Need a "solar power bank" for my laptop (Strix G17)

Mark Kaine · May 22

Any suggestions how much wattage I need, the laptop charger is 280w... and I'd like to use the laptop stationary/plugged in...

Is 500w enough? Or in other words how many hours will that last if the laptop easily uses 150 - 200w on average?

I never bought a power bank or similar so I don't really know what to look for.

Kisai · May 22

1 hour ago, Mark Kaine said:

Any suggestions how much wattage I need, the laptop charger is 280w... and I'd like to use the laptop stationary/plugged in...

Is 500w enough? Or in other words how many hours will that last if the laptop easily uses 150 - 200w on average?

I never bought a power bank or similar so I don't really know what to look for.

Don't go by the laptop brick size if it can be powered by USB-C. If you have to use the brick you are going to have to do the DC-AC-DC conversion like it was a UPS.

That said, most solar stuff at that high of wattage runs into needing a full size panel, so you're starting to look at a full PV system and several hundred dollars. Where as if you just want a "solar battery bank" intended for smart phones, those are like $20-40. These will not power a laptop.

I would probably still not recommend either of these (read the reviews on these things, they tend to say the battery part works, but solar use is janky or not as advertised.) I would suggest looking at USB-C batteries first if they can power the laptop, most under-90w laptops seem to have that as a feature but it disappears on anything 180w and over.

If it can not be powered via USB-C then that means you'd need a DC-to-DC adapter built , and laptops don't standardize on 12V, they tend (in your case) to be like 18V or 20V. Otherwise you use it's own brick and need an actual "RV/Boat" type of power solution unless you want to just make a static solar installation with a commercially available roof PV panel and associated parts.

Notice on stuff like this:

https://ca.jackery.com/products/explorer-1000-v2-portable-power-station-ad $800

That the power limit for USB-C is 100w. But you can use the AC up to 1000w.

And here's the same unit with the required solar panels

https://ca.jackery.com/products/jackery-solar-generator-1000-v2 , $1200

It has a calculator too on how long it would last ( so for your laptop it would be about 2.5h)

These are a little more fancy than a UPS, technically. But it would probably also not be worth it unless you're travelling in sunny locations in a car/RV. If you're travelling in rainy areas, the solar would become not very useful and you'd be better off just charging it from the wall at any opportunity.

Mark Kaine · May 22

4 hours ago, Kisai said:

Don't go by the laptop brick size if it can be powered by USB-C. If you have to use the brick you are going to have to do the DC-AC-DC conversion like it was a UPS.

That said, most solar stuff at that high of wattage runs into needing a full size panel, so you're starting to look at a full PV system and several hundred dollars. Where as if you just want a "solar battery bank" intended for smart phones, those are like $20-40. These will not power a laptop.

I would probably still not recommend either of these (read the reviews on these things, they tend to say the battery part works, but solar use is janky or not as advertised.) I would suggest looking at USB-C batteries first if they can power the laptop, most under-90w laptops seem to have that as a feature but it disappears on anything 180w and over.

If it can not be powered via USB-C then that means you'd need a DC-to-DC adapter built , and laptops don't standardize on 12V, they tend (in your case) to be like 18V or 20V. Otherwise you use it's own brick and need an actual "RV/Boat" type of power solution unless you want to just make a static solar installation with a commercially available roof PV panel and associated parts.

Notice on stuff like this:

https://ca.jackery.com/products/explorer-1000-v2-portable-power-station-ad $800

That the power limit for USB-C is 100w. But you can use the AC up to 1000w.

And here's the same unit with the required solar panels

https://ca.jackery.com/products/jackery-solar-generator-1000-v2 , $1200

It has a calculator too on how long it would last ( so for your laptop it would be about 2.5h)

These are a little more fancy than a UPS, technically. But it would probably also not be worth it unless you're travelling in sunny locations in a car/RV. If you're travelling in rainy areas, the solar would become not very useful and you'd be better off just charging it from the wall at any opportunity.

