Anker Solix PS100 Portable Solar Panel (100W)

I can’t review the product fairly. What I ordered is NOT what I was sent. I ordered Anker solix 625 solar panels. I received Anker PS 120 solar panel. The item on the picture was not the item I received. Where the problem lays. I’m not sure, but I believes it’s the vendor and not Home Depot. But it needs to be remedied. Its the first time that an error like this has happened. When I’ve ordered anything from Home Depot.Anker seems to be deceptive in their selling practices.

A bit of a design flaw, the 200w is better

I initially got the 400w version as part of a bundle with the F2000 on a prime day deal. (To get a good deal, wait for sales such as Prime day or Black Friday)But the 400w solar panel is quite big and heavy and has a bit of a design flaw. The leg stands that fold out should have been made shorter because they just hit the ground when you try to fold them out, which makes the whole panel a quite precarious to set up! What you can do is tilt it slightly forward as you pull each leg backwards, but it's still not a great design in this respect and sometimes the whole thing just flops over when you are setting it up. They switched to snaps to lock the stands at various angles and this does work pretty well since you can adjust them first to lock the stands, and then ... MoreI initially got the 400w version as part of a bundle with the F2000 on a prime day deal. (To get a good deal, wait for sales such as Prime day or Black Friday)But the 400w solar panel is quite big and heavy and has a bit of a design flaw. The leg stands that fold out should have been made shorter because they just hit the ground when you try to fold them out, which makes the whole panel a quite precarious to set up! What you can do is tilt it slightly forward as you pull each leg backwards, but it's still not a great design in this respect and sometimes the whole thing just flops over when you are setting it up. They switched to snaps to lock the stands at various angles and this does work pretty well since you can adjust them first to lock the stands, and then angle the panel backwards or forwards.Mainly, the 400w one is a bit too big and bulky to conveniently move and set up. This is why the 200w version is easier to work with. It's the same design, but weighs less than half as much and is just overall way easier to move and set up. You are better off with two 200w panels than one 400w. Even to transport, two 200w panels seems more doable than the one 400w, which is huge. That's what I ended up with, two 200w panels.If you have an Anker power station, these panels are optimized for it since they have a high voltage. They are also water resistant so you could even leave them out in the rain without issue.I recommend the 200w Anker Solix solar panel.

Decent purchase

I was really excited to make this purchase, but not so much on the cost of this panel. Probably cost more since it’s a mobile panel and sure enough certainly a quality panel I purchase the powerhouse 521, 256wh and only allows 65w using DC to charge but found out through real world testing that I can duo charge the powerhouse still using type C with a max input and 65w. It’s pretty neat that it allows that but the fact that I have to take an extra step just so I can maximize the input for charging the powerhouse seems like it lost points just cause I have to do that. Anchor might as well so a panel is 65w since you’re capped at that, but obviously wanna make sense for them to sell that. It does bring likes to prop up the panel but at this point, surely make plans to ... MoreI was really excited to make this purchase, but not so much on the cost of this panel. Probably cost more since it’s a mobile panel and sure enough certainly a quality panel I purchase the powerhouse 521, 256wh and only allows 65w using DC to charge but found out through real world testing that I can duo charge the powerhouse still using type C with a max input and 65w. It’s pretty neat that it allows that but the fact that I have to take an extra step just so I can maximize the input for charging the powerhouse seems like it lost points just cause I have to do that. Anchor might as well so a panel is 65w since you’re capped at that, but obviously wanna make sense for them to sell that. It does bring likes to prop up the panel but at this point, surely make plans to develop a custom panel stand since you’re gonna need it. Very pleased on how to carry this panel all around great product it’s just that the legs is my least favorite feature

