Jackery 500 vs. work laptop/monitor

[jhmoore]

Planning to hit the road but still needing to work (software systems)... the two big things I have to solve are power and cell service.

My Jackery 500 and 100W solar panels just arrived and I’m sitting at my desk but running the laptop and monitor off the Jackery, with the solar panel outside.

with the monitor it’s running about even... power in vs. power out.

I’ve heard that the Jackery 100W panel maxes out at an actual 60-something watts, which is what I’m seeing right now. Why is that? Why not the advertised 100W?

 

[Mfitz]

Planning to hit the road but still needing to work (software systems)... the two big things I have to solve are power and cell service.

My Jackery 500 and 100W solar panels just arrived and I’m sitting at my desk but running the laptop and monitor off the Jackery, with the solar panel outside.

with the monitor it’s running about even... power in vs. power out.

I’ve heard that the Jackery 100W panel maxes out at an actual 60-something watts, which is what I’m seeing right now. Why is that? Why not the advertised 100W?

I can't address your question specifically but Will Prowse did a few videos where he talked about being able to overpanel the Jackery units. You might want to have a look. I am not sure if overpaneling will get a better charge rate in full sun, but maybe better in less than perfect sun?

The biggest criticism of the 500 (beyond not being able to swap or upgrade individual components like the solar charger) is that it charges really slowly. Jackery just released a new 300 to replace the old 240 unit, and they are advertising faster charge times as the principle upgrade over the old unit. I have not seen any independent analysis of this claim yet. My guess is that they will upgrade the 500 unit in the next year or so.

I am in the market for this unit as well, looking at the trade off between lower battery capacity but better charge rates for the 300 vs more battery capacity but slower charge rates for the 500. I guess it all depends on how you will use and charge it. I do think there will be better units from Jackery and others available in the next year or so, but that doesn't help if you need it now. The 500 can be had for $450 right now, a bit lower than it was several months ago and way lower than Goal Zero.

 

[Martinjmpr]

I’ve heard that the Jackery 100W panel maxes out at an actual 60-something watts, which is what I’m seeing right now. Why is that? Why not the advertised 100W?

Maybe someone more knowledgeable can chime in but as I understand it, when a solar panel is rated at 100W that is the "theoretical maximum" amount of power it will put out. That maximum assumes absolutely perfect conditions and no losses due to clouds, sun angle, thick atmosphere, power loss due to length or gauge of wiring, inefficiencies in converting voltage (I think most solar panels run around 19v which then needs to be stepped down to 13 - 14v for running a 12v system) etc.

60w of actual power works out to about 5 amps at 12v which seems about what my "100w" panel does on most days. I figure if I'm able to pull 5 amps every hour for 8 or 10 hours, I'm doing pretty good and it does a fine job of keeping our 2 x 6v golf cart batteries (230AH total) fully charged, at least according to the display on the solar controller.

 

[plh]

Maybe someone more knowledgeable can chime in but as I understand it, when a solar panel is rated at 100W that is the "theoretical maximum" amount of power it will put out. That maximum assumes absolutely perfect conditions and no losses due to clouds, sun angle, thick atmosphere, power loss due to length or gauge of wiring, inefficiencies in converting voltage

Yes, Laboratory perfect conditions for output. Never have seen this with my own setups. Agreed with your 60% assessment YMMV