Posted: 3/9/2012 9:35:29 AM EDT
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I wanted to get opinions on goal zero solar products.
I saw them at a costco roadshow. I don't know much about solar/backup power. I wanted to know if this is an easy way to start. Thanks |
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This thread is a winner for info. No product or link in the OP, no followup info, just two tags. Wow.
I might as well add a link or something here, so I at least feel like part of the solution. link looks expensive, but it is shiny. |
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I recently bought a small goal zero unit. I bought it through cabelas. To be honest I have not had it long enough to form a concrete opinion on it. reviews were positive. Mine comes with a small power pack that consists of 4 AA rechargable batteries. You can use these as AA's of course, or leave them in the pack and connect to a USB device to power it. The instructions indicate that charging phones and other items is often apparently better with the power pack than with direct solar from the panel.
My impression is that the unit is well constructed. I haven't owned it long enough to really test that. |
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Quoted:
I recently bought a small goal zero unit. I bought it through cabelas. To be honest I have not had it long enough to form a concrete opinion on it. reviews were positive. Mine comes with a small power pack that consists of 4 AA rechargable batteries. You can use these as AA's of course, or leave them in the pack and connect to a USB device to power it. The instructions indicate that charging phones and other items is often apparently better with the power pack than with direct solar from the panel. My impression is that the unit is well constructed. I haven't owned it long enough to really test that. Which unit is it? I've been poking around on these myself. |
| Bought this guy about eight months ago and took it on a camping trip with my wife and sister in law (and three dogs). Used it to charge a little netbook, a couple Ipods, an Ipad, Kindle, and a cellphone (took all that crap out just to see how it held up). It kept everything charged without any issue and as long as we had a little light the battery stayed fully charged the whole time. The pannel and battery/inverter fit very nicely in one of the Rubbermade Tough totes along with a couple sleepingbags and while somewhat heavy, it wasn't overly so. It is sturdy as hell and will suit future camping trips and potential SHTF situations quite well IMHO. I also got a hell of a deal (about half priced new), but cannot find that deal again at this moment. |
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I have the 7 watt panel and the battery recharger. ( Guide 10 Plus Adventure Kit )
Bought it on sale for Christmas at EMS. They work great. The panel recharges my 4 AA batteries and also charges my cell phone or anything else that charges with a USB cable. Cell take about 45 minutes and the 4xAAs take about 1.5 hours if I recall correctly. |
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I have the Sherpa 120 and Guide 10 Plus kits. I have used both in temps from below freezing to summer heat and have not had any problems. The inverter for the Sherpa is not the most efficient, but is light weight and sometimes is the only thing that will get the job done. I take care of my equipment, but don't baby it. The panels and batteries have been dropped a couple of times(I'm a klutz) and have not sustained any damage to date. I have heard that the Sherpa line is getting updated for fall and they also have a big (1250w) system coming out in a couple months called the Yeti. Hope this helps. Let me know if there are any other questions I might be able to answer.
Regards John |
| I own a bunch of goal zero stuff. Nomad 7/Guide 10 battery setup, the Escape 150 and 4 Boulder 15 panels (I use this as a solar generator for my radio equipment), several Light a Lifes. I'm happy with their products. The Costco prices are the best around. My question for you would be what do you want to do with this equipment? |
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Some food for thought & perspective...
Looked at one of the Goal Zero's panels and it's rated for 7 watts [per hour, full sun] A rechargable AA battery 4 pack rated at say 2500 ma-hours is roughly = to 1.2 volts x 4 x 2.5 amps = 12 watt-hrs. A 7 watt panel in ideal bright sun subtracting say 25% for various losses would take about 2 1/2 hours to charge the example pack. The last "finishing" charge is the least efficient so in a real emergency if you need to charge multiple batteries, it might be advantageous to charge them partially, but this depends on each situation. Partial charging day-to-day may not be best for batteries. Other less expensive alternatives to the flexible panels might be small panels for outdoor floods, fence chargers, etc. Always read the specs and be careful if they aren't stated. A week or two ago I tested a panel we never used that came with a $35 outdoor automatic LED flood. No specs and came from a box store and I decided to take everything apart to see how it worked. You can test your's the same way to determine exactly how it performs in various conditions. I connected a #47 pilot lamp to it and measured the current and voltage in late afternoon sun to calculate the watts. IIRC, it was 6 volts x .140 amps = .84 watts. The panel is smaller than a sheet of paper and lit the lamp. I need to test it again in bright sunlight. My guess is it's a 1 watt panel. |
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Quoted:
I have the 7 watt panel and the battery recharger. ( Guide 10 Plus Adventure Kit ) Bought it on sale for Christmas at EMS. They work great. The panel recharges my 4 AA batteries and also charges my cell phone or anything else that charges with a USB cable. Cell take about 45 minutes and the 4xAAs take about 1.5 hours if I recall correctly. I have this one and used it to charge AA batteries and my cell phone on a hunting trip, it worked great. |