Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

Any idea of the ability of the GrounZero solar panels such as this:

http://www.goalzero.com/shop/p/58/Sherp ... e-Kit/1:1/

to charge the Vagabond/Vagabond mini through the PCB inverter?

I'm guessing their inverter would not be useful to power PCB strobes but their batteries would work fine with the PBC vagabond inverters.

Would 30W be useful for far-from-the-car/grid site work? (for at least some values of useful?)

Thanks

We have not tested this pack, so we do not have any real world advice on this. However, the 100W AC inverter could be used to charge the battery via the VML charge cord, though it would not be all that efficient (i.e. 120Wh from the goal zero battery will translate to probably 60Wh in the VML battery after all teh converting). The battery itself may not be able to provide the power required by the inverter on recycle.

Unless these panels can produce 16.8V output they cannot charge a VML lithium battery. Even then, charging Lithium battery generally requires a specialized charger to control the charge rate and current to avoid battery damage.

A better solution is a $20 100W car inverter connected to the charger that comes with the VML. While the lights require a pure sine inverter like VML, the VML charger does not, and will work from cheap simulated sine inverters. You can get a 12V to 120VAC 100W charger for about $20 at Walmart, Walgreens or any truck stop and other stores.