Part 1 : Unboxing Xtorm solar panel 21W – a joy – giving device or a curse for extreme landscape photographers.?

Within a short break between one photo tour and the other, I decided to finally solve any problems with charging my devices when having a low access to electricity during trips in the wilderness areas ! I had a nagging sensation that solar boosters mats may turn out to be a failure due to the weather dependency causing annoying intervals in providing power. Yet, stunned by reviews, I have made a decision to purchase a Xtorm solar booster panel 21w which enables landscape photographers to easily use solar energy for charging accumulators anywhere they go. My photo tours very often push me to occupy places miles away from a cozy room at the camping site with a friendly electrical socket to make my accumulators running. After reading so positive feedback, I gave up buying another bulky 20 000 mph power bank in favour of Xtorm solar booster not only because it is not a cheap Decathlon’s solar panel for hikers but because Xtorm it is the only brand all over the Internet that seems to produce reliable limitless solution with specification I love! The idea of setting my own little energy plant makes photo tours even more exciting!

In this review I will focus, in the most part, on unboxing this 170$ worth panel for checking its specification. To start with, the Solar Booster 21 W mat from Xtorm looks very positive from the very beginning. In my opinion, it looks compact and handy. After folding it takes dimensions – 320 × 155 mm with the thickness of 35mm. It consists of 3 panels – the whole set when unfolded takes 630 × 320 mm. The weight of the mat is around 425 g. The materials look very aesthetic and solidly polished.

After unpacking the product, I can see the set includes Sunpower Solar panel, fastening rings, LED Power Ampere indicator, 1USB + 1X usb – outputs and a charging cable with a carabiner. According to the producer’s indication the solar panel enables devices to be charged to 100% in optimal sunlight conditions. The recommendable time for charging a smartphone on a bright sunny day is 2 h whereas for a tablet it is estimated to last 5 h. After running numbers, charging 200 000 mAH power bank equals 20 h ( 1,5 h day).

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19 July 2021

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19 July 2021

I was not so much conscious of the best illumination angle rule before reading this specification for the device. The panel’s manufacturer says that the optimal tilt should be 18 degrees to create the most conducive illumination conditions. Also, the producer recommends users to use the panel in the best time of the day between 9:00 and 15:00. Solar panel should not be mounted behind the window as it does not work positioned that way.

For either hikers or photographers Xtorm created a carabiner to hang the solar booster on your backpack during backpackinging trips in the mountains. For those who do not want to look after charging devices when trekking, the manufacturer recommends positioning the booster on the ground facing the Sun. The solar panel should be maximally exposed to the Sun whereas a charged device preferably are supposed to be left in a shady area to avoid overheating.