My solar phone charger was slow until I switched panel types - night and day difference in 2 hours

I built a small solar charger last month using a 5W polycrystalline panel. Took like 6 hours to fully charge my phone. Then I swapped to a 5W monocrystalline panel same brand. Charged my phone in 2 hours flat. Same setup otherwise. So is monocrystalline really that much better? Or did I maybe get a dud poly panel? Curious what you guys have seen with your builds.

2 comments

2 Comments

matthewperry1mo ago

My first solar charger took so long I named it "The Lazy Sun.

felix_jones1mo ago

I got one of those little 5 watt panels back in 2018 and called it "The Snail." It took three full days to charge a power bank that my wall plug could do in two hours. @matthewperry I feel your pain on that one. I ended up just leaving it in the sun for a week straight and still barely got half a charge on my phone. The worst part was watching the clouds roll in right when it finally showed some progress.