Best Waterproof Solar Panels For Portable Power Stations

Are There Waterproof/Water-resistant Solar Panels Compatible With Power Stations?

Portable power stations (or solar generators, as some call them) have exploded in popularity with travelers lately, and for good reason.

These units can power and charge your electronics anywhere with their built-in batteries, and most come with solar charge controllers that let you plug in solar panels directly.

Related Product: We’ve used the Renogy 100W w/ kickstand (click to view on Amazon) in all weather. Still going strong and highly recommended.

With solar panels connected, you can camp in your car, van, or RV completely off-grid and still have electricity.

But here’s the thing about being outdoors. Weather happens. And when you’re relying on solar panels for power, rain becomes more than just an inconvenience.

That’s why I put together this guide on waterproof and water-resistant solar panels that can actually handle getting wet.

If you’re wondering how to connect any of these panels to your specific power station, drop a comment below and I’ll help you figure out the right adapter.

What To Think About

When dealing with electricity, even if it’s just electricity produced by a solar panel, it’s important to do it safely. Especially when water is brought into the mix.

Here are a couple of things to know.

• Waterproof Vs Water-resistant – These aren’t the same thing. A waterproof panel can be dunked in water. A water resistant panel can only handle splashes. Look for at least an IP67 rating for true waterproofing.
• The connectors – Most solar panel connectors aren’t waterproof. I recommend MC4 connectors because they use rubber rings to keep water out. They’re also the most common type, so you’ll find lots of adapters for power stations.
• Tempered glass vs Fabric – Those foldable panels that fit in backpacks are usually made with cloth and plastic. They won’t handle rain as well as solid panels made with glass and metal frames.
• The sun can cause more issues than the rain – Hot panels work worse than cool ones. The sun can actually hurt your panel’s performance more than rain.
• Cables and junction boxes – Your solar panel might have different water ratings for different parts. The junction box might handle less water than the cables. Always check the manual.
• There are no waterproof power stations – This is important. Even if your solar panel can handle rain, your power station can’t. There are no waterproof power stations. Rain will ruin them. Use long cables to keep your battery dry.

Waterproof & Water-resistant Solar Panels

This article is mostly about waterproof solar panels, but I added some water-resistant panels to the table as well.

Every panel on the table below has an IP-rating. I suggest reading this article on donewithwires.com if these ratings are new to you to get a quick understanding of what it means.

After the table, I’ll talk a bit about how to connect solar panels that use MC4 connectors to the most common portable power stations.

Table List

Click a feature to sort. On phones/small screens, scroll or swipe sideways to view the full table.

	Model	Watts	Connectors	IP-Rating	Optimum Operating Voltage	Optimum Operating Current	Weight	Link
	HQST 50W Solar Panel	50W	MC4	IP65 (junction box), IP67 (connectors)	18V	3.01A	8.8 lbs	Amazon
	Renogy 100W Solar Panel	100W	MC4	IP65 (junction box), IP67 (connectors)	20.4V	4.91A	14.1 lbs	Amazon
	Renogy 100W Built-in Kickstand	100W	MC4	IP65 (junction box), IP67 (connectors)	20.3V	4.94A	20.5 lbs	Amazon
	EcoFlow 160W Portable Solar Panel	160W	MC4	IP67	18.2V	8.8A	11 lbs	Amazon
	Renogy 175W Flexible Solar Panel	175W	MC4	IP68 (junction box), IP67 (connectors)	19.5V	8.89A	6.2 lbs	Amazon
	Bluetti 200W Solar Panel	200W	MC4	IP65 (junction box), IP67 (connectors)	20.5V	9.7A	16.1 lbs	Amazon

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How To Connect Any Of The Solar Panels To A Power Station/Solar Generator

Not all power stations use the same inputs, but here are how you can connect MC4 panels to most of the common brands.

If your brand of power station is not on the list, please leave a comment and tell me the exact model name and I’ll help you.

Note that the adapters below are made for solar panels with a positive MC4 male connector and a negative MC4 female connector, which make them compatible with the panels above.

If you find a different adapter, make sure it’s wired the same way as the adapters below. The small text on the MC4 connector does not always show the correct polarity (positive might be negative).

Jackery – Jackery uses the 8mm input, but they recently made some changes to it. Read this article to see which input your model uses.

Goal Zero – Goal Zero uses both the 8mm and the Anderson Powerpole connector (High Power Port) depending on the model. For connecting panels up to 120W, you can use the 8mm input with an an MC4 to 8mm adapter. If you have a larger panel or several panels, use the High Power Port if your Yeti has one, with an MC4 to Anderson adapter. You might have to rearrange the Anderson connectors on this adapter, which is easy to do. Just pull by the connectors and not the cable, and change the orientation of the connectors to fit the Yeti input.

EcoFlow – EcoFlow uses the XT60 input, and most of its power stations include an MC4 to XT60 adapter. If yours didn’t, you can buy one on Amazon.

Anker – Anker use the 8mm input on most of its power stations. It can be hard to find a compatible 8mm adapter though, and I can’t promise that the MC4 to 8mm adapter will work since there have been mixed reports.

Bluetti – Bluetti is also pretty good at including MC4 to DC adapters for its power stations. Most smaller models use the 8mm input, and require an MC4 to 8mm adapter if it wasn’t included.

Rockpals – Rockpals uses a mix of different inputs, and I’d need to know the specific model you have to tell you which adapter to get. Please leave a comment if you need help finding the right one.

Can you connect two panels together?

You can connect two panels together in either parallel or series.

Which way you should do it, if at all, depends on the power station you have and the limitations of the solar charge controller inside of it.

You can usually find the charge controller input limitations in the product manual or by its specifications online.

If it says the input handles 12-30V, you need a panel that works between 12 and 30 volts. All the panels from earlier would work with this setup.

When you combine panels, you need to know the difference between parallel and series and why it matters.

A parallel connection

To make a parallel connection, you connect all the positives together and all the negatives together.

This is done with an MC4 Y branch.

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This adds the amps together while keeping the voltage the same as one panel.

So if one panel makes 5 amps at 18 volts, two panels wired in parallel will make 10 amps and 18 volts.

The two panels would still work with the 12-30V input from our example above.

There are amp limits too, but most power stations can handle a few extra amps. Not always, though, so check your manual.

A series connection

To make a series connection, you connect the positive from the first panel to the negative on the second panel.

You end up with one positive wire from one panel and one negative from the other panel. That’s what you connect to your power station adapter.

This adds the volts together while keeping the amps the same.

So if one panel makes 5 amps at 18 volts, two panels wired in series will make 5 amps at 36 volts.

36 is more than 30, so it wouldn’t work with the 12-30V input from our example above.

The pros and cons of each

With parallel connections, each panel works on its own. If one panel breaks or gets shaded, the other keeps making power if it’s in the sun.

But parallel isn’t as good when the sun is weak (early morning, late evening, or cloudy days) if you have an MPPT charge controller.

Series connections work better in poor conditions if your power station has an MPPT charge controller. But if one panel fails or gets shaded, it brings the other panel down too.

You can’t always choose between the two, but when you can, think about what’s most likely to happen with your setup and pick from there.

Are there MC4 extension cables?

Yes, there are a lot of different MC4 extension cables on the market.

I recommend the Geosiry twin wire solar extension cable.

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I like it because it keeps the cables neatly bundled in the protective sheath and comes in various lengths.