BigBlue 30W Fast Charging Solar Charger with USB-A, USB-C and DC Outputs

When I first purchased this portable solar panel, I was skeptical about its capabilities. To be honest, I didn’t anticipate its impressive performance. Let’s begin with the build quality. The manufacturer has done an excellent job with the design and construction. The foldable design makes it incredibly portable, and the panels themselves feel sturdy and well-made, not cheap at all. I appreciate that it comes with carabiners, which makes attaching it to a backpack or hanging it easy and convenient. Since I’m always on the go and carry a lot of tech, I’m constantly in need of extra power for my gadgets. I paired this solar panel with a NESTOUT 15000N portable outdoor battery, and they work seamlessly together for my needs. The solar panels keep my battery charged, and I use the power from the battery to quickly charge my devices. The USB-C ports and USB-A port works great without any problems and allows me to connect to my devices quickly without any delay. Now, don’t expect these small panels to charge devices rapidly. They do the job, and so far, with the sunlight I’ve been exposed to daily, they’ve worked flawlessly. I highly recommend this product. Considering its limitations and my use case, I believe it was a wise investment. I’ve also recommended it to several friends who work outdoors, and they’re equally impressed with its performance.

Works well at charging my back up battery source. Would recommend. Holding up well so far.

Here’s a polished version of your review: The large blue solar charging unit works as advertised. While it does not charge devices especially fast, it charges them reliably and effectively. However, after only 6–7 uses, the plastic backing that supports the internal USB unit broke. The backing is secured with four screws, but the plastic around the screw mounts cracked and failed. Unfortunately, the backing piece is sewn into the unit, so removing it requires undoing part of the stitching. At this point, the only practical repair option appears to be epoxying the USB unit directly inside the pocket. I can understand why the failure occurred. The USB assembly is mounted to flexible fabric material rather than a rigid support panel. If it had been attached to a stiffer backing similar to the solar panels themselves, it likely would have held up much better when carried inside a backpack with other items pressing against it. This is a great unit for short or long hikes and outings out to the beach, park or wherever you may need to charge a device.

Took this to Juneau, AK, most days were cloudy. I was amazed that it still charged our phones even with cloud cover. The size was perfect to take on the plane, then open up when needed. On sunny days it charged quickly.

I bought this solar panel array in late 2024, and didn't end up using it until June 2026. I set it up outside our tent for about 10 hours in the middle of the day, on 3 consecutive days, with daytime temps around 85-90 F. I laid it against a tree facing the sun, and changed it to laying flat around midday, and it was able to charge an iPhone 16 from 20% to 100% in less than 2 hours (didn't catch exactly when it stopped charging). Also used it separately to charge a Streamlight MicroStream flashlight and a portable battery to power extra devices at night. I recommend folding the panel with the output hub (where stuff plugs into) behind the solar panels to keep it cool, and put your device in the shade of the panel. I will be buying another so I have one for hiking and one for my survivalist pack.

I received my solar panel last night and i’m currently putting it to the test. @ exactly 9:49am, i hooked up my completely dead OnePlus 7 Pro (4,000mAh) (that i don’t use anymore) to the solar panel. As of 10:30am the phone battery is at 16% which btw is really, really good given the lack of direct sunlight due to the cloud covers skies. To give you a better idea of how cloudy it is, i can look directly(or indirectly?😅) at the sun without going blind; Well, kind of. Also, I think if i were to charge my iPhone, it would be at ~20% charge since it has a slightly smaller battery (~3687 mAh). I bought this solar panel for the purpose of using it at a camping festival i’m going to in 2 weeks. Needless to say, this will suffice! I’ll update this review as i test it over the next few weeks @ different times of day. Edit: Friday December 22, 2023 2311 I took this solar panel to Lost Lands (camping music festival) and it came in so clutch! I brought 3 power banks just in case (10k mah, 20k mah, and 30k mah), but with the solar panel, I only had to use the 10k mah powerbank. I would use the 10k mah throughout the day/night (7am-3am) and then I would set up my solar panel on my tent and hook the power bank up. That way, by the time the sun came up, it would be charging and be ready to be used by noon. The festival was from Tuesday-Sunday. The solar panel was charging very efficiently and very quickly (in my opinion). On nights when I didn’t set up my solar panel before going to sleep, I would wake up early in the morning to set my solar panel up and hook my powerbank to it, then I’d head down to the showers and by the time I got back it was fully charged. (Shower lines were long so I’d be gone for roughly 1hr-2hrs). Also, there would be times when it’d get a little cloudy but, the solar panel still charged pretty well. Though, not as fast. Overall, super useful solar panel. Totally worth it for the price.

