Your test is very useful to me. Your tips are helping me better use my PowerPort Solar Lite !
Thank you !
Metering Anker Powerport Solar 21W
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Congrats 
, also an informative post on metering…
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My name is Ryan, and I am also a power meter addict. 
They are great tools to see that manufacturers are meeting their specifications and for getting an idea how long a device will take to charge.
Thanks for sharing, @ryandhazen!
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Nice review! I should probably invest in one of those power meters too… Link?
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I love how everyone wants to get a power meter now, I’m not gonna lie I have had one for a long time but my usb one broke last year and I never replaced it. I still have my plug meter though.
Great review and also for showing its use with the meter. Now I know it would work good where I live because I have direct sunlight in the summer over the property. And since we are all outdoors, we can use this to keep our battery packs charged up
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The PowerCore 20000 you linked to is not newer at all, and considering the output on the PowerCore Elite 20000 you have is 6A, it is more powerful. Only gets better with dual 2A input, which the older model does not have. Personally I also like the more boxed off design.
Its only a dork meter when you have multiple hooked up to measure incoming load and outgoing load. 
Im currently in an obsessed mood with solar. Several charge controllers, panels and more MC4 connectors than I need and I am still wanting to expand.
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Sounds pretty dorky to me 
Hahaha.
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$0 Monthly electrical bills is awesome though! 
Well then, Dorks RULE!!! 
I didn’t pay a nickel for electricity for my phone from March-November
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Isnt it great? Idk but Im a sucker for free energy. Even though the payoff time is years away I just like to be off grid 
Typical KWh energy cost now in USA: 13c/KWh, or $0.00013 / Wh.
A typical phone’s battery is about 7Wh.
Allowing for inefficiencies of a phone recharge is therefore (use 50% efficiency) is 7*2 * $0.00013 = $0.00182
Anker currently sell the Anker 21W at $62.
Therefore it takes 34066 recharges to pay for the solar panel. Assuming a full recharge every day, that is 93 years.
Do you think an Anker 21W solar panel would last 93 years?
Do you think any part of the system, like phone technology, the cable, the port type, USB, etc will last 93 years?
So you use solar for many other reasons. Cost is not it. Neither is being green. Particularly if you drove an SUV to get there.
Where the curves intersect much better is at scale, so, as you did much bigger solar panels and for operating more than a phone, and if you were replacing not mass energy but less efficient energy like from a local generator. Then the payback time is much shorter and the benefits more significant.
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Oh definitely. It’s tough to make an economic argument for solar at this small of a scale. My general reasons are ideology, mobility, liberty, and ecology. It’s primarily a hobby and a social practice.
Oh, and emergencies. This is probably the most utilitarian argument for small scale solar. Given that I’m in the habit of using solar first, I’m not really worried about the grid going out for an extended period of time. I’ve learned enough at this point that I could prioritize and plan electricity consumption for optimal utility in a disaster.
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initially, right now, its main value is opening a smaller mind to bigger opportunities. Any child who can play a game on a tablet recharged by solar, is going to become much more of an early convert.
Ultimately, so long as the planet is habitable, there is in effect infinite free energy for all everyone would want just in the sand between our toes and the sky above. Any motivation via an Anker solar panel to kick us is very valuable.
Yes that is where solar crosses a curve to the use of lithium stored energy. Lithium cells age and if you kept stored energy for the the hardly-ever-happens-emergency, you’d waste more $ in aging cells. Solar does not age in a box. Lithium does age in a box. Solar does age in sunshine. So a solar panel could today be stored for say 5 years and come out exactly the same efficiency. Lithium would be 40% reduced.
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Well said. Sir.
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@ryandhazen I find it as a sort of hobby as well. Keeps me busy and continually researchig which keeps my mind going. Some people drink or smoke or play golf shudders I play with electricity!
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That’s one slick looking battery pack
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