Goal Zero  Boulder 100 Solar Panel Briefcase

I tried the panels twice so far, at home, to recharge my Goalzero yeti 1000 core. The first time it was March 21st, around 5 PM, in AZ. There were some thin high clouds in the sky and at first I was getting 75-80W. Today (3/22) I charged the same system at 11AM with totally clear sky and was getting 94-95W. 15 mins later it was down to 90. I plan on using this system for my overland/off road, and hunting trips. I haven’t taken it out yet on the trail to test its ruggedness. I do with the bag was fully inclosing, as the handles are actually attached to the panels and they stick out of the bags. That would keep the dust out when I’m traveling on desert roads and I have the panels stored in the bed of the truck.

Works great! It's easy to move the panels around when adjusting for the sun angle (the stand drops out to prop up the panel without pulling on it as I am moving the panel). I use these to supplement the energy from my solar panel on my teardrop trailer roof when it is in the shade.

I've been using this on a daily basis for 8 months at a latitude of 44N. I use it to power my cell phone, speaker, laptop, lamp, and a few other misc battery devices. The only time I ran into trouble was three week before and after winter solstice. I had to pay attention to weather and cloud cover and make sure I had all my battery devices charged up whenever I could. Running holiday lights didn't help though! Basically, with with only 4 hours of sun that barely cleared the hill, it was hard to get more than 3-5% charge if it was cloudy. Otherwise, I rarely have a problem. Summertime, cloudy or full sun, I'm rarely dipping below 80% on my yeti200 power station (winter saw more frequent dips to 40-60%).

When the sun's nuclear reactor provides enough photons, this briefcase is great! I don't yet have a yeti, so I bought the GuardianPlus charge controller to connect it to two batteries on a camper trailer. Power is personal, for me, it kept the batteries almost full, all the time. Certainly not for a pack, but towing a camper, it's easy to find room. The kick-stands could go higher, but the fact they are built in keeps it easy.

I ran a Goal Zero Yeti power station with Goal Zero 100 folding solar panels and an Alpicool C15 camping refrigerator/freezer at 4° centigrade for four days during a power outage, even on days when the smoke was so thick we couldn’t see across San Francisco Bay. The power station would be drained by the fridge about 20% at the end of every night and would recharge fully by early to mid afternoon every day

On a 400W YETI that was about 50% drained, it started charging with 80 watts and took 6-8 hours to fully charge it. I would recommend getting the 30 ft extension so that you can place the solar panel where you need it and keep the Yeti/Sherpa in the shade (and you don't have to move the Yeti/Sherpa as much). The only "ding" on this product is that the carrying case does NOT unzip fully. The zipper pretty much only opens one side of the case so two people is needed to insert the solar panel back into the case.

I had a smaller panel that was recommended for use with my yeti 150. That panel took over 8 hours of direct sunlight to charge the 150. With this panel charged in less than 2 hours. From completely dead.

In low light, the cell produced enough energy to make me believe it would produce full, rated power in good sun. The case provided was of good quality, but could use more. Since the cell folds and stores with the glass (fragile) side to the outside, it is subject to damage due to contact with an external object. For a small cost, I believe some sort of padding on the inside of the case could prevent cracking a solar cell.

I'm quite satisfied for what it is (so far, not a lot of use yet). Robust, functional; give it a "qualified excellent". Do keep in mind that "solar" inspires excessive optimism re: weight and power. It's heavy. Max output so far (into a Yeti 400) was 70+ watts. When folded, the cells are on the outside; transport it with care. Unless you have a device that takes the particular plug, you'll need a Yeti, Sherpa, or other power storage/adapter (no USB or other plugs included). It's just a solar panel with a particular plug. That said... It's satisfyingly solid, folds into a suitable size, and the kickstand holds it at a suitable angle. It runs my 15" MacBook Pro on full solar (given suitable conditions). This does require an inverter for 110v standard plug (due to Apple's proprietary power plugs). This works well on the Yeti 400, optimistically charging both Yeti & MBP in good light. This _can_ also work with the Sherpa 50 (which isn't enough to run the MPB by itself) when the S50 is fully charged and there's sufficient light to run the MBP (power being just passed thru) ... though it's rather pushing the limits, subject to high power computing + clouds. It comes with a decent close-fitting bag for storage. I'm happy with it.

Finally set off on our can life adventure! Found the Boulder briefcase easy to set up and pack away. Seems to charge our Goal Zero generator fairly well. Just have to adjust to the suns angle to get the best charge.