Customer Reviews

Brunton Solaris 12 solar charger 12 Watt

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

First, thanks to the few reviews that had detailed reviews up for this item. Really made my decision easier.

I was very, very surprised on how light and portable this item is. The very low weight and flexibility of this makes for easy backpack carrying.

Tested it this last weekend with several 12v accessories I have around the house cell phones, portable DVD player, DeLorme GPS, and was even able to directly power a ULV laptop directly from the panel (25W TP). Also tested it for charging both NiMH batteries through direct 12v and USB adapters, as well as some CR123 and 18650 lithium ion recharables, with no issue. Finally hooked it up to my newly purchased Xantrex XPower Powerpack 400 Plus Portable Backup Power Source (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000157TP8/ref=oss_product) and it was (as expected) able to provide a charge for that gel battery backup. Not sure how long it would take to completely fill its power reserve, but it was able to charge up several 10% blocks in a few hours.

I would have liked to have gotten the 52W version of this, but it was sold out. You can supposedly link two 26W panels, however, as other reviewers have pointed out, it is not a terribly easy process, and should have come with an extra or dedicated cable to work for this feature.

Overall I am quite pleased with this purchase.

Just got back from 8 days on Kilimanjaro using the Brunton Solaris 12 and the Brunton Solo 7.5 to keep our GPS, laptops etc charged so we could blog while on the mountain. The Solaris 12 worked well; the Solo 7.5 did not.

I go backpacking quite often and I have ran my electronic equipment power totally out. This light weight solar panel worked really well. In May of 2010 I went on a six day five night backpacking trip and I was able to charge my GPS and all my buddies Ipods. We had music every night, and my GPS was charged to the max every day. Thanks to these panels I was able to track my entire trip with my GPS. I highly recommend these panels for anyone who wants the comforts of electronic equipment on backpacking trips.

Direct sunlight will charge my 890 mA video battery via a 12V jack in less than two hours. Cloudy weather will not charge this battery as the battery charger require as certain minimum current to start charging the batteries. In cloudy weather (not too cloudy though) it will charge a cellphone and other small electronic gadgets using a 12V car charger. It may take a few hours, but it will eventually be charged.

The compact size on this solar charger is a huge plus. It's expensive, but clearly worth the price. Using a 12V car charger with a 5V USB connection will charge everything which can be charged this way. (GPS, digital camera.....)

It will easily charge AAA/AA NiMh batteries in a 12V charger. As always, direct sunlight= fast charging, cloudy=slow charging

The solar charger is not powerful enough to charge a laptop, at least not my Dell Latitude. You will most likely need a higher capacity solar charge for this use