Did my ability to search for things intelligently on the internet die when Google search did or are there legitimately no personal umbrellas with solar panels and a battery pack? Like I feel like that would be an obvious thing, and there’s a bajillion beach umbrellas and patio umbrellas that have solar panels. How are there no personal versions for wandering around on a sunny day with portable shade that gets you a charged battery pack? Is this a thing and I just can’t find it or does it not exist yet and all of science has failed me in every way possible?
Sorry for the terrible AI picture, I didn’t create it I just found it on the internet and it was the only one I could find because these apparently don’t actually exist.
There are foldable and flexible solar panels that go on a backpack. An umbrella would be kind of silly. What are you trying to do? How much power do you need?
Here is a 6.5 watt solar backpack though I robably wouldn’t buy it. It shoud be able to charge a 40WH USB power bank in a day or so lying down facing the sun. You never get the full rated power from solar cells. It weighs about 3 lb per the mgfr page.
https://sidedeal.com/deals/outdoor-tech-mountaineer-solar-panel-backpack
I just have never felt a need for something like that. The power to weight ratio is too low compared to recharging batteries from a wall plug, unless you have to go for long periods (like weeks) without access to a wall plug AND you are able to park the solar panel in good sunlight all day. If you want to use it while walking around, power collected will be several times lower.
Solar is great for stationary installations or maybe on top of an RV, but portable is of very limited usefulness.
That would be effectively worthless if it was used as displayed, with the panel on the backpack. Solar panels perform best when directly facing the sun, as soon as you start to angle them away, they lose output.
I’ve had reasonable results with leaving them on the ground all day though.