Great design

First, a disclaimer: I received this from Anker free of charge because of an issue with my Anker 521 "solar generator" unit - an issue now mostly resolved.For reference, I have several solar generator products, the Anker one plus a few from EcoFlow and a couple of Jackery units. I have a folding panel from EcoFlow (160W), another from iClever. and two rigid panels.Pros:The Anker one has a great feature that was new to me: a plastic bubble with a dot in the center and a ring below, and by aligning the shadow from the dot in the center of the circle you can easily optimize the solar collection. I found that the fine tuning noticeably increased the output watts.It has a built in controller for directly charging a phone or tablet by USB-II and USB-C outlets - if ... MoreFirst, a disclaimer: I received this from Anker free of charge because of an issue with my Anker 521 "solar generator" unit - an issue now mostly resolved.For reference, I have several solar generator products, the Anker one plus a few from EcoFlow and a couple of Jackery units. I have a folding panel from EcoFlow (160W), another from iClever. and two rigid panels.Pros:The Anker one has a great feature that was new to me: a plastic bubble with a dot in the center and a ring below, and by aligning the shadow from the dot in the center of the circle you can easily optimize the solar collection. I found that the fine tuning noticeably increased the output watts.It has a built in controller for directly charging a phone or tablet by USB-II and USB-C outlets - if there is enough son. The box has a bypass so you can send the solar power directly to a "solar generator" (such as the Anker 521) .The folded panel has a good pair of carrying handles, making it easy to carry.On a clear summer day, with good alignment, I saw 85W on my EcoFlow River Mini; you can expect about 80% of the rated output for a typical solar (with the highest on cold days) so this was pretty good for a 100W panel on a warm day.Mixed:It puts out about 27V, higher than most folding panels. This is fine for many units - in fact, panels will have less power loss in the cable with higher voltage, so the higher voltage can be a good thing. BUT, you must never exceed the max voltage (VOC) for a solar generator and my other EcoFlow units max at 25V. So, if your unit can take 27V or more then this is good. If they can't take that much, this is bad!They chose to use an XT-60 output, and provide an XT-60 To DC7909 connector to work with their solar generators. This works fine with their unit, of course, and works fine with EcoFlow units (without the adapter). It should also work with others that use the DC7909 or 8mm connectors. BUT, it could be better if the output was the more standard MC4 connectors because there are so many options with the MC4 connectors.Negatives:The big one is price. At over $300, it is a little high. But, I would expect good support from Anker (if needed) and there's a good chance there will be deals.The stand is not great - it only has supports on two of the four panels, so the inner ones tend to sag. However, I have never found a great stand on a folding panel, so I can't complain too much.

It does things, just not what I bought it to do

First off, let me just say that this thing works well enough. I can get it to charge a phone or tablet but both devices insist I get a better power source and charge extremely slowly. God forbid you need to use the device while charging, it will not charge.I purchased this as my intro to solar, since I have zero experience with anything solar powered. My plan was to use it to charge my Anker 548 power bank while I'm at work and then use the battery bank to recharge my vape batteries, tablet, phone and earbuds when I get home. An experiment to see if I can keep my personal devices charged for "free" but it won't work. The bank goes into some circuit protection mode, I'm assuming the input voltage is too low, and tells me to stop using so I unplug the solar. I got the ... MoreFirst off, let me just say that this thing works well enough. I can get it to charge a phone or tablet but both devices insist I get a better power source and charge extremely slowly. God forbid you need to use the device while charging, it will not charge.I purchased this as my intro to solar, since I have zero experience with anything solar powered. My plan was to use it to charge my Anker 548 power bank while I'm at work and then use the battery bank to recharge my vape batteries, tablet, phone and earbuds when I get home. An experiment to see if I can keep my personal devices charged for "free" but it won't work. The bank goes into some circuit protection mode, I'm assuming the input voltage is too low, and tells me to stop using so I unplug the solar. I got the solar capacity to 8 watts once and the bank said it would charge up (56% to full) in 36 hours. Anything less than full blaring sunlight gave it less than 5 watts and that listed 97 hours to charge or just went into circuit protection mode and didn't do anything.In my uneducated solar opinion, this thing will work if you want something small to shove in your backpack for an emergency out in the wilderness. If you do not have line of sight to unobstructed bright sunlight, this will do nothing. If you're in an open field but have partial cloud cover, it will likely do nothing. If you're in an open field with bright sunlight under completely cloudless skies, you might or might not be able to recharge a smartphone with this panel but I imagine you'd have to sit still for a long time.I am not sending it back but, all in all, I find this panel to be useless. I gave it three stars because it technically works and it really does fold up nice and small, slightly smaller than a high school spiral notebook. If you're looking for a fast charge or to recharge something of substantial size, I don't believe this is the right panel for us. That's my two cents worth.

