Survivalist Solar Phone Charger

Product Description

Most likely you have seen many sCharger-5's on the trails. It is very light weight and packs a punch with true output power. This is very important for the duration hiker. The sCharger-5 can charge your USB device directly from the sun alone. The sCharger-5 is very compact, easy to use. And it produces an incredible high power to low weight ratio. It also provides Auto-Reset. We call it Auto-Retry. Suntactics sChargers are designed and assembled in Silicon Valley, California. We use only the best solar materials. And we use very high measures on quality with superior American workmanship. Our solar chargers may be a little pricy but they work and will perform for many years. Look us up and call us. Package includes sCharger-5, Travel bag, User manual. Check out our sCharger-14 for even more power. Please be sure to read the Comments that go with our Reviews. We actually have a website and direct phone number. Package includes sCharger-5, Travel bag, User manual.

Top Reviews

I don't recommend to connect any cellphone or camera directly
by Orlando Gorgoy (5 out of 5 stars)
April 20, 2018

Don't expect this item to perform as a wall power outlet, with the technology available out there in solar power this solar charger does an exelent job.

I received it after 5:00 PM (S5 Model) and put it to the test right away, didn't perform well because the sun was almost setting.The next day, at 11:00 AM, and facing directly to the sun, in Miami, it took 4 hours to fully charge a 5,000 mAh portable charger; I think this is very impressive.

I don't recommend to connect any cellphone or camera directly, I'll using it for my thru-hikes to recharge my portable chargers; a lunch brake around noon will be the perfect time to take it out.

I always read the bad reviews first when buying something online, and I can tell you that, as usual, some people don't follow the instructions and blame the product, I strongly recomend this product, but please, carefully READ AND FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS.
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worked for me on my JMT trip
by Gyong (4 out of 5 stars)
September 20, 2017

Worked well on my JMT backpacking trip. I had mounted this on top of my backpacking using shoe strings and I have to say it worked pretty well. It's not perfect, but it got me through the whole trail along with 11000mah battery pack. I charged my Samsung S8 (every night), Fujifilm X-T1 battery (2 times). As it should, if sun is hiding behind the cloud it doesn't work well ;). I would recommend larger capacity, cause it's bit slow at charging my battery pack.
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Flawless!!
by jeff (5 out of 5 stars)
August 1, 2015

Used this for a thru-hike of the John Muir Trail for my phone and headlamp. It worked flawlessly! I used my phone with the guthooks app and for taking pics and video so I charged a lot and the panel never let me down even when it got wet when my tent flooded during a heavy rain. When the sun came out it fired right up:) Now I use it on my boat to keep the music going.
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Featherweight Power Chamo For Backpacking. Totally satisfied.
by M. Chudzik (5 out of 5 stars)
September 16, 2019

I bought this specially to meet my backpacking agenda to get all of my pack down to 25 pounds.

Just took it with me on a 5 day backpack around Mount Shasta and so glad I paid attention to other reviews between this and other solar chargers that are heavier than they advertise and take longer to charge.

This little featherweight in my pack was a champ at fast charging the Ankeny battery pack that Amazon recommends with it.

My 4 companions were packing pounds of chargers and batteries and I was actually loaning mine to them as well as the Ankeny.

One caveat, my iPhone wouldn't charge directly off the Suntactics charger and I suspect it is because of the aftermarket cable and not incompatability. So, I highly recommend a good lightweight powerpack to go with it.

Don't mind either about the basicness of this panel. It is barebones but durable enough to use in rugged conditions. They obviously chose minimalist design over rugged jacketing and I agree it's a good design choice for meeting exactly what I needed.
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I would not recommend the Suntactics sCharger-5
by narwhal (2 out of 5 stars)
July 11, 2015

I tested two different Suntactics sCharger-5. I find that the Suntactics sCharger-5 does not achieve the claimed current of 1 A. The auto-restart function does work, which actually caused problems (described below). I would not recommend the Suntactics sCharger-5.