Ok, so this would work, for example?

https://www.amazon.de/Jackery-Generator-Portable-Station-SolarSaga/dp/B09NQ77VZ2/ref=sxin_22_pa_sp_phone_search_thematic_sspa?content-id=amzn1.sym.11aea857-b4f8-48ca-94da-11a836f470e4%3Aamzn1.sym.11aea857-b4f8-48ca-94da-11a836f470e4&crid=3U0JOIFKDASQA&cv_ct_cx=solar%2Bpowerbank%2Blaptop&keywords=solar%2Bpowerbank%2Blaptop&pd_rd_i=B09NQ77VZ2&pd_rd_r=0f41ec54-c946-4fcf-be97-ad4d68671514&pd_rd_w=Yo0EM&pd_rd_wg=G4sLU&pf_rd_p=11aea857-b4f8-48ca-94da-11a836f470e4&pf_rd_r=WB2TMXJSKNQEH498D4X9&qid=1747920588&sprefix=solarpower%2Bbank%2Blaptop%2Caps%2C118&sr=1-1-6e6ea531-5af4-4866-af75-1ef299d1c279-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9zZWFyY2hfdGhlbWF0aWM&psc=1&th=1

That includes an UPS as well I suppose? (the Amazon description is pure garbage/10, incredible...)

As you mentioned there's a V2 which costs twice... Don't think that's worth it?

And yeah I was expecting it to power my laptop for 2-3 hours, I just wasn't sure if that'll actually work (especially without buying more "add-ons")

And yeah I guess the solar panel is the weak point,but there'll be plenty of sun, most likely (Italy)

PS: what really gets me, every review says "100w". No, bro, I need ~300w minimum -.-

Apparently it's 1000w continuous with the AC outs... otherwise you can just use those cheapo banks for 30 bucks?

Kisai · May 22

42 minutes ago, Mark Kaine said:

Ok, so this would work, for example?

https://www.amazon.de/Jackery-Generator-Portable-Station-SolarSaga/dp/B09NQ77VZ2/ref=sxin_22_pa_sp_phone_search_thematic_sspa?content-id=amzn1.sym.11aea857-b4f8-48ca-94da-11a836f470e4%3Aamzn1.sym.11aea857-b4f8-48ca-94da-11a836f470e4&crid=3U0JOIFKDASQA&cv_ct_cx=solar%2Bpowerbank%2Blaptop&keywords=solar%2Bpowerbank%2Blaptop&pd_rd_i=B09NQ77VZ2&pd_rd_r=0f41ec54-c946-4fcf-be97-ad4d68671514&pd_rd_w=Yo0EM&pd_rd_wg=G4sLU&pf_rd_p=11aea857-b4f8-48ca-94da-11a836f470e4&pf_rd_r=WB2TMXJSKNQEH498D4X9&qid=1747920588&sprefix=solarpower%2Bbank%2Blaptop%2Caps%2C118&sr=1-1-6e6ea531-5af4-4866-af75-1ef299d1c279-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9zZWFyY2hfdGhlbWF0aWM&psc=1&th=1

That includes an UPS as well I suppose? (the Amazon description is pure garbage/10, incredible...)

As you mentioned there's a V2 which costs twice... Don't think that's worth it?

Okay, from the US/CA description the V2 uses a LiFePo battery and the original uses a NMC (I assume that's Lithium nickel manganese cobalt), so the V2 is a bit safer, but otherwise V2 is 17% smaller and can take a larger solar input.

Also looks like the v2 can take 4 panels as input.

42 minutes ago, Mark Kaine said:

And yeah I was expecting it to power my laptop for 2-3 hours, I just wasn't sure if that'll actually work (especially without buying more "add-ons")

And yeah I guess the solar panel is the weak point,but there'll be plenty of sun, most likely (Italy)

PS: what really gets me, every review says "100w". No, bro, I need ~300w minimum -.-

You need one 100w panel for every continuous 100w's is my read on it. The package comes with 2 100w panels.

Also if you read the description on the site, apparently the solar panels themselves use USB. Just keep in mind that solar requires optimal sunshine to be efficient, and even though it says 100, it's likely not going to be 100 off each panel without constantly adjusting the angle towards the sun.

Anyways, I do not have one, I can not vouch for it's quality or reliability, though after reading the description it seems like it would probably be a minor step up from the lead-acid gel battery UPS since conventional UPS is not intended to be portable and the battery has to be replaced after a few years, where a Lithium batteries have a different end-of-life failure which is why "a bit safer" really depends how it's used.

42 minutes ago, Mark Kaine said:

Apparently it's 1000w continuous with the AC outs... otherwise you can just use those cheapo banks for 30 bucks?

Most of those cheapo batteries only add "battery capacity" if they are doing PD USB-C correctly, if they are not, then when you plug it in, it will do nothing.

My experience with battery banks is that they're not useful for anything larger than an iPad. Hence my reference in the first post about USB-C, if the laptop supports being powered by USB-C then you can sometimes use these anyway but you'll probably only gain like 10 minutes. If it doesn't, then going via the DC-AC-DC conversion is the only way to operate it. Which means these bigger battery banks intended for camping or house-backup.