious entries as the MPowerd Luci + Powerbank and BoomPods Neutron Power Bank, the BioLite SolarPanel 10+ features a built-in battery. In each of these cases, the batteries act to regulate voltage in a way that protects your phone or other mobile devices from being overcharged. Some solar panels integrate controllers that do the same thing, so it’s something to pay attention to, especially on larger solar chargers.

Creating Series

Is it better to get more solar panels of a lower wattage or fewer at a higher wattage? The answer to this question depends on whether you more heavily value price or modularity. In other words, it might be less expensive — not to mention easier to transport and simpler to use — a 400-watt solar panel as opposed to four 100-watt panels. But if you usually only need a 100-watt panel to refill your portable power station of choice, there’s no sense lugging around a 400-watt beast every time.

If you decide that you do want to connect a series of solar panels, it’s easiest/best to go with the same brand, model, and wattage. That way, you can just follow the suggestions on the site about how many can be connected in a series and have peace of mind that they’ll play nicely together.

Portable Power Stations

Having said what we just did about connecting panels in series, it’s possible to mix and match solar panels from one brand with portable power stations from another. Conversely, manufacturers sometimes change their connection port types, rendering previous solar panels incompatible with newer power stations. 

In either case, don’t assume that a solar panel will connect to a portable power station—with or without an adapter. Look to see what type of connection it’s sporting. For instance, MC4 is a popular kind of DC connection you might encounter. But especially if you’re purchasing a solar panel and portable power station separately, first be sure to check the physical shape and electrical compatibility of their connection.

Price

For what it’s worth, the average price of all the portable solar chargers we tested was around $170. But that varies wildly, along with the power and size of the chargers. To level the playing field, we calculated the price per watt. So, although the retail cost of purchasing the GoSun Shield, Outdoor Tech Dawn, and EcoFlow 220W Bifacial ranged broadly from $130 to $649, each of those costs roughly $3 per watt.

For perspective, the $150 BioLite Solar Panel 10+ equates to $15 per watt. Thus, the value proposition for portable solar chargers involves focusing on how much power you get for the price. Relatively speaking, then, we see that the cost of a solar system doesn’t need to be astronomical.

FAQ