The Energizer 200W portable solar panel: A solid offering, save for a connector too fragile

Last time, I covered one half of the Energizer Ultimate Powersource Pro Solar Bundle that I first introduced you to back at the beginning of August and purchased for myself at the beginning of September (and, ironically, is for sale again as I write these words on November 6, at Meh’s companion SideDeal site):

If you haven’t yet read that premier post in this series, where I detailed the pros and cons of the Energizer PowerSource Pro Battery Generator, I encourage you to pause here and go back and peruse it first before proceeding with this one. This time I’ll be discussing the other half of the bundle, Energizer’s 200W Portable Solar Panel. And as before, I’ll start out with “stock” images from the bundle’s originator, Battery-Biz (here again is the link to the user manual, which covers both bundled products…keep paging through until you get to the solar panel section):

Here’s another relevant stock image from Meh:

Candidly, there’s a lot to like about this panel, model number ENSP200W (and no, I don’t know who originally manufactured it, with Energizer subsequently branding it), reflective of the broader improvement trend in solar panels that I previously covered back in mid-September. The following specs come straight from the user manual:

Solar Cells

• Solar Cell Material: Monocrystalline PERC M6-166mm
• Solar Cell Efficiency: 22.8%
• Solar Cell Surface Coating: PET

Output Power

• Max Power Output – Wattage (W): 200W
• Max Power Output – Voltage(Vmp): 19.5V
• Max Power Output – Current (Imp): 10.25A
• Power Tolerance: ±3%
• Open Circuit Voltage (Voc): 23.2V
• Short Circuit Current (Isc): 11.38A

Operating Temperatures

• Operating Temp (°C): -20 to 50°C / -4 to 122°F
• Nominal Operating Cell Temp (NOCT): 46°± 2° C
• Current Temp Coefficient: 0.05% / °C
• Voltage Temp Coefficient: – 0.35% / °C
• Power Temp Coefficient: – 0.45% / °C
• Max Series Fuse Rating: 15A

Cable

• Anderson Cable Length: 5M / 16.5 ﬞ
• Cable Type: 14AWG dual conductor, shielded
• Output Connector: Anderson Powerpole 15/45

Dimensions and Weight

• Product Dimensions – Folded: 545 x 525 x 60 mm/21.5″ x 20.7″ x 2.4″
• Product Dimensions – Open: 2455 x 525 x 10 mm/96.7″ x 20.7″ x 0.4″
• Product Net Weight: 5.9 kgs/ 13.0 lbs

As you can see from the last set of specs, the “portable” part of the product name is spot-on; this solar panel is eminently tote-able and folds down into an easily stowed form factor. Here’s what mine looked like unfolded:

Unfortunately, as with its power station bundle companion, the solar panel arrived with scuffed case cosmetics and ruffled-through contents indicative of pre-used, not brand new, condition:

Although, I was able to clip a multimeter to the panel’s Anderson Powerpole output connector and, after optimally aligning the panel with the cloud-free direct sunlight, I got close to the spec’d max open circuit output voltage out of it:

the connector itself had also arrived pre-mangled by the panel’s prior owner (again: brand new? Really, Battery-Biz?), a situation that others had also encountered, and which prevented me from as-intended plugging it into the PowerSource Pro Battery Generator:

Could I have bought and soldered on a replacement connector? Sure. But in doing so, I likely would have voided the factory warranty terms. And anyway, after coming across not-brand-new evidence in the entire bundle’s constituents, I was done messing with this “deal”; I was offered an exchange but requested a return-and-refund instead. As mentioned last time, Meh was stellar in their customer service, picking up the tab on return shipping and going as far as issuing me a full refund while the bundle was still enroute back to them. And to be clear, I blame Battery-Biz, not Meh, for this seeming not-as-advertised bait-and-switch.

A few words on connectors, in closing. Perhaps obviously, the connector coming out of a source solar panel and the one going into the destination power station need to match, either directly or via an adapter (the latter option with associated polarity, adequate current-carrying capability and other potential concerns). That said, in my so-far limited to-date research and hands-on experiences with both solar panels and power stations, I’ve come across a mind-boggling diversity of connector options. That ancient solar panel I mentioned back in September, for example:

uses these:

to interface between it and the solar charge controller:

The subsequent downstream connection between the controller and my Eurovan Camper’s cargo battery is more mainstream SAE-based:

The more modern panel I showcased in that same September writeup:

offered four output options: standard and high-power USB-A, USB-C and male DC5521.

My SLA battery-based Phase2 Energy PowerSource Power Station, on the other hand:

(Duracell clone shown)

like the Lithium NMC battery-based Energizer PowerSource Pro Battery Generator:

expects, as already mentioned earlier in this piece, an Anderson Powerpole (PP15-45, to be precise) connector-based solar panel tether:

To adapt the male 5521 to an Anderson Powerpole required both the female-to-female DC5521 that came with the Foursun F-SP100 solar panel and a separate male DC5521-to-Anderson adapter that I bought off Amazon:

What other variants have I encountered? Well, coming out of the EcoFlow solar panels I told you about in the recent Holiday Shopping Guide for Engineers are MC4 connectors:

Conversely, the EcoFlow RIVER 2:

and DELTA 2 portable power stations:

both have an orange-color XT60i solar input connector:

the higher current-capable (100 A vs 60 A), backwards-compatible successor to the original yellow-tint XT60 used in prior-generation EcoFlow models:

EcoFlow sells both MC4-to-XT60 and MC4-to-XT60i adapter cables (note the connector color difference in the following pictures):

along with MC4 extension cables:

and even a dual-to-single MC4 parallel combiner cable, whose function I’ll explore next time:

The DELTA 2 also integrates an even higher power-capable XT150 input, intended for daisy-chaining the power station to a standalone supplemental battery to extend runtime, as well as for recharging via the EcoFlow 800W Alternator Charger:

Ok, now what about another well-known portable power station supplier, Jackery? The answer is, believe it or not, “it depends”. Older models integrated an 8 mm 7909 female DC plug:

which, yes, you could mate to a MC4-based solar panel via an adapter:

Newer units switched to a DC8020 input; yep, adapters to the rescue again:

And at least some Jackery models supplement the DC connector with a functionally redundant, albeit reportedly more beefy-current, Anderson Powerpole input:

How profoundly confusing this all must be to the average consumer (not to mention this techie!). I’m sure if I did more research, I’d uncover even more examples of connectivity deviance from other solar panel and portable power station manufacturers alike. But I trust you already get my point. Such non-standardization might enable each supplier to keep its customers captive, at least for a while and to some degree, but it also doesn’t demonstrably grow the overall market. Nor is it a safe situation for consumers, who then need to blindly pick adapters without understanding terms such as polarity or maximum current-carrying capability.

Analogies I’ve made before in conceptually similar situations, such as:

• It’s better to have a decent-size slice of a sizeable pie versus a tiny pie all to yourself, and
• A rising tide lifts all boats

remain apt. And as with those conceptually similar situations on which I’ve previously opined, this’ll likely all sort itself out sooner or later, too (via market share dynamics, would be my preference, versus heavy-handed governmental regulatory oversight). The sooner the better, is all I’m saying. Let me know your thoughts on this in the comments!

 —Brian Dipert is the Editor-in-Chief of the Edge AI and Vision Alliance, and a Senior Analyst at BDTI and Editor-in-Chief of InsideDSP, the company’s online newsletter.

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