- 10 Watts high-efficiency mono-crystalline solar panel with foldable design offers excellent portability, ideal for emergency preparedness, backpacking, camping and other outdoor activities
- Built-in dual USB charging ports for directly plugging in iPhone, iPad and other USB compatible mobile devices
- Detachable high-capacity 5,200 mAh rechargeable lithium battery pack with two USB charging ports for easy & convenient power storage, compatible with iPhone, iPad and other USB equipped portable devices.
- Measures only 9 X 6 X 2 inches and weighs less than 1 lb
- 1-year manufacturer's warranty
I had been looking around on Amazon for portable solar panels for charging my devices. Many of them on here only supply 5 watts which is not nearly enough to charge an iPad. While looking for a 10 watt charger, the Mercury 10 fold out panel popped up in my search and was on Prime (fast delivery). While I haven't put this portable solar charging system through the full motions with all of my devices, I have tested it against the device I wanted it to charge, the iPad 3. I put the panel out at 11:15AM and plugged my iPad 3 in. The iPad did it's familiar little chime to let you know it's charging and it works fabulously. This is one of a very few portable solar chargers I've found on Amazon capable of generating 10 watts of power. 10 watts is required if you are looking to charge the iPad.
The package comes shipped with the fold out charging panel, a micro USB to standard A USB (flat type) connector cable and includes an Instapark® MP1800U2 5,200 mAh External Battery Pack & Charger with Dual USB ports. The included cable is very short (8 inches or so). So, you'll want to get something longer to carry around with you. For charging the iPad, you will also need to get an iPad USB charging cable to carry with you as it does not come with one. I personally like the Retract Ipod USB 2.0 Sync cable in black. The Mercury 10 solar panel has a two USB ports nestled inside of a small pouch (can charge 2 devices at once, although haven't tried this) on the back side of one panel which is big enough to hold the battery and a few cables to help recharge your devices. The ReTrak cables are the perfect size for carrying around in this pouch.
Note that there are loops all around the panel so you can hang it up on a wall, from a nail or a tree branch to get the best sun placement.
There is only one downside to this panel, if you can call it a downside. The glues they used to put it all together makes it stink badly. However, if you're outdoors using it, you probably won't even smell it. It will also probably air out in time. Indoors, you will notice the smell if it's sitting near you. That said, it seems reasonably well constructed and definitely works to charge devices.
While I have also charged the 5,200 mAH battery from grid power, I haven't fully tested the battery out, but it claims to recharge the iPad 25% in 1 hour and phones up to 75% in 1 hour. I am still holding out full judgement of this device until such a time that I can test it out fully. The fact that the panel will charge the iPad leaves me nearly certain that it will charge nearly all of my devices properly. Note that the panel only has USB connectors. So, if you want to charge non-USB type devices, you will have to find a way to convert USB to that other format. Also, I don't know how fast it charges a device so I'll still have to test this. If you're looking for a solar panel to charge the iPad, though, this one will definitely do it.
Note that because the panel does what I needed it to do, I'm rating it 5 stars. However, I may change the review later after I've put the device through more usage scenarios and I am better able to determine charging speed and abilities under various conditions. I will say this, though, the panel will not charge 10 watt devices using ambient light from indoor lighting. The panel definitely needs sunlight. For times without sunlight, this is where you would use the included battery's stored energy, so be sure to charge it up.
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I purchased this setup prior to going camping and seeing phish for the weekend. As with all camping your cell phone never lasts, especially the iphone. This comes in a very nice package which is about the size of a a notebook. It folds out into the 3 panels, but also has a pocket that holds the connections to the USB connections.
I was able to put this out in the sun, and hide the phones under some shade. I went from a dead iphone to 80% in 6 hours. I will say that the first 50% charged way faster and it slowed down after it was at 50%. I was also charging a Friends blackberry with the other port.
Once everything was charged, I put it in the car with the windows cracked and put the batter in for a charge. When I got back at night and my phone was near death, I was able to pull the battery and charge the iphone from the aux batter that was charging while I was away.
This was really simple to setup. I highly recommend.
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I took this thing camping, with the intention of trying it out before deploying back to Afghanistan. This little guy is a beast. With the included battery we able to play music on the iphone all weekend long without any issues. We could even throw a second iphone on there to charge when people needed it. I expected more of a trickle charge, while this thing will charge an iphone 74% in 1 hour. It won't charge like a wall outlet, but I never expected it too. I am very impressed with this item, and have already ordered a second one for my Fiance.
