I'm hesitant to invest in a solar power bank for my hikes. I see tons of them on Amazon right now, but I get the feeling that French sunlight isn't really ideal for that. Does anyone use one and can tell me if it's actually effective or if I should just go with a regular model?
The solar panel on an external battery really isn't great for recharging on hikes. The thing is, you need a lot of direct sunlight for a long time to generate even a tiny bit of current, and in France even in summer it's not guaranteed. If you're in the mountains or at the beach in summer, it can help a bit for small top-ups, but you really need optimal conditions. So it's more of a bonus than an actual charging system.
The main problem is energy efficiency. The small solar panels built into power banks are really weak compared to what you can do with a regular charger. If you're counting on solar to recharge your phone on a hike, you're going to be disappointed. It's better to get a regular external battery with good capacity and maybe add a separate small solar panel if you really want to try it - at least you can orient it properly and get something more efficient.
My suggestion? Get an external battery from a good brand with high capacity (20000mAh minimum) and forget about the built-in panel. If you ever really feel like testing solar afterwards, you can buy a separate panel for long outdoor trips, but for regular hiking it's really not a priority.
To be honest, it's kind of both. The solar panel does work, but don't imagine it as some miracle charger for hiking. In practice, on a cloudy day or even in nice weather when the sun's low (which is often the case in France), you're going to generate energy really slowly. We're talking a few percent per hour in the best conditions, not enough to actually charge your phone quickly. It's more of a backup that lets you not completely drain the battery over several days.
The trap a lot of people fall into is that the panel's advertised capacity (the watts) is just marketing BS. Even a 10W panel will only give you that power under proper summer sun, no shade, right at noon. Soon as you're in the shade, the sky's overcast, or you're in the mountains surrounded by peaks, it drops drastically. Plus you've got conversion losses: the panel generates current, which has to charge the battery's components, which then has to charge your device. At each step you're losing energy.
If you're doing chill hikes over several days, a hybrid model might be worth it: a properly sized regular battery with a small integrated panel just in case. But if you actually want to be able to charge your phone regularly while hiking, a good traditional power bank without a panel is going to serve you way better. It's more reliable and you won't be paying the solar markup for a feature that's basically just a gimmick in real life.
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