Camping last weekend changed my whole setup

I was out at Lake Pleasant with my buddy and his solar panel was charging his phone in like 2 hours while mine barely got 20%. He showed me how he just props his panel up on a rock facing the sun instead of laying it flat like I always did. Tried it myself and went from 5 watts to almost 12 watts in the same spot. Has anyone else had a simple angle change make that big of a difference?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_henry1mo ago

Did you try different angles throughout the day or just pick one and leave it?

valwest1mo ago

Did you mess with the tilt angle throughout the day or just set it once? Idk, I always just lay mine flat too, but last time out I tried propping it on my cooler lid halfway through the afternoon and my power bank charge jumped from three hours to under two. Maybe it's just me, but I swear the ground gets hotter when the panel is flat, which can't be good for the electronics either.