Not with A Cloud in the Sky

These panels work fairly well. In direct sunlight they are champs and will deliver the 200+w as advertised. However, with just one tiny little cloud passing by overhead, they will shut down and will not work at all until the cloud has passed. They fold up flat to an approximate thickness of about 2 inches, but they are large and heavy otherwise. 5 of these in the trunk of a sedan will take up half the trunk space to give you an idea. I would not say that you get a bang for the buck as far as product goes, but the company is fantastic when it comes to super customer service. They are easy to use and set up. They do give your battery a good boost. Is it a value? That depends on your needs really.

Terrible product do not buy!!!!!!

Ablsoutly horrible product and customer service. There are somehow no legs to prop up my solar panel, as a result I have to sit there and hold it up for it to work and it still only get maybe 40 watts. I’ve tried to prop it up on stuff but they didn’t give it any weight so it immediately goes flying. And now has a bunch of scratches and has ripped the cord to charge it. I will also say it does not work at all in cloudy weather you will be lucky to get 12 watts. Now I am sitting here will a 1200 battery with no way to charge it and no solution offered from Anker. DO NOT BUY ANKER PRODUCTS explore all other options and brand’s before buying Anker. It has been a huge mistake. I myself am now looking at other brands that might sell a more functional product.

Worth the money

When it arrived I found that it was packaged well. Insuring it was damage free. Sometimes larger items get dropped or handled poorly. I store the panels in the same box with the foam inserts.The panels are a high quality. Well designed. I do wish the cables were longer. They do produce good power. I have three now and will be buying 2 more in near future.

Yes The Best

Yes The Best. I purchased some solar panels from another company to go with a power unit I purchased at Costco. The power unit was faulty so I returned it, but kept the solar panels for the next power unit I was looking to purchase. After reading reviews I decided to go with Anker and use the solar panels I had.I was advised by a competitor company at Costco (trying to sell me their product) to only use solar panels made by the same company. They said who did I purchase my power unit from, I replied Anker and I heard crickets then he said Anker has excellent products, and I thanked him for his honesty.I talked with technical support at Anker who helped me through my thought process. He said I could use my existing panels, but educated me on how Anker panels would ... MoreYes The Best. I purchased some solar panels from another company to go with a power unit I purchased at Costco. The power unit was faulty so I returned it, but kept the solar panels for the next power unit I was looking to purchase. After reading reviews I decided to go with Anker and use the solar panels I had.I was advised by a competitor company at Costco (trying to sell me their product) to only use solar panels made by the same company. They said who did I purchase my power unit from, I replied Anker and I heard crickets then he said Anker has excellent products, and I thanked him for his honesty.I talked with technical support at Anker who helped me through my thought process. He said I could use my existing panels, but educated me on how Anker panels would be the better option and were on sale. I read more detailed reviews on the Anchor panels and without hesitation purchased 3 100 watt panels and happy I did. Now what to do with the solar panel I purchased and never used from another company. Wish Anker had a trade in option like cell phone companies have. But no complaints.

read the specs carefully before you buy if you plan to combine with additional panels

This panel is well made and produces a marginally acceptable 55-70% rated output, but note that it has an unusually high voltage of 48 volts. This is way higher than most other brand panels and it will make it difficult to add additional panels if hooking up in series to your power stations. For example, my Anker Solix C1000 power station has a max input of 60 volts. The 48 volts also limits power production if in parallel with non-Anker brands which have lower voltages. Read the specs, review the formulas for volts/amps/watts and do the math to ensure your power station can handle more panels if that is your goal. You will most likely be stuck using costly Anker panels (in parallel) if you want to add more.