Does this need to be in sunlight to provide power? That is, how long does it hold a charge for?
1884164
This is a foldable solar panel. It is NOT a battery. The panel itself does not hold a charge at all. It does need to be in the sun to provide power and is intended to be used as a source of DC current to charge a battery. The battery is what holds the charge. How long the battery holds a charge is totally dependent on the battery and perhaps the circuit it is connected to.
1884165
Of course it does, it's a solar cell that provides voltage from sunlight. It does not, and was not intended to hold a charge. It produces energy, but does not store it.
1783341
There are no batteries in this. This is designed with just solar panels and a USB cable for "live" energy. I suppose you could engineer something with batteries that would hold a charge for you, but this will not store energy, just absorb and pass along. If you plug in your phone on a sunny day, it will charge your phone as long as it stays sunny.
758883
I have only had mine for a few months, ive had no issues with them holding a charge. When we were out of power for three days this summer, it was on and working all night and charged all day with regular daylight and was ready to go for the next evening. I just bought four more so we will have enough for the house.
728936
It has a solar battery that can be charged via sunlight or by hand winding. The battery should last about 10 hours when charged by sunlight or 10 minutes with 1 minute of hand winding.
1735017
I just leave it with it with the solar cells up when I am not using it and it has never sun out of charge. I love mine!!
2039458
The max current in bright direct sunlight is about 1.5 amps, so it should on ideal days. I use it to charge my 20ah battery pack...takes a few days as I usually don't have it in ideal spots.
1871248
No. Unfortunately, it really needs absolute, direct sunlight. There are some more expensive ones that can charge or maintain a charge in partial sunlight or cloudy conditions, but not this one. We had it overseas on a 2 month hike and it was not useful. Hope this helps.
968012
Can't say for sure. We use ours daily. It charges well even with reflected light and the dispersed light of a cloudy day. Why not just put it in a window somewhere and let it stay charged? Put in an east window, it would get a little light every day. Then you'll have it when you need it.
1121715
it definitely needs sunlight! its also very bright. I actually get about 3 hrs of sunlight where i placed it. its placed above my front door, no more fumbling with keys and i don't have to use my electricity.
1199237
Yup. But the higher Wattage you get the better, and more powerful devices it'll charge faster. Also, if you get a power bank, and change it with the sun, that works even better, becasue then you don't always need to be in the sun. Hope this helps!
1483652
The solar panel comes with a stake to put it in the ground or you can also attack it to the wall. It can be pivoted around. The lamp works very well< at least 9-10 hrs. of light. and it lights up to 6 meters depending of how you place it. I live in Curacao, where we have a lot of sun, so no problems to charge the panel.
541425
I have only had to use it a few times so far, but even out of the sun it appears to charge as long as the power cell has some juice stored in it. I would suggest contacting the manufacturer to be sure, especially if you really need to rely on it for a longer trip.
1906899
In my experience, it does not lose power when not used for weeks. I do not know how much longer it will hold a charge.
1617431
Thanks for your question. We have just checked with our product consultant, and he confirmed that this item is not solar powered, and it needs to be plugged in.
7862
It will charge in both direct and indirect sunlight. There is a small blinking LED on the top that indicates the rate of charging.
275948
It doesn't require any batteries as it is solar. Just take off the top and turn it on. It charges up when it is in sunlight.
2168646
It will no longer provide power when it gets too low, it takes forever to charge with the solar so I just plugged it in to fully charge it and keep it for emergencies. It would be good to charge a couple of cell phones and maybe a laptop but you're not going to run your house on it! It is supposed to be fully charged every 3 months or it loses the charge. I think of it as a good thing to have for a weather event if the power were off for a few days it would be helpful to have around.