With the price of solar technology falling, solar panels can be purchased at very low cost in the energy options or home improvement market. today you can buy portable solar panels which can cost half of what it would cost to have solar panels installed on your roof.
If you live a mobile lifestyle, you know you have to be creative when addressing your energy needs. here you will learn what are portable solar panels and how they can help you achieve that goal. Portable solar panels are an affordable solution for many people, especially those who cannot fit a roof-mounted system.
What are portable solar panels?
portable solar panels give us the ability to generate and store electricity using portable solar panels. To them must be added, charge controllers, batteries and inverters. Instead of mounting to the ceiling, portable solar panels are available in different forms.
They can be found from suitcase-type folding panel kits that can be installed on the ground, to flexible panels that can be hung from the car or from any other vertical surface.
How portable solar panels work
Unlike a conventional solar panel that is usually installed on a roof, and is placed in a fixed and rigid frame, sealed under glass, portable panels are usually covered by a protective sleeve made of mesh cloth or plastic.
Solar panels have solar cells made of silicon that harness the sun’s rays. These have positive and negative layers that create an electric field. This electricity (DC) can be channeled through a charge controller and into a battery.
It then uses an inverter to switch power from DC to AC to charge your electronic devices. Some portable solar panels do not require an inverter or charge controller. This type of panel is often referred to as ‘plug and play’. You simply set up the portable solar panels and plug the device into the USB outlet.
Types of portable solar panels
On today’s market, you’ll generally find three types of portable solar panels: hard-frame folding panels and newer blanket-and-mat-style models.
Hard Frame Folding Panels
Hard frame collapsible solar panels were the first to be introduced to the market, but compared to currently available products, they were cumbersome and inefficient. The first were built from two banks of cells, hinged in the middle to allow them to fold in half.
They were manufactured encased in a thick aluminum frame and a laminated glass front, which made them fragile, inflexible, and could weigh more than 25 kg. They are still available today, but they are thinner and lighter than their ancestors.
Its biggest disadvantages remain the relatively large folded size and not being flexible.making them frustrating to store and prone to damage when moving to another location.
solar blankets
They first hit the market around 2015. Their innovative design made portable solar power accessible to a wider range of products, and more accessible to people. Today they remain one of the most popular options available on the market..
Solar blankets are built with smaller cell banks, typically using a 2×5 – 3×4 cell configuration.. They are covered with durable materials such as PET or ETFE instead of glass. The banks of solar cells are sewn into an outer canvas.
They have much less weight compared to what the old rigid panels weighed and their folded size is significantly smaller. They are in turn easier to transport, easier to set up, and more convenient for long-haul travelers where storage space is at a premium.
Glass-free cells mean the panels are also much more resistant to accidental damage. The main disadvantage of solar blankets is that it is difficult to place them at an optimal angle to capture maximum solar radiation.
Generally, solar blankets should be placed on top of a windshield, on top of a car, or on the ground. The ideal location is to place the solar cells at an angle between 15 and 40 degrees.
solar mats
Solar mats are the newest form of portable solar panels and combine the benefits of rigid frame panels and solar blankets. Generally, they consist of 3 to 4 banks of solar cells, with a semi-flexible base.
Like solar blankets, the cells are covered with a material such as PET or ETFE that makes them more resistant. It also allows cells to flex slightly without damage.. The cells are sewn on an outer canvas.
What kind of portable solar panels do I need?
To figure out what kind of panels will work for you, there are two main things to consider. Where do you take your panels? How much power do you need?
Calculate your power requirement by listing the devices you want to power. Then, you must add up the power consumption in watts of each device. For example, if you only want to charge a cell phone, a 20-watt panel will be perfect.
Advantages of portable solar panels
- Easy to set up.
- Laptop.
- It does not take up space.
- Emergency backup power.
- They can be placed where needed.
- Portable panels are not stationary so they can track location in the sun.
- Unlike generators, solar power doesn’t pollute radio waves or scare away bugs.
- It’s clean energy, especially when combined with eco-friendly lithium batteries, they can provide clean and renewable energy.
- Independence from the electrical network. With portable solar power, your only limit is a cloudy day.
- They can be used as a complement to the roof panels.
- Portable solar panels are ideal when you need a little extra power.
