BigBlue 100W Portable Solar Panel (18V/5.56A) - Foldable Solar Charger with Aluminum Kickstand & Waterproof Tempered Glass - Suitcase Design for Camping, RV, Power Station Charging - Ideal for Off-Grid Adventures, Emergency Power & Outdoor Activities

My friend asked me to get him these solar panels to take advantage of my Prime shipping. He wrote the following after testing for 2 weeks:"Our family bought a travel trailer not long ago and in terms of power it was a basic system. It had shore power hookup and a 12 volt battery to power basic things like lights and water pumps. It does not have an inverter or a solar system. We knew this would be an issue as we intend to boondock more often than not. The very first thing I did was upgrade the single 80-amp deep cycle battery to dual 105 amp AGM with a combined capacity of 210 amps. After just a few trips I quickly realize that the combined weight of the two batteries (130lbs) was a bit too much for my tow vehicle. I ended up removing one of the batteries and purchased two of these BigBlue solar panels to supplement our power needs.We decided on these portable panels over permanently mounted ones for a few reasons. We are already considering upgrading to a different trailer so we did not want to add anything to the existing trailer that could not be easily removed. We did not want to invest any more than we already had on the trailer. We also wanted to be able to chase the sun to optimize power production. Having portable panels with a long extension cord allowed us to make adjustments where permanently mounted panels could not.We initially purchased a Goal Zero Boulder 100w panel but ended up returning it in favor of the Bigblue. The Goal Zero was nice and very well built, a bit over built in my opinion which led to it being far less portable than I would like. The Goal Zero was very heavy about twice the weight of the Big Blue which is significant. Moving the Boulder around felt literally like moving a huge boulder around, kind of ironic that they named it that. The Boulder was also significantly more expensive, nearly twice as much.In terms of performance, the BigBlue was actually better than the Boulder. With good angle to the sun and no shade, the BigBlue peaked at 116 watts, more than the panel’s rating of 100 watts. I’m not sure how this is even possible. The Boulder made a little over 90 watts in the same condition. This test was done using a Goal Zero 1500x.Features:- Highly efficient Monocrystaline Panel- Folding- Built in kick stand- Expandable, prewired to chain multiple panels- Includes a protective carrying case- Corrosion resistant aluminum housing- Light weightWhen compared to the industry leader Goal Zero, the BigBlue outperformed the Boulder in almost every way:- It's nearly half the price- It performs better, nearly 20% better- It's half the weight, making it much easier to move around, set up, and store- It is prewired to connect multiple panels in parallel, there is no need to buy additional cables or splitters.Tip:The panel does not have a built-in charge controller, a separate charge controller is required if you want to charge a raw battery such as a lead acid, AGM, or lithium. When used with a solar generator like a: Goal Zero, Rockpal, or Jackey, a separate charge controller is not required. The Anderson connector may not be oriented to fit our device. To correct the orientation simply pull back the shroud and snap the two connectors apart, then simply slide the two together in the correct orientation."COMMENTARY FROM ME:Sounds like my friend wrote a pretty technical, extensive review. I, too, am shocked that a 100W-rated panel could produce 116W -- that could perhaps be attributed to the Goal Zero Yeti 1500x's efficient MPPT solar controller, but then I would have expected the Goal Zero Boulder 100W to perform similarly, if not better, too.