Portable solar panel

[TubsAlwaysWins]

Anyone got recommendations for a portable solar panel thats 14" max? Want to use it to charge a Anker 737 or similar as well as a car battery so maybe 12-14V output?Would like at least 100W if thats realistic. Preferably one that doesn't break the bank. 

 

Thanks

[Needfuldoer]

14 inches folded, or deployed? The 100 watt portable panels I'm aware of are all at least 8 square feet (24" x 24" folded in half).

[Thomas53]

You can always daisy chain two 50Watt panels together, if you have the space to carry two.

[GarlicDeliverySystem]

2 hours ago, TubsAlwaysWins said:

Anyone got recommendations for a portable solar panel thats 14" max? Want to use it to charge a Anker 737 or similar as well as a car battery so maybe 12-14V output?Would like at least 100W if thats realistic

Well, I haven't looked up particular panels yet, however I thought it might be a quick exercise to see whether a 100W panel with 14" sides is realistic.

Given that the theoretical max. from solar is around 1350W/m^2 at the top of the atmosphere and at the equator, this will be challenging. 14"x14" is 196 square inches, or 0.126 m^2, meaning the theoretical max. you could get before any losses to the atmosphere is 170W, so realistically you will only have a fraction of that over the day and at any latitude other than the equator.

 

Put on top of that the panel efficiency of maybe 30%, and you have maybe 30-40W for a 14" panel at best. I found a folded 35x23x6cm one one amazon claiming 60W, but unfolded it is 86cmx72cm. 

 

[TubsAlwaysWins]

On 6/14/2025 at 9:21 PM, GarlicDeliverySystem said:

Well, I haven't looked up particular panels yet, however I thought it might be a quick exercise to see whether a 100W panel with 14" sides is realistic.

Given that the theoretical max. from solar is around 1350W/m^2 at the top of the atmosphere and at the equator, this will be challenging. 14"x14" is 196 square inches, or 0.126 m^2, meaning the theoretical max. you could get before any losses to the atmosphere is 170W, so realistically you will only have a fraction of that over the day and at any latitude other than the equator.

 

Put on top of that the panel efficiency of maybe 30%, and you have maybe 30-40W for a 14" panel at best. I found a folded 35x23x6cm one one amazon claiming 60W, but unfolded it is 86cmx72cm. 

 

I guess I mean 14" diagonally, like a laptop. I can settle for a smaller panel if thats unrealistic 

 

On 6/14/2025 at 7:57 PM, Thomas53 said:

You can always daisy chain two 50Watt panels together, if you have the space to carry two.

True

 

On 6/14/2025 at 6:53 PM, Needfuldoer said:

14 inches folded, or deployed? The 100 watt portable panels I'm aware of are all at least 8 square feet (24" x 24" folded in half).

No 14" folded. Don't care how large deployed. I guess whatever is a realistic power output

[GarlicDeliverySystem]

3 hours ago, TubsAlwaysWins said:

I guess I mean 14" diagonally, like a laptop. I can settle for a smaller panel if thats unrealistic 

I would then just shop for a panel in that size and just be content with whatever wattage you can get. 

[TubsAlwaysWins]

2 minutes ago, GarlicDeliverySystem said:

I would then just shop for a panel in that size and just be content with whatever wattage you can get. 

Sounds good