Goal Zero  Nomad 100 Solar Panel

I bought a Nomad 100 and a Nomad 50 to tested the versatility of the solar panels in comparison with the Boulder 100 and 50 Briefcase panels. I am in Central Florida and the day of the test we have a beautiful sunny day with temperatures in the lower 70s. Both 100 panels provided an average of 65 to 70 watts input. When connecting the Nomad 100 and 50 using a 4 x 8 Anderson Connector the input reached and averaged of 85 watts while connecting the panels on line provided an averaged of 60 watts. In conclusion, will be naive to believe that the advertised number for watts will produce that amount. That number only gives you the maximum capacity/capability of the panel. In optimal conditions you may get 75% of that capacity as an average. I am pleased with both panels system since I use the Boulder while at home or car camping while the Nomad is better for camping and while car traveling to the beach/picnic, sport events, or fairgrounds. Both systems can be combined with each other.

I love the lightweight design and integrated kickstands of this product. The panels are slightly flexible and collapse down to a nice size for packing my car. Don't expect too much in terms of power - in full sun at 4000' I averaged 65W. Once I saw a spike to 71W. (Hooked up to 1500X) It does underperform under cloud cover, which makes sense except that Goal Zero literature SAYS to keep your panels up under clouds. Some light clouds cut the power down to 30W, and anything over 60% cloud cover just goes to 0W. Item loses a star for the lock in created by Goal Zero - the included cable is way to short to be practical, you WILL need to buy the extension, etc etc. Overall, if you're in on Goal Zero this is a good option.

Easy to hook up straight out of the box, I will give them that. I am at sea level and charging a Yeti 500x on a fully sunny day in California. 100w Nomad panels, topping out at 55w (per the display on my Yeti 500x). I know, the other reviews told you and me about this already. I got curious, so I pulled out my multi meter. I checked the voltage (DC) at the 8mm output connection on the panels and got a reading of 20.65v, which is within the advertised range. Cool. I then checked the amperage with my multi meter set for DC and got a reading of 3.78 amps. Well you know, I am not an electrician or an electrical engineer or anything, but I am pretty sure 20.65v x 3.78 amps should equal approximately 78 watts. Seems dumb that if the panels can put out that kind of wattage, the manufacturer would want it to show up when you plug it into the “power station” of the same brand. Instead I only see 55w, which seems a bit low, even if there is some drop for the controller in the Yeti. Anyways, I attached pics with my multi meter display visible for reference. Just sucks for the price. But again, the other reviews told me so.

I purchased a Yeti 400 and the Nomad 100 solar panel. This was for a 4 day camping trip on beach. The first night the battery was fully charged and was running a 12v box fan. The next morning the battery was at 40%. In direct all day sunlight the best input charge I got was between 35-40 watts. This took all day to charge up. I have tried with and without the extension cord. With a battery more than half drained I would expect more watts going into this unit. The same recharge wattage was experienced everyday. It took much more than the 6-8 hours recharge time like the chart advertised. Also I was expecting a more heavy duty connection cord for the battery to the solar panel.

I’m a great fan of the Yeti Powerstations, but can’t recommend the Nomad 100. Design and functionality are poor. 1. As prior reviewers noted, the power input is really low. In full sun I reached approximately 30-35 Watt. I laid a Rockpals 100 next to it and it reached 60 watt 2. The cable is very short and the company should either add a longer cable or a free extension cord 3. You need to buy adapters for power stations other than Goal Zero, other manufacturers add this for free ? 4. Did anybody at Goal Zero think about ergonomics ? Why is there no carry handle like every other solar panel has ? I regret having bought this solar panel. Goal Zero can do better than this

In full California sun, I have never seen this output more than 55W - as indicated on a GZ power pack display. It's very disappointing - I was hoping to get more top-up per day on road trips. I agree with others that the cable length is a joke - and should come with a free extension - or they should charge a lot less for the accessories.

I will echo some of other reviews of this product. We had a day in the mountains, 7000 Ft, bright, cloudless summer day. Perfect, high intensity sun. The panel had excellent solar exposure - but - only produced 25-28 Watts of input into our Yeti 400. The panel does work well with GoalZero products. GoalZero has designed a nice set of compatible products. However, you need to plan on only 25-30% of the advertised efficiency. I will keep and use the product, but, it is hard to recommend it to the public based on this experience and the price they are asking. Perhaps their "fixed" solar panel work better. Perhaps this is no different than all other solar panel products -- I cannot tell at this point.

I have two 100W solar panels to compare, the yeti 100 watt nomad against another 100 watt no name brand and the cheaper 100 watt no name brand is pumping in 80 to 90 W into my yeti goal zero 1500 and the yeti 100 watt nomad at best pumps in 62 watts, so you get what you pay for .

This is a nice flexible product, but as various people have said, the power output is well below 100W. At 10,000 ft I briefly managed to get 62W. At 4000 ft, in the desert the maximum was 53W. If you constantly turn it towards the sun, on a clear day you can count on around 50W.

It has zero power to use anything more than a single lamp or TV. Can’t run a single tool with it.