LionEnergy 10 watt & Renogy E.Flex5 USB-A Sub-10w Solar Panel Reviews

Introduction:

We see the ads everywhere, person in the woods with a backpack and their phone is running out of battery, you need to send that text but your phone is about to die. Solution? Plug that phone into your portable 10w solar panel that you have attached to your backpack and start dialing that phone or send that message. Have you been in that situation? Do you have or have you bought these low wattage portable solar panels for in-case emergencies? If most of you are like me you bought it, put it in a bag and never actually used it or tested it beyond maybe just plugging it in and making sure it starts the charging icon on our device. But, does it actually work enough to really charge your phone, power bank, tablet, or other portable devices and if so how fast does it charge? Well me too so today we are going to take a look at two popular low wattage portable solar panels to answer those questions.

Testing Setup:

To test our portable solar panels we will be using a 5w and a 10w rigid panel that is designed to be attached to a backpack or to be used on the go. To control our tests we will not be using these while mobile but testing them in several situations such as propped up against something to mimic hiking angles and on a flat on a surface to simulate taking a break or stopping for the day.

All items in this review were purchased with our own funds and all results and opinions are based on our tests and results. Results may vary due to the nature of solar technology but we are not bound by the vendors to give a positive or negative review, so all results are true to our tests .The testing setup consists of:

Closer Look (Renogy E.Flex5 USB):

First up we have the Renogy E.Flex5 5watt portable solar panel. This is a small footprint panel that measures Approx. 9.5 x 5.9 x 0.16 inches and weighs around 6.5 ounces. According to Renogy the maximum output is 5 volts at 0.98amps for a maximum watt output of 4.9 watts of charging power. An average IPhone Max battery is around 17 watts so that would in theory take at least 3.5 hours to fully charge in full sunlight, but we all know that is never what we really get so our test results will confirm this theory. The Renogy E.FLEX5 uses High-efficiency Monocrystalline cells which are preferred for most of todays solar applications for the maximum efficiency in addition to being water-resistant and features auto-optimization (restarts charging in sun).

The front of the E.Flex5 you can see the blue outer blue framing and then the black “solar cells” behind the rigid panel design. There are four connection points that can be used with the included carabiners or the suction cups that came with the panel. (Ours have not been used so we did not have them available during this review). Flipping the E.Flex5 over you see the back of the panel which proudly displays the “Renogy” log along with the single USZB port. Again this port is a USB Type A port with a 5 volt <1amp output for a total of just shy of 5 watts maximum.

Closer Look (LionEnergy 10w USB)

Second up we have the LionEnergy 10 watt USB panel that has a higher output, you can see it is bigger than the Renogy E.FLEX5 but only by about a third more total space while giving two times the total power output. The 10w portable panel measures approx. 7.8 x 14.5 inches and weighs in about 8.3 ounces. The power output according to LionEnergy for the USB A port is 5 volts at 1.5 amps which would make this a 7 watt panel in terms of output but since manufactures use the cells rating which is 6.16 volts at 1.71 amps for 10.5 watts. We will see what the realistic output is during our testing.

With the LionEnergy 10 watt USB panel up next you can see this one uses an all black design with a similar rectangle shape as we saw with the Renogy panel. The silver lines up the center are the bus bars that connect each of the cells together electrically. The LionEnergy panel also has 4 holes on each corner for carabiniers or other connection methods, none were included but for the price of $24 this was not a deal breaker. On the reverse side starting from the top is the single USB A output that is 5 volt at 1.5 amps. Below that is the LionEnergy logo and the specifications for the solar panel which I love and I wish more manufacturers would do this on smaller panels, it would help us a lot in the field. Finally there are two other features on the LionEnergy panel, and I love is the attention to detail. First is the USB port weather cover, this helps keep dirt and grime out of the port when it is not being used. Lastly is the power led that lights up red when the panel is receiving enough sunlight to operate the USB port. These are two overlooked features that I see with a lot of vendors.

Closer Look (Side by Side):

Finally here is a shot of both panels, front and back, for reference and comparison. As you can see the LionEnergy is just slightly wider and a few inches taller but packs almost 1.5x the energy output from the panel making it more efficient for the space it takes up. I cannot say it enough that I really appreciate that LionEnergy placed the specifications on their panel on the back for a quick and easy reference.

Specifications:

Below are the specifications of each panel, Some are not included by the manufacturer so if they are missing in the table that is why. All specifications were taken from the manufacturer website at the time of this review.

	Renogy E.Flex5	LionEnergy 10w
Max Power (Pmax):	5 watts	10 watts
Max Voltage (Vmp):	Not provided	6.16V
Open Circuit Voltage (Voc):	Not provided	7.39V
Short Circuit Current (Isc):	Not provided	1.71A
Dimensions (LxWxH):	9.5 x 5.9 x 0.16 inches	14 x 7.5 x 0.21 inches
Weight:	6.5 ounces	8.3 ounces
USB Port Output:	5V/.98A	5V/1.5A
Cost at time of purchase:	$25	$25

Testing:

Now we get to the testing portion of this review, I hope you are as excited to see the results as I am. To test each panel on how it performs. I will be running several tests to really see how each one does from output to shade recovery and more. These tests are designed to simulate real world use case and not just going off the ratings on the panel as we can see are not real world in the case of the LionEnergy being only a 7 watt USB output for a 10 watt panel.

Charging Speed: This test will show us how long it will take to charge a dead phone from 0% to a usable amount. For this specific test we will plug in the device (what device) and charge the device to 5% to demonstrate having to wait to make an emergency phone call for help.

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Shade Tolerance: This test measures the recovery of the panel to start charging the device again after being partially or fully shaded. A lot of solar panels struggle with this especially with smart devices such as smart phones, etc. Power banks suffer less but it can still be an issue. I have had some panels fully stop charging when partially shaded and not recover at all when the sun is restored. This test measures the seconds before charging starts again after the shade is removed.

No Data Found

Maximum Output: This test gauges the maximum output of each panel based on real world scenarios not what is published. For this test we took the same device with zero battery and manually angled the panel direct toward the sun, we did this 3 times and took the average.

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Design and Durability: This test compares on a scale of 1-10 how durable the solar panel is, if it would stand up to harsh weather and what accessories are included to make the deal better. The score is compromised of points for the categories of what material it is made of (one point if cloth and two if rigid), waterproof rating (zero if none, one if less than IPx7 and 2 if IPx7 or better), design (one if no kickstand or support where you need to have additional support or two points if has a kickstand) and finally accessories (one point if no accessories, two points if accessories included like suction cups, carabiners, etc. and three points if cables are included or a very special added bonus like a small power bank).

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Conclusion:

Now we sum everything up and see how these performed and how their designed. I can honestly say I have owned the Renogy panel for about a year and have used it a number of times and while it is not going to super charge your devices, to charge or keep topped off a small power bank is where this and the LionEnergy panel really shine. The LionEnergy I bought about 6 weeks ago and has quickly replaced the Renogy as my go to since it offers more power with not that much of a larger footprint. Now keep in mind these are niche panels designed to be lightweight for back packing, hiking, emergency, etc. but they will not be replacing your wall chargers. If you are looking for a replacement to using wall plugs then I would look at higher 20+ watt panels and not these but if you are wanting an ultra light panel to keep your power bank or small devices charged when out on the go then I recommend both of these, choose based on your needs and situations.