The Boulder 15 Solar Panel is most often sold with the Escape 150 battery pack (the Coffee Maker looking battery), such as in this "kit". The advertisement above says to expect to fully charge the Escape 150 battery from empty charge in about 15 hours using the panel. When I bought the two together I charged the battery to full and then ran it down to empty. The next morning at sun up (I live in the California desert mountains . . so I'm high above the haze layer and have 100% crystal blue sky and sun) so I faced the panel directly at the sun for 11 hours solid. At the end of that time I was knocking on the door of 80% power (75%??) according to the battery charge indicator, and took the next day for another 3 hours (total of 14ish hours) to get the Escape 150 fully charged. Recommendation: if you're going to run the Escape 150 down to empty during the day/night (for laptops, etc.) then you'll need two (2) Boulder 15 solar panels (daisy-chained) to fully recharge the battery the next day. NOTE: Also, I did run the battery to empty off 3 of their LED lights (which are outstanding at 207 illumens 3-watt, "Light-a-life" as they're called). Manufacturer states to expect getting 16 hours of light (with 3 lights daisy chained). I got 17 hours 10 minutes with the Escape 150 battery.Absolutely love Goal0 and recommend it to my friends that hike, bike, ride, and boat.Brought this out while primitive camping out in Joshua Tree National Park for 8 days. We had 2 DSLR cameras, 2 iPhones, 1 ipad, 1 laptop, 1 GoPro camera and never ran out of power. We charged the Pack up with the Boulder 15 Solar Panels during the day while we were out climbing and would charge all of our electronics at night and would still have 20% charge left over.
Obviously when hiking in several miles to set up a base-camp every ounce counts. The panels and battery pack fit perfectly and easily into my pack with my clothing and honestly, I forgot I was even carrying it.
I don't mean to sound dramatic but having portable power has become life changing. I planned on only spending 4 days of my vacation in the woods doing video and night photography and with the constant power available I was able to constantly dump and edit photos and charge batteries and edit time-lapse videos with out worry.
I highly recommend this for anyone that enjoys time away from the grid, but still enjoys the convenience of electronics.
I also bought the Nomad 7 and charge that right on my backpack, or on my car dashboard depending where and what I'm doing.
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We took the battery to England to use for my husband's CPAP machine during the night. We were on a canal boat and the power was turned off during the night. Therefore, we charged the battery during the day. It worked really good though the battery lasted for only 5 1/2 hours before needing to be re-charged. We were concerned about taking the battery on the airplane but had no problemd taking it through security as a carryon piece.Read Best Reviews of Goal Zero 29005 Escape 150 Adventure Kit Here
I purchased this little power pack locally. Included the LED lamp and solar panel. This thing is SO useful. Not just for camping, but for an out of juice camera battery just grab it and go and charge whatever you need while you drive. It's small and not nearly as heavy as my marine battery with converter. I just love this thing. I never lug around my marine battery anymore when camping. You can plug stuff into it via a regular 2 prong outlet, 12 volt outlet, and usb. I have yet to have to recharge during a weekend. It's perfect for keeping air circulating in a tent or camper via a 12 volt fan. AWESOME. I'm going to test the limits in terms of how long it will run til it quits and test various appliances ...Want Goal Zero 29005 Escape 150 Adventure Kit Discount?
I like Goal Zero products. I don't know much about solar electronics devices, and what is nice is that Goal Zero makes it easy to just plug things in and they work. I also like the ability to replace the battery of the Escape 150 in the future once the original battery gets old. I like also that the Goal Zero solar panels are well built and are smaller in size than cheaper types of solar panels, making them more portable and less fragile. But there is a price to pay for that convenience and for the smaller size panels. Goal Zero products often are more expensive than other products, but then again, with competing products you have to know exactly what components you need to purchase together to make things work properly.These Goal Zero products work well for folks with limited electronic knowledge, but be aware that the battery within the Escape 150 is fairly small and therefore limited in how much it can charge. Batteries are nothing like a power generator. This can run low power lights from Goal Zero, and can charge multiple cell phones and small electronics well. However, with a full charge it can fully charge only two completely discharged iPads at most. The solar panel does work if there is strong sunlight, but you will likely need additional panels if you want to fully recharge the battery in less than a day. In western Washington, the dreary winters are too dark and the days too short to quickly charge this battery back to full. It would take several days to charge with one panel, or at least several more linked 15W solar panels to restore its power during very dreary days. But as a back up battery that you can charge first at home and use on a short car-camping trip, or for short-term power outages, it would work fine. This is not a robust power system for extended power outages, or to run medium power electronics for long times. The weight of the battery also is not recommended for backpackers. Use lithium type batteries when backpacking instead, since they weigh less (although they are more expensive).
As a suggestion, for folks wanting portable lead-acid power batteries for short-term use, cheaper options are out there. These also contain inverters with AC outlets, DC outlets and often USB outlets too. Check and compare under "Portable power" and "Powerpack" batteries from the automotive categories on Amazon before purchasing this product. These competing products may be able to jump start your car battery too (although some are heavier when they have more power capabilities). Goal Zero has similar higher capacity products, but these other products may work as well for less money.


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