I took the EcoFlow 110w Solar Panel on a car camping trip, so I have a great understanding of what this foldable panel is capable of. I took it with me because I wanted to test it in real-world conditions and not just test it in my garden under optimal conditions.
I utilised 3 different products in the EcoFlow line up on my recent camping trip, I’ll add the links to my other reviews further down, but this article will cover my full, comprehensive EcoFlow 110w solar panel review.
My review will cover a lot of different areas. I’ll start by discussing my first impressions, followed closely by the build quality, performance, price point and anything else I feel I should cover. Let’s get into it with my first impressions.
EcoFlow 110W Solar Panel Review
First impressions count, it’s why I put quite a bit of focus on writing about them. What did I think of the foldable solar panel by EcoFlow then?
Well, for starters the outer box is nondescript. It’s a light beige or brown box with a black EcoFlow logo adorned on the front. But, that doesn’t really help as it’s still pretty boring as far as packaging goes.
I don’t think that it’s a bad thing that the outer box is boring, but it does lack the wow factor and consumers do tend to want a good unboxing experience.
The box is made of super thick cardboard, which of course helps minimise any damage during courier transit. Opening up the box, I was really pleased to see a distinct lack of single use plastic packaging; Eco by name Eco by nature I guess.
There is another box inside which again is quite boring but tough and rigid, helping to prevent damage once more.
The most noteworthy thing once I’d removed it from the inner box was a beautifully designed carry bag for the panel. It’s feels and looks like it’s made of some sort of Cordura type fabric. It’s also got some robust yet comfortable carry handles.
I’ll cover the carry bag in more detail further down the review.
Once I’d unzipped the carry bag I was finally able to see the solar panel. Another point to note, it’s heavier than I thought it would be. At 6kg it isn’t exactly heavy, but I had suspected it’d be made with cheap, flimsy and lighter-weight materials.
Overall, in terms of my first impressions, I’m particularly pleased and really rather excited, I want to get the panel connected up and find out if it’s as good as it looks at first glance.
Build Quality & Features
Build quality is one of those measures that’s often seen as being a little bit dull. I think it’s actually an important metric to capture. When dealing with any product that’s ‘eco friendly’ you have to consider how long you’ll expect it to last.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that, if it lasts all of 5 minutes before it stops working, it’ll end up in landfill. Which means it’s not very ‘eco’ at all.
Having unfolded the panel I could tell right away that it feels extremely well made, the panels themselves are made from what EcoFlow describe as a ‘high strength composite’.
To test how strong, I took it outside and dropped it from around 1 meter high, onto patio pavers. I heard a particularly worrying ‘cracking’ sound. I meticulously inspected each fold of the panel for any damage, I couldn’t see any surface or deeper scratches – which is great news.
But, did I damage the actual solar cells? No, I didn’t!
I hooked it up to the River Series 2 to see if it would register the input, it registered right away and showed me an input of 23w on the River 2 LCD display. Phew, I hadn’t damaged the panel EcoFlow had very kindly sent me to review.
The cables that come off of the panel are standard solar connectors, which are called MC4. This means you don’t have to use the EcoFlow solar panel with an EcoFlow power station, you can use it with pretty much any power station that accepts MC4 cable input, which is a nice touch.
I really dislike when a company uses proprietary cables and insists on a sort of closed eco-system. Good job EcoFlow!
The cables, connectors and panels are rated IP68. This is actually really impressive. In layman’s terms, it essentially means you can submerge in underwater for up to 72 hours! A rain storm would be no match for this level of waterproofing. IP68 also covers this panel, connector and cables for dust!
One thing I noticed from the documentation is the operating temperature range. It’s insane! It’ll operate between -25 and 85 degrees Celsius.
The face of the EcoFlow 110w panel contains the solar cells. They’ve opted to use Monocrystalline Silicon cells which is a great choice. Monocrystalline solar cells are made from a very pure form of silicon. This makes them one of, if not the most efficient material for converting sunlight into energy.
This high efficiency means these types of panels often cost a lot more than other types of solar cells. But, EcoFlow have managed to not only produce a really efficient panel, at around 22%, it’s relatively cheap considering how well this thing is made.
Around the edge of the solar panel are eyelets, this is a cool feature actually. Those eyelets are to be used in conjunction with the included carabiners and carry bag to form a stand.
