Renogy Portable E.Flex Monocrystalline 5W Solar Panel with USB Port for Charging, Hiking and Biking

Really happy with the performance and size of this panel. This is half the size of my old solar charger but manages to push more amps. It is MUCH smaller than I expected which is awesome. While I was testing it I was able to achieve .8 amps of the advertised 1 amp peak. 1 amp may be possible, but the conditions would have to be perfect, I think.For anyone who wants to know how well this will charge your phone, .8 amps means that it will give you 800mah of power, every hour of charging. As an example, if you look up your phone and find it has a 3000mah battery and it was completely depleted/dead, it would take roughly 3-4 hours to charge it up with good sunlight, not counting conversion loss. This is totally fine with me, but some of you may want something beefier if you're looking for a faster charge. Do remember, the more directly the panel is looking at the sun, the higher the amperage you'll manage to pull. When I held the panel at not the best angle, it would typically drop to around .5-.7 amps.For only $10, this is a GREAT little panel that can actually do some real charging. I would highly recommend it to anyone, it NEVER hurts to have a source of power around that weighs nothing and takes up very little space. Pair this with a phone power-bank and you can just leave it outside to fill up the power-bank without having to leave your phone out in the heat.Hope this helps some of you!

These panels are very durable and easy to use! I'm currently running 2 panels wired together with a usb splitter {HIGHROCK 30cm USB 2.0 a Power Enhancer Y 1 Female to 2 Male Data Charge Cable Extension Cord(1pc)} that allows power to come from both ends!Using a usb voltage/amp meter I saw that in direct sunlight one panel makes about 5v and 0.4-0.5amps of power. With 2 panels it is at 0.8amps and 5v!This charges my 10,000 mAh battery pack about 1,000mAh per hour! I charge up the battery and then use that to charge my phone and smart watch at night!I recommend buying 2 panels and wiring them together like this instead of getting their 10w version because I've seen a lot of those failing.I keep this mounted on the outside of my house 24/7. I put some dielectric grease in the usb port to help with water resistance but I haven't seen any issues so far from rain!

Nive

Great small solar panel! Good for hikers and camping. Strongly recommend to use it for charging a battery bank, it will take 2 hours to charge an iPhone. Needed to be in direct sunlight in order to make it work.

I just spent a week in the Sierras and used this panel to keep my Anker battery pack charged. At night I used my battery pack to charge my iPhone, InReach, camera and watch. During the day I attached the panel to the top of my pack and trickle charged my battery pack. In 7 days my battery pack was never below 4. I didn't have to plug anything in at the resupply point. For the price this panel was totally worth it!

This is the smallest and lightest 5V solar panel I have. There is no bulky fabric frame, just a thin panel with a slightly thicker area where the USB port is.Due to the small size, I bring it with me almost all the time just to top off a small power bank when sitting in sunny spots. I'm passive solar.

Measured charge current at .8 amps on clear sunny day in CA. Should be 1.0 amps for 5 watts. Not bad for the price. Weighed in at 6.5 ounces.

Broke right away and took forever to charge ..disappointed

I bought the 5W panel for a recent trip to the Himalaya. Initially I was a bit sceptical that the small panel would meet my needs, but over 4 weeks trekking in the mountains, when combined with a backup battery pack, I had no probems keeping two iPhone 5c phones charged and a Kindle.The panel does have its limitations - it needs clear skies (so of limited use in typical UK weather) and to be pointing more or less directly towards the sun (so walking with it on the back of a rucksack results in a low charge rate). When set up fully into sun the panel charged my phone battery at 40% per hour, including when stuck with the supplied suckers to an into sun window.Drawbacks when charging the iPhone were regular "This device may not be supported" messages. Also every time a cloud passed the sun or the shadow from a tree obstructed the sun, then the panel stops/starts charging giving a "ding" & vibrate from the phone and switching the screen on for 5 seconds - these annoyances were reduced by dimming the screen, switching to silent mode & toggling off "vibrate on silent", but of course that meant incoming calls could not be heard (if you have a phone signal in the mountains that is!). Hence only 4 stars.I would definitely recommend the 5W panel for those wanting a light weight and long term charging solution, but it needs to be used in the right climate in combination with a back-up battery pack to cater for cloudy days.

This is a very good option for a solar charger if you are looking for something that is extremely lightweight and occupies very little space in your pack. I had ordered it with those qualities in mind but was pleasantly surprised at just how lightweight and thin it is compared to the alternatives. In the photos I've posted I have it attached to a 24L pack alongside a pair of trail runners to show just how portable it is. I bought it for very short excursions e.g. weekend getaways and am so far pleased with the purchase.

I bought this as a solar charger for the my phone. When the sun went in the panel discharged the phone - ooh for the sake of a wee diode :)

works ok for devices and usb power packs that don't need a lot of power to recharge

..and perhaps im using it wrong but I left this in the sun all day attached to a phone and it did nothing. I attached it to a portable battery, nothing. PErhaps it was defective but the battery pack i had was showing that it was charging, but after almost 10 hours i tried charging m phone from this battery pack and it got to round 17% before it lost all its power.I had a small little eton speaker years ago that had a built in battery pack on it that i used to take camping with me that used to charge my phone to max while still leaving a few hours of music life for itself. It only needed about 6-8 hours of continuous sun to get back up to full power again.Too bad as i really wanted this to work.