Pros:
- lightweight (both were 9 oz on my scale)
- anchor point rivets allow for easy mounting
- auto-restart feature works when moving in and out of shadows

Cons:
- does not come close to the claimed 1 A current.
- suspect build quality, especially the "hinge" which is just the laminate bridging the two panels. The tops of hinge was crushed both chargers I tested new out of the box.
- auto-restart engages for no reason even under full sun

Now, on to the testing.

The setup was as follows: an LG G2 D802 with a 3000 mAh battery is connected using the same 6 foot USB cable in all tests. The G2 is running Android 4.4.2, and data is collected using Battery Monitor Widget v. 3.8.

Test 1, setting a baseline with EasyAcc 10000mAh PB10000C powerpack.
- I set a baseline using an EasyAcc 10000mAh powerpack. I have the phone in airplane mode so all radios are disabled, but I leave the phone on to record the data. A PortaPow USB monitor (PortaPowStMonV2) shows charging at ~1.4 A (the PortaPow was not left in-line during charging). Charging began at 16% at 8:34 PM and ended at 100% at 9:55 PM. This equates to 31.1 mAh gain per min.

Test 2, Suntactics sCharger-5 on bicycle
- Starting with a real world test, I set out with the Suntactics sCharger-5 attached to the trunk of my bicycle. First, in the parking lot I pointed the charger directly at the sun and grabbed a reading with my PortaPow USB monitor, and only get a ~.45 A current (the PortaPow was not left in-line during charging). According to claims from Suntastic, under a clear sky with the charger aimed directly at the sun I should get 1 A, but I get less than half of that. For this test, I am using GPS, and I am also playing music on my phone. Not sure which way this test will go, I start with the phone charged to 55% at 2:14 PM. At 38.95° N latitude I set out on the trail pictured. You can see the trail has an open view of the sunny sky, but is surrounded on both sides by trees which do cast shadows on the trail. Going in and out of shadow caused the charging to start and stop, this was predicted. The charger stood no chance of keeping up with the power usage of the phone. By 3:52 PM at 20% I decided the test was over. This equates to -10.7 mAh gain per min.

The battery on my phone drained much faster than it would of had it not been hooked up to any charger at all. This is something I read in many other people's reviews, and I have a theory, at least for my test. The green bars on the battery monitor screenshot show times when the phone was connected to a power source. The yellow bars show times when the screen was on. Whenever I connect my phone to a power source, or disconnect it from a power source, the screen turns on for 20 seconds. Since the charging started and stopped on average every 30 seconds, my phone's screen was on for most of the time, using much unnecessary power.

I don't hold this test against the charger, because I think you'll find that all solar chargers recommend that they are used stationary angled directly toward the sun. I do include the results however as I think hiking and biking are very common reasons why people reading this review may consider a solar charger.

Test 3, Suntactics sCharger-5 stationary
- I have the phone in airplane mode so all radios are disabled, but I leave the phone on to record the data. I grabbed a reading with my PortaPow USB monitor, and only get a ~.45 A current (the PortaPow was not left in-line during charging). Again, less than 50% of the claimed current under ideal conditions. At 38.95° N I leave the phone to charge, and after a short time you can see (by the area highlighted in red) that the phone stops charging and doesn't charge for nearly an hour. Why? As I discovered when I went to check on it, the wind had blown the charger over. I can't and don't fault Suntactics for this at all, but it goes to show you that you can't just leave a solar charger in the sun and walk away. So, I take steps to anchor the charger, and I babysit it to make sure it gets full light and does not fall over again. What I see is the exact same problem as I saw on my bicycle, but this time there's no excuse. The charger disconnected and reconnected multiple times, but I was not moving in and out of shadow this time. I was in full view of the clear sky; no clouds, and no shadows. The fact that it happened slightly fewer times, combined with the fact that the phone was in airplane mode, did allow the phone battery to charge slightly. This equates to 3.75 mAh G per min, but is not at all acceptable.

