Solaris 25, A Perspective

By Libbie Ranked #534 - Lighting May 20, 2005

My initial experience with the panel is favorable. That is, it did what I needed it to do when I needed it done. My purpose was to find a panel with enough power to run a GPS unit in real time as well as maintain a charge or completely recharge a 7 amp/hr battery while I biked to camping sites around the state. I found that it was perfect for a Ipac on site, for I placed a few movies on the memory card, brought along a bluetooth keyboard which was perfect in both it's size (stowability) and function (writing an account of the touring). The Laptop was simply too heavy and large for bike travel.

I mounted the unit on particle board on the back rack. The only caveat was the unfolded size as a bit over the size of my twin rear back packs loaded to the gills. Additional units were purchased in order to run a laptop in real time and I can verify that it did that as well. Unfortunately daylight hours plays hob with a laptop screen which reduced its functionality.

On the downside, a twelve volt 91 amp/hr marine battery never reached float, topping off at 14.2 volts, even with three panels connected as directed. A “good” but not great. It took an 80 watt unit to bring the battery up to float, which is a huge panel weighing 20lb. It's looking like that capability will have to wait for long term camping with a van to carry all the gear.

All in all, an excellent way to bring along some electricity to spite those Ipac, ipod, nightlight, TV and radio battery eaters.

View Details: Brunton Solaris 25

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