this post was submitted on 18 Jul 2026
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There is some inefficiency in charging a battery but not that much. Main losses would be that the solar panel isn't actually outputting 30w as you won't be getting ideal conditions all day.
But it doesn't necessarily matter either. 65w to charge a battery but you only need it once a week for an hour can easily be managed by 5w all day for a week.
Though planning for an apocalypse is kinda pointless anyway. Preparing for a disaster is more reasonable, such as a storm knocking out power for a while.
The inefficiency isn’t the battery, it’s the panel. They run at about 20-25% efficiency at best.
The rated wattage should take that into consideration.