Guide10+ solar battery charging kit

Guide10+ solar battery charging kit

The Nomad7 and Guide10+ solar battery charging kit is a pretty good product that aims high, but fell somewhat short in performance in my use over a period of several weeks. The kit consists of the foldable Nomad7 solar panel unit with an output pack and zipper pouch, and the Guide10+ batteries and recharger. The thing to understand about solar panels is ... they really need direct sun to work well. If it's bright but pretty hazy, if it's partly cloudy, if you can't get a direct straight on view of the sunshine ... all of these factors impact the recharging times. A partly cloudy day and an off angle for the panels can double the amount of time it takes to recharge the batteries. And in my experience, obtaining optimum conditions is challenging. Read on for a discussion of pros and cons I experienced during my product testing.

(Pros and Cons are tagged with "Kit" if the observation is for the whole kit, "N7" if it pertains to just the Nomad 7 solar panels, and "G10+" if the comment pertains to just the Guide 10+ battery pack/recharger.

Pros:

N7 - Cool Design: The 2 solar panels fold like a book, and a wraparound Velcro tab secures the panels closed. The panels are inside the closed case, and the outside contains a zippered mesh pouch that contains the solar converter and port panel, and lets you store the accessory cables, AAA adapter, instructions, and the Guide10+ battery charger. It's a brilliant design that puts everything you need right there in a fairly compact package weighing around 1.5 lbs.

G10+ - Multiple Recharge Options: You can recharge the batteries from solar energy with the N7 or N3.5 panels or from USB (8-10 hours per spec.).

G10+ - Charger Has a Flashlight: Pretty cool, and pretty bright too (100 mW)

Guide10+ solar battery charging kit