Portable battery is great, but if you are expecting yourself to be out of the grid for prolong period of time, solar charger is the way to go. However, you are probably not going to go for just any solar charger; you will one that maximizes your charge. Such is what BioLite Solar Panel 5+ has to offer. To ensure you get the most out of the sun, there’s an integrated sundial to aid in aligning the panel to the sun, so you’d be capturing direct rays. In addition, it is outfitted with a 360 degree kickstand for placing the panel on multitude of angles and terrains. It also features auto-reconnect, which automatically reengages charging after the sun comes out from hiding.
The panel provides 5 watts of output which should allows a myriad of USB-powered gadgets to be juiced, including smartphones, tablets, action cameras and of course, BioLite’s gears. At peak sun, SolarPanel 5+ is capable of getting a typical smartphone to full charge in just 2 hours. Also onboard is a 2,200 mAh battery that stores energy for later use, so you won’t be left stranded without power when the sun goes down. Till today, we still see some solar chargers without a built-in battery but seriously, this is a must-have for all solar chargers, unless you happen to be living in North Pole or in Svalbard, Norway where you will get daylight for months on end.
Anyways, all the aforementioned are packed into an IPX4 weather resistant, ultra slim form measuring 10.12 x 8.19 x 0.94 inches (257 x 208 x 24 mm) that slips easily into your backpack without eating up precious space and at 390g (13.76 oz) it shouldn’t be a chore to lug around. The BioLite Solar Panel 5+ is available now with a $79.99 sticker. Frankly, we were quite surprised by the price tag, which is actually not much more than some portable battery/charger.
