So I've got a residence now with access to roof space for solar panels. I put my one, 100W solar panel up and ran the wires to my laptop to see how it did.
On a slightly overcast day, a 100W solar panel is not enough to power a ~60W laptop. If the sun was shining directly overhead of the panel, yes, a 100W solar panel would be enough. But this is real life.
Then I hooked up 40 more Watts of solar panel on my roof for a total of 140W of solar panels. That still didn't keep the laptop afloat.
Then however the sun came out, and it wasn't direct sunlight, but it was brighter than before. That was enough to keep the laptop going.
So, what is my real life review? A 100W solar panel is not enough to power a laptop on an overcast day. A 200W panel (or combined panels) would be sufficient. So if you're ever wondering how much solar panel to take with you so you can work on your laptop anywhere (during the day), it will be almost too much for one person to carry (rigid glass enclosed panels).
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