Jackery SolarSaga 60W Solar Panel for Explorer 160/240/500 as Portable Solar Generator, Portable Foldable Solar Charger for Summer Camping Van RV(Cant Charge Explorer 440/ PowerPro)

A post PGE California power outage customer here. I got both the 100 W and the lighter-weight 60W, so this review is a comparison. I would have just bought the 60W first, but it was out of stock, so I bought the 100 W one; then the 60W became available again a day later. Thanks to Prime free shipping, I figured I would compare them and keep the one I thought better suited my needs. [NOTE: maybe because the 100 W is so big and heavy, I could only get totally free return shipping by taking the panel to the nearest Kohls store. To bring it to UPS for returning, the shipping would have cost $12. That surprised me--Ive never run into it before.] The 100 W is sturdy, solid, has the capacity to charge off 2 built in USB ports directly. A very well designed panel, I liked it a lot. It is pretty big, and would take some wind without being bothered. It weighs 9 lbs. The 60W is much flimsier. It weighs only 3 lbs. It would blow around in a lighter wind. It has no way to charge anything off it directly, only the hookup to the Jackery battery power station (I got the 240. Love it.). The 60W is also $120 cheaper than the 100W. You can see why, when you sit them side by side. Theres just less to it. But it does its job perfectly. Both have a zippered pouch for storing the connection cable right with the panel. Both have kickstands that help the panel stand up at an angle. The 100 W is more secure with its two kickstands than the 60W is with its three parts and only one kickstand; but you can put the battery behind it to help hold it up, which also keeps battery out of direct sun. The 100 W holds itself closed with magnets. If you want to carry it with one hand, youd need to buy the separate case. The 60 W has snaps and becomes a sweet little portfolio type thing with a handle. You can carry both it and the battery station easily with one hand. So it all depends what you want. I set them up side by side and used the battery station as a meter. Under the same conditions (sunny day in November), the 100 W was putting out 63 Watts, the 60 W was putting out 50. (Other reviews say the battery charges at 43 W, so each would work equally well if thats true.) One other time I tested it, the 60W panel was putting out 52 watts. Good job, in weaker autumn sun! Im keeping the smaller and less expensive 60W one. I like its lightness and smaller bulk, and I dont think Ill have many occasions when I would want to charge something and not have the battery with me. (But like many others, I wish that Jackery offered an adapter for the plug that would let you charge from the 60W panel directly. ) Customer service says the 100W will charge the battery quicker. On an inefficient/less sunny day, Im sure it would make a difference. You could also charge the battery and your phone or whatever separately and at the same time. Its a terrific solar panel. I give it 5 stars because its just personal preference that I want something less big and heavy. I give the 60W one 5 stars too. And am very happy to have it on hand to be better prepared for the next outage. Unless it happens in a winter storm, in which case any solar panel would be useless--but Id still have the charged up battery to get me through at least a couple days of being able to stay quite functional.

So I am now an owner of almost every item in the Jackery product line, but here I will focus on the Solar Saga 60W solar panels for one primary reason: they are the most portable item in the entire line. There are a bit smaller than the 100W solar panels (as intended), but theyre also designed to be used with the smaller powerstations/batteries (further promoting portability). I use these whenever I am taking my car to go to the outdoors, along with the Explorer 240. They work as described by the manufacturer (i.e. it takes full daylight hours of a day to charge the battery), which means theres a risk of not having power during the day when it is charging (since pass through charging is not recommended). My solution? I purchased 2 batteries, so that one is charging using these solar panels, while the other one is in use! This way I have power round the clock.

I bought this and the Jackery 240 battery to provide emergency power during our frequent power outages in the winter. This panel does a fine job of charging the battery. If you have good sunlight it will charge up the 240 from a 50% charge in only a couple of hours. If its cloudy it will still produce some power, but charge times will be a lot longer. The unit is light and easy to use. It has two USB ports on it so you can charge USB gadgets directly without the battery. It seems to be pretty well built. Its light, so you would have to be careful when trying to use it outdoors in a wind. Overall, its an ideal panel for the 240. And my cat seems to think it makes a great high-tech sunshade.

