Goal Zero Boulder 100 Briefcase, 100 Watt Monocrystalline Solar Panel

Great Solar panels for camping to charge up our portable generator. Great value for what you paid for. Cord length is great, easily portable and easy to carry.

I just used two of these briefcase units (2x100w) at Burning Man and they worked great. I put them on top of the trailer and really didn't bother to turn them toward the morning and evening sun. During the day they got to a high of about 150W generated (combined) which was about perfect for the Yeti 1400 battery we also bought, when combined with my plugging in the yeti battery when the trailer's generator was on. I might add a 3rd unit in the future, but for now two was just fine.While I did bungee them to the roof of the trailer, they are pretty heavy and I wasn't too worried about any issues with wind. That said, given their weight, I really wouldn't want to have a single 200W unit.More specifically on the 2x100W vs. 1x200W, I'm really glad I bought two 100W briefcase units instead of one 200W unit. The two units fit perfectly on top of each other on the Frontrunner Outfitters shelf in the back of my Jeep wrangler. I just put a towel between the bottom unit and the shelf and then a towel between the first unit and the second unit and then strapped them down with two 48" flat bungee cords. The towels were probably overkill but given the solar panels face outwards (exposed) when the briefcase is closed I wanted to be safer than sorry. Also, the towels helped the units to not slide on the shelf. The size was also perfect in that I had room to the left of the two panels on the shelf to put the battery. Perfect fit. In addition to a single 200w unit being probably too big for my purposes, these units are not light and I wouldn't really want to haul a single 200W unit onto the top of my trailer.One note on pairing panels: You can't plug one set of panels into another set and then to your battery. I plugged the two sets of panels into one Goal Zero 4x 8mm combiner to Anderson adapter and then ran a single Anderson power line into the trailer.

People complain that Goal Zero panels are a ripoff but if you look around at other comparable options they are are actually less money than the Renogy folding panels. Monocrystalline high quality panels, beefy aluminum case with reinforces corners, nice carry handle, beefy legs, waterproof connector box all add up to a solid panel. It's not super light but the folding size makes them easy to wrangle and transport. Plugged into the MPPT input on my Yeti 1000, I was able to get up to 70 watts from this in November (I think 80 watts is closer to the best you can expect). Avoid being lulled into getting flexible panels - they will fail quickly while these rigid panels should work fine for 30-40+ years.A few cons:- carrying case is just a flimsy sheath that doesn't fully unzip, panels are on the outside so be careful- kickstand has a fixed 45 degree tilt but in New England, we need closer to 60 degrees in winter so adjustable would be better (placing yoga blocks under each foot is a quick fix)- uses the GZ 8mm cable which is a pro if you have a GZ Yeti because these are waterproof and solid connections but you need to buy adaptors if you're using a different battery setup- cables are short, you'll likely need the 15 foot extension cables - I recommend combining 8mm panels into the Anderson connector because that extension cable uses high gauge wire - expect big losses with the 8mm extension cables

I buy these for the smaller size and lower weight. I am able to move them around easily and pack them away after use. I have several and all work well, even the refurbished one I bought directly from Goal Zero. Even if you are stronger than me, you may find the compact size useful. They do cost quite a bit, but I feel they are a good value and the company has very good customer support should you need to contact them. Since we went to solar power our camping is much more quiet and pleasant and I don’t have to fire up the generator in the morning while others sleep. Also, they can charge when clouds cover the sun. Slow and low, but still powering through light clouds..