[Update 2025 Review]: Loved the first charger of this model I bought in 2022, but when I had to buy a newer one in 2025, I ended up returning it, as it seemed to minimally charge my phone in 3 hours of direct July sunlight in New Mexico, and was not effective at charging if direct sunlight is intermittent - i.e. if deployed/strapped to a pack. The new waffle-pattern panels trap every bit of dust and is difficult to clean with soap and a brush (not something I want to keep in my pack), vs. the old smooth-panels charger which wiped clean easily. Another trekker had bought this charger based on my 2022 recommendation, and had to return it within a few days, as his barely charged anything. BigBlue, not sure what your product development team is doing, but I've retracted about 6 recommendations to other trekkers on this product - as it went from "must have" to "avoid." Original 2022 review: I've used this on 12-day backpacking treks in the SW Rockies, and also for keeping my phone and bluetooth speaker charged while I work outdoors all day in the sometimes-cloudy northeast U.S. Very reliable in both; I've used it for 3 years and no complaints about performance, durability, or water-resistance (left in the rain occasionally). Take this with any group on a trek, and you will be very popular. I strapped my charger to my packpack with the included carabiner clips and charged as I hiked. No issues with overcast days, but it will be limited in charging based on strength of sunlight. In full daylight, expect a solid speedy charge on all three USBs are once - what type of charging cable used will be your biggest bottleneck.

The ihBlue 28W: Great package (large yet light panels with carabiner clips), so-so performance (slow charging). Not bad if you have low expectations. You do get about 8W of trickle charging (1.7A, 4.7V) if you're moving; my phone battery graph showed intermittent charging times of ~10 seconds before a break and then back to getting power. On a rooftop, I ran the cord to a battery in the shade and it seemed to have charged faster (~1.2A in an hour), but if you're going to be stationary, there are heavier-duty chargers that draw solar energy much faster (Duracell for example; but keep in mind their panels are much heavier because they're supposed to be weatherproof). The convenience of having a lightweight, wide panel charger on your back offsets the inefficiency of "28W". And be WARY of charging multiple devices: the USB hub will *draw* power and "share" it amongst the devices (or in low sunlight, draw it into the blue power light) to give the illusion of "stable" charging. In reality you're still getting only 8W of power (combined) from the panels to all 3 ports. The instructions and website will reiterate to unplug your devices when the sun goes down to prevent energy drain. Ideally, this solar panel will stretch out a battery pack by lightly recharging it as it powers your devices; just remember to disconnect everything from this panel before sunset.

Werkt uitstekend. Op een wisselend bewolkte dag heb ik 0,3A tot vol in de zon ongeveer 2,7A met soms uitschieters van 3,0A in Nederland. Powerbank van 20.000mA ging van 67% naar 100% in 3 uur tijd vol in de zon (buiten temperatuur 26 graden Celsius).

Aus meiner Sicht ein echt sensationelles mobiles SOlarpanel. Ich hatte mir vor einiger Zeit eine Solarpowerbank gekauft, und war recht enttäuscht dass ich die mit den onboard Mitteln nicht über die Sonne geladen bekommen habe. Hier ist das BigBlue 14W Solar Ladegerät die optimale Ergänzung. Aktuell lade ich sowohl Handy als auch Powerbank mit dem 14W Panel auf und erziele hier in Mitteleuropa sehr gute Ladewerte und Ladezeiten. Ich generiere aktuell 2 volle Handycharges für meine Powerbank und lade mein Handy täglich voll mit dem Solarpanel auf - in meinem normalen Alltag. Aus meiner Sicht ein sensationelles Teil, das ich jedem der eine mobile Lademöglichkeit für Handys und Powerbanks sucht nur wärmstens empfehlen kann. Darüber hinaus ist das Produktdesign echt Spitze, es sieht super aus, ist kompakt und ,man kann das BigBlue 14W Solarladegerät sogar mit den Mittgelieferten D-förmigen Tragehaken auf den Rucksack kletten und so jede Stunde die man spazieren geht ebenfalls zur Aufladung von Handy, Kamera und Powerbanks nutzen. #super - ich bin begeistert und kann das Produkt nur wärmstens empfehlen.

tested on summer, charging a s23/s24 ultra and some times getting super fast charging, consistent charging.

Eccezionale!!!! Ricarica solare rapidissima che sfrutta ogni seppur debole raggio di sole. Perfetta con la Power bank Charmast Power Bank 26800 mah, di queste power ne ho acquistate due pure qui per non sprecare neppure un raggio di sole. Un prezzo per entrambi, pinnellino e power, irrisorio per una qualità super, approfittando magari di qualche offerta a tempo. Per caricare velocemente anche un cell Redmi Note 14 pro 5 g oppure un tablet lenovo idea tab plus è ideale. In pratica con il pannellino e le due power mi sono emancipata dalla rete elettrica per ricaricare tutti i dispositivi di casa. Entusiasta.

モバイルバッテリーや携帯電話にふつうに充電できました。キャンプの時や災害時にあると安心かも！