The Best Portable Solar Chargers
In 2011 a portable solar panel looked like the answer to keeping a phone alive on a long trip. For most travellers it is not, and being clear about that saves money and weight.
What replaced it: the battery pack. A 10,000mAh power bank is small, cheap, charges a phone three or four times, and works at night and in cloud. For almost all travel, including most camping, that is the correct answer and solar is an expensive way of solving a problem you do not have.
Where solar genuinely earns its place:
- Trips longer than your battery capacity with no mains at all. A thru-hike, a long paddle, a multi-week expedition.
- Sunny, open country. Panels need direct sun and lose most of their output in shade and cloud, which is why they disappoint in northern Europe and under forest canopy.
- As a trickle charge for a power bank, not for the phone directly. Panel output fluctuates as clouds pass and that stop-start is bad for a phone; charge the bank, then charge from the bank.
What has genuinely improved: folding panels got much lighter and much more efficient, and USB-C output means one cable runs everything. A 20 to 28W folding panel is now a realistic thing to strap to the back of a pack.
What to ignore: the small panel built into a power bank. The area is far too small to charge anything meaningfully, and it exists for the packaging.
The airline note: power banks and spare batteries travel in the cabin, never in checked luggage, and several carriers now restrict charging them in flight.
Part of the guide to gadgets and power.