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Tori
Reviewed in the United States on March 2, 2025
I got this because my Hyundai Elantra’s battery is nearing the end of its usefulness, and since I don’t drive daily, I figured a trickle charger would be a convenient way to keep it topped off. The idea of using the 12V outlet instead of dealing with an extension cord sounded great—but unfortunately, that method isn’t compatible with my car.Before I realized the 12V plug wouldn’t work, I had the solar panel propped inside my windshield with the included suction cups, which held up even on a hot day. However, when I tried to mount it on the outside, things got tricky. After flipping the suction cups around, the small converter box on the back, combined with the curve of the windshield, prevented all four suction cups from making contact. I could get one, maybe two, to stick, but that was it.Switching to the battery clamp method, I ran the cable under the windshield wipers and to the battery, but another issue popped up—the clamps are too big to fit under my closed hood without getting dislodged. I have a portable jump starter with smaller clamps that fit, but those aren’t compatible with this solar panel. Leaving my hood partially open just to use this charger isn’t a great solution since it leaves the engine exposed to weather and animals.It would be nice if this included a storage case or sleeve, though at least the solar panel itself is plastic instead of fragile glass. The concept is solid, but there are some small but significant design issues that limit its practicality.Value: The current price of this 10W solar trickle charger is $34.99 USD, which is double the price of similar products I found in a quick search.
smike
Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2025
This new tech solar car charger/battery maintainer really work and outperform existing older trickle chargers that pushed out a much lower amperage. My off grid 30 watt solar panels put out about 2 amps of 15 volts into the charge regulators--enough to recharge and maintain the battery bank. This high efficiency window mounted solar panel puts forth a good load to keep the battery up in winter as well in brutal summer heat, both of which drain batteries. Their claim that they will work under low and indirect sunshine sunshine is accurate. I placed the panel horizontally against the bottom glass of our bay window which faces west; at 5 pm, with dusk approaching, and a cloudy gray skies with snow clouds approaching. It tested at 12.5 volts input in a circumstance where the regular car panels would produce nearly nothing. I took it outside briefly and laid it on the hood of my smaller truck, and the voltage jumped to about 14 in the dull gray sunlight. This unit comes with a plug in near the end of its reach, which can accommodate a battery cigarette lighter plug, or a length of wire with very good toothed battery clamps and thick wire (looks like about 10 awg?). These were actually thicker wires than those provided with a 1000 watt inverter. The panel has large flexible suction cups on all four corners to hold it in place. Older vehicles with power only female cigarette lighter ports can use the handy plug; more recent vehicles usually have dual port capabilities with a smart feed; and they are turned off fully when the ignition is off--so use of the wires with battery clamps. would allow you to charge it. The solar assembly is completely waterproof, so it can be used out-of-doors. The panel itself is extremely thin and lightweight, and the corner tarp attachment type rings give the suction cups an excellent hold. The cups, by the way, are much larger than on regular solar trickle chargers--slightly greater diameter than a quarter. This panel and battery maintainer charger deserve a full five stars. I believe they could be used to recharge a satellite phone on a canoe trip, as well as maintain a 12 volt deep cycle battery.
B8001
Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2025
I had been using a different solar panel that is twice the size as this one to trickle charge the battery in my truck during the day since it only gets driven once every two or three weeks. The problem with that one is that it has an aluminum frame that could easily scratch the dashboard that it gets set on and it's size is a little awkward to store in my truck. This MHPOWOS brand solar charger is very light, slim, and easy to store away when not in use. It's nice that it also comes with a few different methods to connect it to your battery, but so far the only method I have used and plan to use is the cigarette lighter plug type since I like to set it on the dash during the day and it makes it easy to remove when I want to drive the truck. The other styles look like they would work, but the jumper clamp style connectors don't look very durable and look to be made from cheap and thin plastic. The eye loop connectors harness seems decent and I can already see a possible scenario where they might come in handy. For example, I usually carry a cordless electric impact wrench in my truck, and in a pinch witch a dead car battery, It looks like I would be able to connect the eye loop connector harness to the jumper clip connector harness and then slide the eye loop connectors into the positive and negative terminals of my tool battery and then connect the jumper clips to the car battery to give my car battery a little boost with the power tool battery. I'm not recommending you do that, because doing so could potentially cause damage to your vehicle electrical system and or damage the vehicle battery and power tool battery. I've seen it done before, so I know it works, but I still would only try it as a last resort if you were stranded and willing to take those risks.Getting back to the actual solar charger, It seems to work, but I don't know how well it works since it doesn't have a gauge showing the voltage and charging amps. I have a charge controller connected to my other solar panel that displays the charging amps and battery voltage, so with that one I am able to easily see what's going on and adjust the panel position until it displays the maximum amps. I suppose if I really wanted to I could go hook up a dc amp meter to the MHPOWOS, but for now I'll just not worry about it and assume as long as the light says it's charging that it's good enough. I deducted one star for the poor quality cheaply made jumper style battery connector clips. I hope my review was helpful!
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