There are mounting points in the carry bag, you hook the carabiners onto the bag and zip it up to adjust the angle of the panel.
Carry Bag
Speaking of the bag, I can’t stress enough how well made this is. It’s clearly been designed and manufactured with longevity and quality in mind. The fabric almost feels like Cordura or some other robust, cut / tear proof fabric.
I didn’t want to test my theory by trying to cut it as I do intend to use this solar panel regularly! But, if you do buy this panel you’ll see what I mean.
The colour of the bag is the perfect choice. It’s sort of a grey but with an ever so slight hint of sky blue. It looks great.
Inside or outside the bag for that matter, there aren’t any loose stitches or threads and the supporting structure (that props up the panel when used as a stand) is strong, I was unable to bend or twist it.
The carry handles velcro together, this makes it really comfortable to carry. I don’t imagine you’ll need to carry it long distance. I’d imagine a few hundred meters at most, which wouldn’t be a problem.
I really like the zipper edging, it looks like it has waterproof zipper edging, although I couldn’t find any confirmation of that in the documentation.
The only slight criticism I could give for the carry bag would be the zippers. These are generic, unbranded ones. I’d have expected something like a YKK zipper which would have only added to the already amazing quality bag.
Overall, the build quality and features are almost overwhelming! It’s incredibly well made and a solar panel with this feature set could well cost atleast £50 to £100 more.
Next, we’ll move onto my car camping trip. I took the 110w panel, the EcoFlow Delta Mini and the River 2 along with me. How did the panel perform?
Performance
At the time of testing the panel it was almost December. There isn’t much sun in the UK at this time of the year. I was worried I wouldn’t get much in terms of charging performance. But, the sun did grace me with it’s presence for just enough time to get my thoughts down on paper.
I took the Delta Mini and the River 2 with me because I wanted to use my AirFryer to cook my evening meal. I’d gotten the idea from the AB Camping YouTube channel.
It was also a good test for the Delta and the River, because I’d need to use the AirFryer for around 40 minutes to cook Nashville Hot Chicken and Fries. These devices would then need to be re-charged during the day.
The set-up was as follows. The AirFryer was plugged into the Delta Mini via A/C. I then plugged River 2 via the 12v output port into the Delta Mini 12v charging input port. This was to extend the battery life of the Delta Mini from around 50 minutes to over 1.5 hours.
Now, this may not sound a lot, but remember this AirFryer is drawing an almost constant 1000w of power.
Dinner was cooked and it made such a nice change from the usual camp fire meals! It took around 40 minutes. After preparing dinner I checked the Delta Mini, it only had around 38% power remaining.
The next morning after preparing and cooking my bacon in the AirFryer and charging the smart phone and watch it was down to 24%.
I set up the solar panel to charge the Delta Mini as we left for a morning hike. The hike would take around 3 hours. It wasn’t looking good though, as the sky was really overcast, it was registering 0 watt solar input as we set off.
Thankfully, the cloud cover did lift. And, as we got back to our camp I checked the charge level, it had gone up to around 50%. Which, is much more than I had expected it to be. And again, it’s almost winter in the UK and we aren’t exactly famous for dry, clear sunny days over here.
I did set it up when I got home as it was slightly sunnier, the peak wattage input I saw was 80w, which is really, really good.
I reckon if you’re using the solar panel and Delta Mini set-up for emergencies and you’re smart with your power usage, it’s perfect. For car camping, it’s the perfect luxury item! I don’t think I’ll ever go camping without it!
How Much & Where To Buy
You’ll be able to buy the EcoFlow 110w Solar Panel direct from EcoFlow. Or alternatively, you’ll find it for sale on Amazon. Hit the button’s below to go to your preferred store.
Summary & Verdict
I found it quite difficult to come up with a score for this one. I really want to give it a 10/10. But, I can’t just yet. I really want to revisit this in the summer and re-evaluate it’s charging performance on a sunny day.
Score: 9/10
I really like this solar panel. It just feels like such a professional product but designed and packaged in such a way that makes it super accessible to every day consumers. It takes skill to achieve that and for that reason it gets an almost perfect 9/10.
EcoFlow also offer a 12 month warranty with this panel, which isn’t the longest, but is decent enough!
More Tech Review Content
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Disclosure:
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CodeWithMike is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to www.amazon.com
The EcoFlow 110w Solar Panel was sent to us in exchange for an honest review. We have not been paid for our opinions.
