For our power on the go, we found strapping Goal Zero’s folding panels to our pack was a cinch. We found the best use is to charge the AA battery pack and to use that for charging other electronic gear, like an iPhone or camera after you’ve stopped to camp.
The Guide 10 Adventure Kit combines the Nomad 7m solar panel, the Guide 10 battery pack, a 12volt “cigarette adapter”, a USB to mini-USB cable, a 6 volt cable and a AAA battery pack insert. The Nomad solar panel measures 6 x 9 x 1 inches when folded and 19 x 9 x 0.1 inches when unfolded. The edges of the panel are fitted with loops that make it easy to lash it to a backpack.
We tried the Goal Zero in the hot Southern Utah sun and got a complete charge on 4 AA batteries in under two hours. We hear cloud cover can lengthen charge time by 50%.
$130
