Goal Zero Nomad 7 Solar Panel 4000 Mile Review | Battery Storage for The Great Divide MTB Route.

Great info, thanx dude.

Very helpful thanks. I will be purchasing one

smaller batterys around 5000mah charge faster then bigger batterys because of the resistance that they bigger ones have, a solar panel or dynamo has trouble with that
I run with dynamo and take 2x 5000 with me instead of my 10000 or 20000 one they take way longer to charge. I gues that its the same with a solar panel as with a dynamo

You seem so focused on vague immeasurable metrics. Meh! Deliver simple math-measurable specs that actually say something. There is not much to know, & it is not complicated.

Your battery pack is rated at X number of Milli Amp Hours, something like 20,000 MAH (20,000 1/1,000ths = 2 Amps for 1 Hour or 1 Amp for 2 Hours), as is your phone. Your solar panel supplies USB rated up to 7 watts in bright sunlight.

Standard USB power is 5 Volts DC, rated at some number of Amps such as 1 Amp or 2 Amps (read your power supply).

Volts x Amps = Watts. Amps x Hours = Amp Hours. Milli = 1/1000th. Since your solar panel is rated up to 7 Watts, mathemizing backwards tells you (7 Watts / 5 Volts = 1.4 Amps) it is delivering up to 1.4 Amps or 1,400 Milli Amps. Over the span of 1 hour that means 1.4 Amp Hours or 1,400 Milli Amp Hours.

So your solar panel is rated to take at least (20,000 MAH battery / 1,400 MAH solar panel = 14.28) 14 hours to fully charge a fully dead battery pack rated at 20,000 MAH. This is why your solar charging success rate is so much more noticeable in full sunlight over a long time.

The battery pack that will not charge from the solar panel may have a minimum voltage or amperage requirement that the solar panel does not meet. Or a bent or dirty prong in the plug or jack that doesn't make adequate electrical contact.

It’s a media circus!

Great video. I have a small Goal Zero battery pack. It works great. Eventually I will buy one of their solar panels.

Looks like a ton of battery power. You can be off grid for quite a while with that much I'm sure. Can't wait to see your next trip.

Thank you for the Goal Zero review. I've been eyeballing their product.

I've been interested in hearing about this since your trip last summer. I think most of my touring is probably too much in the shade for it to work for me though....

Thanks for the video. That's a lot of power storage. I was surprised. You have worked out what you need through experience, so I don't have anything to add. It was eye opening to see how much you have to carry to keep us all posted. Thanks.

You start talking about weights and makes me start thinking about all the crap I bring on my commute that I never even use but I freaking know the day I leave it

Myself not a big electronics guy.

Like you new intro graphic. Looks like you have your charging situation well under control.

Love the new intro! Excellent! Thanks!

Like you pointed out, I think those solar panels work great in extremely sunny areas. They have certainly come a long way.

For batteries, I've had pretty good luck with Anker products, but a few years ago I switched over to using a charger/battery bank (XTAR PB2S) that took 18650 batteries. 18650 batteries are what is actually inside most battery packs. It's mainly an experiment, but the concept is as the batteries reach their end of life, I would just swap them out of the rotation. Plus I can find 18650 batteries pretty easily. So far the only downside is that the batteries can sometimes bounce around and lose connection with the charger, so it doesn't work well with charging things while riding, but I usually charge everything up at the end of the day anyway.

Nice animation. How's Henry doing?

We need a good charger pack ugh

13 seconds in, love the animation for the introduction.

Looks like something I want!
Ride Safe!

New intro. I’m guessing Scrap Cat was the mastermind behind that.

Love the new graphic! I have always heard it’s best to charge a power bank from a solar panel or even a dyno hub as it can hurt the phone’s battery. Thanks for the great review!