Additional notes: I had to wait weeks between tests because it's been raining nearly every day where I live. It is worth considering that conditions are rarely ideal for solar charging. If you largely only take weekend trips, or take trips where you periodically have access to power (staying in a hotel at night) then you'll get far more reliable power from an external battery pack.
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Ultra-Light
by Mike N. (5 out of 5 stars)
February 17, 2017

Arrived today, and immediately put to work in the Colorado sun. Durable, ultralight solar panel as described. 15 min of charging my Android Nexus 6P from 63% to 67% ! honestly I wasn't expecting that quick of charge from this small unit. Wow!

I purchased this unit to replace a brick battery pack for multiple day backpacks in Rocky Mountain National Park. Leaving batteries, and the brick, adding this solar unit will reduce my load in my pack by 13.4oz. Yeah I know seems like a small reduction, but well worth it to me. I will update with further testing.

Update 3/12/2017....

I have tested the unit charging everything from battery Pack (Lytle) and my Garmin Inreach Explorer. Needless to say, I'm very impressed with this ultra-light, fast solar charging unit. I had completely exhausted the battery pack, and placed it on the charger in direct, sometimes indirect sunlight, charging to a full charge in 3 hours. This unit is a keeper and will be my go to for recharging in the back country all summer long!!
-Mike
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Best solar panel
by JM (5 out of 5 stars)
September 6, 2017

Best solar panel I have ever owned. I have owned a few over the years, and none of them charged like this one.

Advertised as 5 watts but in direct light turned toward the sun I get more than 5 watts. This charges as well as a battery pack for most items in the mid day hours. Used it many times, and washed it a few, no detectable damage. Keeps on working. Compact and reasonably strong, fits in backpacks well.

You do need direct sun, indirect or evening sun just doesn't cut it for solar panels.
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good size and quality for hiking. pair with USB battery.
by chad hussung (4 out of 5 stars)
August 18, 2017

Quite good for the size. Folded it is slightly shorter and wider than a kindle. Opened it is slightly longer and wider. With some d-rings and a little paracord, it easily hooks to a backpack or bike gear. There is no real hinge between the two panels besides the plastic that laminates the panels. Opening beyond 180 degrees too often could lead to failure. I have slightly overextended it a few times and still works. A small bungee cord across the hinge has since prevented this. Use a USB battery pack for charging. My phone wakes the screen when charging starts or stops which can result in a net loss of charge on a cloudy day.
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Does what is supposed to
by Mike D (5 out of 5 stars)
August 22, 2013

Simply put, this solar charger does exactly what they say it does. I took it to Scout camp where we didn't have any phone charging resources at all and it charged several iPhones in about 2 hours. I also charged a Mophie powerstation (about 8 hours to charge), some cheap Rayovac USB charger (about 30 minutes) and some AA batteries (about an hour). I charged numerous other phones from other Scout parents that didn't have options. The panel was rained on and it continued to work.

Customer service has been phenomenal...they truly stand behind their product. How refreshing. I left camp with a minor nit (since I'm an engineer and a bit OCD) about the design and they simply replaced the unit. Amazing.

I considered the Goal Zero Nomad 7 since my backpacking friend has one, but I'm so glad I chose this one. Build quality, charging time, physical size, and everything else about it is far superior. My friend is ditching the Nomad and buying this one. I think I sold several at Scout camp.
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Very impressive!
by S. Dalton (5 out of 5 stars)
November 30, 2012

Works exceedingly well. Charges fast. Charges in shade and on over cast days. Charges in indirect sun light. I used this heavily over a 10 day hike. Even charged while on the move, holding it in my hand. Robust too. Someone drove their hiking pool into it on accident and this damaged the heavily coated surface; but, the unit kept up with quick charging. During the hike, other people used other type solar charges. We laid a couple chargers side by side in the mornings. This one charged quicker; and, felt like the charges lasted longer. I was tempted to get a charger with a dressy carry case; but, decided to spend money on pure functionality; this proved a wise buying decision. Plus, made in the USA.

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