The solar panel I purchased works well with the battery. Its easy to transport in my car, not big and bulky, though it wouldnt fit in most backpacks if you were backpacking. Literally takes seconds of your time to plug into the battery and set it outside. Ive been able to use this to charge my battery in the summer/fall months every time I needed to charge, never having to plug the battery into an outlet or my car. The one downfall is that it takes forever to charge a cellphone when you plug the phone directly into the panel. Your best bet is to charge the battery with the panel, then plug your phone into the battery. Way better that way.

Today was my test day and I must say I am extremely happy with this product. After reviewing many videos, and product reviews I chose the Jackery 240 watt solar generator. Besides camping, I live in a hurricane prone area and when we lose power it could be weeks before we get it back. With low wattage LED lights and the ability to keep my emergency radios and laptop charged it provides the security to my wife and I. Having a gasoline generator is fine for a little while but eventually you run out of fuel, you need to change the oil constantly and chances are if you dont have power neither will the gas stations. I have charged my laptop, two phones, hand held radios, emergency lighting and tested it with my CPAP and all worked well. When I need to evacuate this will go with me and when I return having a solar generator will be vital for communication. I would also like to mention the sales / service department that answered all of my questions. I took this with me to the VFW post told them why I got this and told them about the other products offered by Jackery, and my fellow post members were interested and are considering getting one of there own.

I recently purchased a Jackery Portable Power Station 300, to use with my CPap machine while camping. After much thought I decided that a solar panel would be good for the days that we do not get away from camp. We had charged the power station up while driving around. I tried it out at home after receiving it. I let the power station get down to 50% power and hooked it up to the solar panel, on a bright sun shining day. It took a little over 2 hours to charge it back up to 100%. I will test it out, while camping in a few weeks. I am very pleased with the Jackery solar panel,and it came with everything I needed, including a case for it to be stored in.

We bought this to use with the associated Jackery Portable Power Station. Before purchasing this solar panel we looked at some other cheaper panels, in person, at local stores but werent happy with the quality, So we ordered this one although its somewhat pricey. When we first hooked it up to test it , we placed it near a sunny window, inside the house. Initially we were pretty disappointed with the charging progress, barely charging after several hours. We were about to return it but then we read some other reviews talking about how charging through a window pane isnt advised. We moved the panel and charging station outside and were quite surprised at the difference. So we ultimately were very happy with the product and decided to keep it. Its definitively portable and easy to use. We can use this to power a good variety of items in case of power outages.

Used this during the weeklong Texas power outage of Feb 2021. I learned that: 1. In the winter, the sun would be so weak that this small solar panel would charge very slowly, or not at all on cloudy days. The only way this solar panel would charge at a rate that youd expect is if there is FULL SUN and you have positioned it DIRECTLY for HOURS in FULL BLAZING SUN. Makes sense, right? Ideally, you should have some way of positioning it flat on a rooftop, but if you are in an apartment building with no way to go outside, it has limited use against a window, no matter how bright it may be outside. 2. I bought this small one for portability, and also as a relatively inexpensive starter set with a Jackery 160 power station. The small surface area of the solar panel means less catchment of suns rays. I suppose I could use it while camping, but it is fragile to transport. 3. In the end, I can see myself using the power station only, and not the solar panel. You might consider saving yourself some money. Unless you are doing outdoor camping, in high summer. In which case, buy the biggest solar panel you can afford for full catchment of the suns rays, not this little one.

Quality materials and a quality product. I do wish you could get the full 60watts charge out of them tho. I had perfect sunlight on the brightest part of the day ,perfect angle to the sun , no clouds at all . I could not achieve more than 42 watts ..

I need to re-charge my Jackery 160 battery every few days to run my C-pap machine while we are boondock camping. I just pop it out in the sun in the morning, and its fuly re-charged in bright sunlight in 4-5 hours. If its cloudy, it can a little longer. Great product!