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Update March 17th 2013: I contacted Instapark more than a month ago. No reply whatsoever. I've updated the rating accordingly. I can't recommend them.
This won't show up as an but it is. My wife ordered it through Amazon for me for Christmas. The Mercury 10 solar panel was bought with a MP1800U2 powerpack as a unit. That's why I mention both the panel and powerpacks in this review.
=== Executive Summary ===
Do no buy Instapark powerpacks. The solar panel seems fine but the powerpack originally ordered was dead on arrival, and the replacement powerpack that Instapark sent failed about five weeks after I got it. Also, the powerpacks sold by Instapark are not designed to take full advantage of the solar panel. However, customer service has so far been great.
=== QA Issues ===
My wife ordered the Mercury 10 with MP1800U2 pack for me. The MP1800U2 pack never worked. I plugged into a stable power source (i.e. AC) and left it to charge overnight but it would not power anything once unplugged. Whenever plugged in the charging light would flicker from orange to blue real fast. It looked like the logic was fried. I contacted Instapark for a replacement. It took a little bit of work to get the person at the other end to understand my problem but they eventually sent me a replacement. And I should say that once they understood what the problem was exactly, they did not fuss about it. What they sent was a whole new solar panel and a PPD600 power pack. They did not provide for return shipment of the old stuff but neither did they ask me to return anything. So I've got two solar panels. Great! (Note that this is taken into account in my final rating.)
The PPD600 powerpack worked fine at first but it is now completely dead. The issue is with the AC input. The AC jack fell from its hole and is now floating into the casing of the pack. It was a gradual failure, with the jack becoming progressively looser over time and the chances of a good connection getting lower over time. At first there was no problem making a connection, then the connection would happen maybe 70% of the time, then 50%, and now no connection is possible because the jack is too far in. My logs suggest that the failure began on Jan 19th, which was about two weeks after I got the replacement unit. On that day I logged an unexplained drop is performance. Sky condition and exposure were perfect. The only thing which explains that drop in performance is that the jack started failing then and that for at least part of the day there was no connection between the solar panel and the powerpack.
=== Poor design ===
The Mercury 10 solar panel can output 2A. However the MP1800U2 and the PPD600 (both made by Instapark) are rated to accept only 1A for charging. (Actually, the MP1800U2 is rated for a little less than that.) So to fully charge a depleted pack it takes twice as long as it *could* take if the pack were designed to take the full output of the Mercury 10.
I will also note that neither units are designed to be user-servicable. I'm sure I could fix the jack issue myself but I'd literally have to crack the casing open to do that.
=== Conclusion ===
If I were in shopping for a solar panel + powerpack solution today, I might look at Instapark's panels but I'd stay away from their powerpacks. The score I'm giving is based *primarily* on the fact that the whole package of solar panel + powerpack is defective.
I'm going to contact Instapark to try to get a replacement PPD600. Review to be updated in light of the results I get.
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This thing works exactly the way that the product description says it does. There are 3 solar panels and in sunlight they generate 10 watts of power which are delivered to a set of USB connectors in a pouch on the side of it. There are lots of nice loops for hanging it from hooks and clever ways that it can stand angled in the sun so it gets full frontal sunlight.
I bought this as emergency equipment after the massive power outages in New York and New Jersey. I figured that if I experienced a power outage, keeping my wireless devices charged would be a high priority. And it does that. I didn't time how long it took to charge my iPad, but it was about the same speed as using the iPad's own wall charger.
My brother is a backpacker, and he evaluated it as a piece of backpacking equipment. It's too heavy and too bulky for him. The solar charger unit itself is 9 inches x 6.5 inches x 0.5 inches except that it has a lump near one end (containing its electronics) that makes the unit be 1.25 inches thick at that point. It weighs 17.25 ounces.
The separable battery weighs 5 ounces. The device works fine without the battery and the battery works fine without the device. The purpose of the battery is to store sunlight while there is some, so that you can later charge your phone in the dark. The battery is the same thickness as the electronics lump, so that if you tuck it in to the pouch on the side of the device, its overall thickness is 1.25 inches. That combination, which is how it will be stored while it is waiting to be used, is an irregular shape that is too thick in places. There should have been a way to design the shape of the electronics lump and the battery so that it could fold up into a thinner shape that was more regular.
I do alot of boondocking (dry camping) and haven't installed solar panels yet. I've outfitted the coach with 2 6volt deep cycle batteries and this charger. We use the batteries most of the day and night for 2 tv's, pump, lights etc. This charger gets the batteries back to full power very quick using the generator. Before I installed this charger the generator seemed to be running all the time. This is the cats meow!
