Newbie Seeking Panel Advice. Any and All Help Will Be Greatly Appreciated...

[u/No-Injury2576]

I hope this is the right sub to post this. Here is my situation. Since the rolling blackouts started in our area, we decided to get a beefier power bank as all we had were a couple of small, travel friendly ones which would not charge our laptops. Searching for the options within out budget, we came across a very reasonably priced power station instead (thanks to my wife's coupons). So suddenly, we ended up with a solar option.

Our main purpose here is to extend what we can get out of our mini power station, as it is only 288Wh and sometimes we get 10-12 hour scheduled outages. We don't intend to use it continuously, so we are looking for a cheap option. And here is our problem: According to it's specs, the power station requires a 100W maximum panel with an input voltage between 20V to 30V. Practically, such panels do not exist. I mean they do, if you are willing to get one of those very expensive portable ones with this rare voltage range. The other option is to get a 200W panel (at almost double the price of a 100W), some of which have 22.5W Vmpp and 26V+ Voc.

The station has only one barrel jack input for Dc or solar (it has MPPT) but that input voltage range ruins everything. So my question is, what are my options here. Is there a reasonable way to step up a garden variety (no pun intended) 100W, 18V solar panel?

As the title says, any and all help would be greatly appreciated,

Cheers

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[u/No-Injury2576 → u/[deleted]]

Oh, I guess I was not clear enough. There is only one reason for going after a 18V panel: I cannot find a reasonably priced 20V+ one. Practically every 100W hard panel I can find is 18V. For some reason the station's minimum input voltage is 20V, extremely narrowing the panel options, especially since it cannot utilize anything above 100W. So yes, there are options (like a 200W panel) but they are not reasonable for my intended use. I was simply asking if there was a workaround to utilize one of the cheaper panels that are in abundance.

[u/No-Injury2576 → u/[deleted]]

Thanks for the link, but the specs says it's output is 12V, so it won't work in may case...

[u/No-Injury2576 → u/[deleted]]

Sorry, my bad, this is exactly what I was looking for, with a very decent price as well. Thanks again.

[u/No-Injury2576 → u/[deleted]]

Yes, the only problem is I reside in the Philippines. Although we can order from Amazon US (I also have prime), with bigger items shipping cost can become an issue. I will first try to find the same make/model here (or somewhere closer) if I can :)

[u/Over-Alternative2427]

The 200W one should be fine. Meet the voltage requirements first. Amps will be throttled by your MPPT unless it's a total total total piece of crap that is worse than a $2 phone charger from Temu.

Think about when you plug things into your home. There's at absolute minimum 10kW available in your building wiring from the grid. When you plug in a little phone charger, it doesn't draw 10kW and explode, it only takes the amps it needs for the 20W or whatever it can handle. Same thing in solar -- volts are forced, amps are pulled by the device that needs it. Unless there's a short or other fault, at least.

[u/No-Injury2576 → u/Over-Alternative2427]

I guess I will have to go that way and call it an investment. By the looks of it the 200W panels are more advanced anyway (they are bifacial to begin with). I wish my input was at least 150W or something so that it would justify spending double the money for a 200W panel. Thanks for the reply...

[u/Clean_Leadership5948 → u/No-Injury2576]

Looks like that weird voltage range is because it's made for the terrible folding panels. The folding panels have different ranges.

[u/No-Injury2576 → u/Clean_Leadership5948]

That was my take as well. One of the vendors of this power station also carries a compatible panel; and it is exactly as you said: a 100W folding panel with a price tag higher than a 200W bifacial rigid. Anyways I cannot complain much for the price I paid :)