I will be traveling off grid and I want to charge my PowerCore 10000PD with this solar panel (https://www.voltaicsystems.com/arc10w).
A few questions:
• Is this possible with a USB-C to USB-A cable?
It should, its like any other solar panel, it will take you a while but you should able to. They compared to a Anker solar panel also. But Anker is a 15 watt
I’d have thought to maximise the “single” sent, I’d suggest at least a USBC/usbA 3.0 lead. So it can send all the juice down the lead quickly without any loss
I’m not a techie, so if it makes any difference I don’t know. I would have thought a “faster” lead would send more of the juice along with less lag loss than say a 2.0 lead???
There is a good discussion of this on a previous thread:
Short answer is: yes, will charge, but slowly. Only at the max rate of the panel or the max rate of the cable, whichever is less. I’m going to do a test with a meter soon - I have the PD speed 20000 and an Anker 21W solar panel.
If I use the provided USC-C to USB-C cable and get an adapter (nonda USB Type C to USB 3.0 Adapter). Will be the best option? If not, what should I be looking at when getting a USB-C to USB-A cable?
I would just get this one:
I found a cable I had for my Google Nexus 5x. THIS ONE Specs say: One USB Type-C connector and one USB Standard-A plug, capable of up to 3 amps at 5 volts and USB 2.0 data transmission speed. Will this suffice?
Yeah that will do the job. Charging speeds are pretty standard across all of these cables - the 2.0/3,o/3.1 type c ratings are all about data transfer speed.
Nope, it also affect charging speeds. Put a USBC 2 in a fast charger, and you won’t get fast charging. I know, I made that mistake.
Personally I’d not bother with such a solar panel. If its claiming 10W probably that means 5W which is 1 Amp and so take days of sun to recharge 10000.
I’d also really doubt the 10000 PD would even register, work, function, to be recharged from that solar panel, as 5V 1A input probably is too little. It would take perfect conditions to possibly work. Safest is to assume they won’t together unless someone has confirmed it will recharge off 5V 1A 5W.
I recommend either a bigger solar panel, something in the 20W region (which is 10W realistically, 5V 2A) or just not bother and carry a bigger Powercore with you instead and make use of wall sockets every few days. If you do go that bigger Powercore route I’d suggest buy two 10000 PD and recharge the most empty one when you get near a wall socket, or get a dual output Powerport and charge both 10000 in parallel, or investigate a bigger Powercore, with an eye on how fast you can ingest energy.
The cable isn’t the problem a Type A to C would topologically work, I’d go with something in the 2ft to 3ft region, long enough to have the Powercore in shade not in the sun but no longer as cable efficiency drops with length.
If you’re absolutely sure you want to go with solar, for long off-grid and not use the infrequent wall-socket method, then I’d suggest the simpler Powercore 10000, the non-PD version, as that’s what I have used as its simpler electronics, not PD, is more likely to work with solar. That’s my off-grid setup, I have a 20W solar panel and the Powercore 10000 (not PD) and it worked. I did conclude is not worthwhile, a better setup would be something like the 10000 PD quantity 2 and a dual port PD charger .
Really? Just because it’s PD means it’s less compatible with solar input? Strange…
Huh? Were you charging a device with an input larger than 60W?
It will have a minimum. My suspicion is its minimum is higher than the solar panel’s output. I’m just skeptical with PD working with anything not PD. Buyer beware.
I am preparing a long off-grid trip in September and having tried solar twice last year I’m more inclined to rapid recharging Powercore, I had enough time having pub / cafe lunch / supper I reckon the odd wall socket is better than sunshine. The 10000 PD stands out for maximum ingest / hour, so say 2 of them, but I not decided yet.
I’ve used solar as a solution in the past but never with a PD battery. The reason I chose the PD version is that my camera, Fuji XT-3, can shoot in video mode close to 4.5 hours on a single PD battery. That’s huge considering a normal camera battery lasts maybe 30 minutes.
When I say off-grid, I mean no outlets at all. So i need to be able to recharge the Power Bank via solar.
Travelling off grid for a while? If long enough that you’ll deplete a departure charge of 100% with the 10000 (such that replenishment is actually a concern), you’ll likely save weight and space simply by having another portable charger full and ready to go. As mentioned many places/times before, the speed to charge via solar is slow. In fact, I regularly charge portable batteries at home with my portable solar panels (17.5kW when chain linked) and today had a Fusion 5000 and a 10000 pack being charged at the same time (One was being fed 7kW, the other 10.5kW). It was a sunny day in S. California and I didn’t get the 5000 to the 2nd dot indicator while my 10000 went from 17% to 33%. Mind you, I re-position the panels throughout the day for optimum exposure and was on top of it from morning to dusk. If you can manage that type of attention while off grid, sure you can sustain a bit of solar charging while out there… but I really think for the convenience and assurance you should just pack extra portable battery packs as merited.
No I wasn’t, my S8. Despite using the USBC charger, it wouldn’t fast charge.
The charging message appeared but not fast charging.
I agree 100%. Id also be interested to find out how long and how @diegodelgastor72 plans on being off grid (backpacking, van life?) because there may be more practical solutions that i could share as well.
You need a much bigger solar panel and consider bigger or multiple Powercore.
I don’t know if the 10000 PD will not work, it’s just less likely to work as it has to receive a special type of negotiation signal.
A way to test, is if someone who owns the 10000 PD now can connect it to a low wattage non-PD outlets, say one of the lower spec iphone chargers, or say just a regular Powerport, just ensure its not PD, and see if the 10000 PD will take a charge. It might…
So here’s some example:
So a bigger solar panel to charge faster and bigger batteries to go with as much stored energy possible and to make the most effective use of any good sunshine periods.
The buck-boost conversion electronics will reduce current, to increase voltage to around 5V so in less than ideal conditions at 10W solar panel may not output any power to the satisfaction of your Powercore, i.e. it could be literally useless. A bigger panel will be less useless, more likely to work.
I own the Anker 21W panel and the Choetech 19W. Anker stop making their solar panels. I did successfully use the Powercore 10000 with the Choetech, and I am skeptical the 10000PD will work with anything which is not PD. I did a 4 day off-grid in July, worked ok, but I did a 3 week off-grid in September and it was cloudier/wetter and I didn’t get good solar input so I had to use pub sockets, and I wished I’d instead brought a bigger faster recharging Powercore to make use of the 2-3 hours I could use near a pub socket.
i need one of those solar chargers
I did a little test as suggested by @professor
Plugged in a USB-C to USB A using an iphone plug. I also used a USB volt meter which was reading 5V, 1A. It did charge from empty to full in about 7 hours. Next I’ll try using the solar panel to do the same test. With the USB volt meter on the solar panel I was getting 5V, .85A. So I guess theoretically it’s possible to use solar to recharge this PD battery.
I’ll report back once I try the test.