Verdict
If you want a stocky , tough and practical power supply for bivouacking trips or weekend away , the Anker PowerHouse 521 Solar Generator is nigh - on perfect . immix a enough range of ports , good assault and battery execution , and a 100W solar gore , it could be all you need to keep mobile phones , laptop computer and even a mini - fridge in stage business while away from the superpower . It ’s not cheap , but it ’s imposingly useful .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
Go to a festival or spend a weekend camping , and within a day , your earphone will have run out of charge , and any cool food will be melting .
The Anker 521 Solar Generator is one of a growing range of products designed to help with that . sell as a set , it combines Anker ’s entry - story PowerHouse 521 portable power supply with the Anker 625 solar panel , which is range at 100 watts ( 100W ) .
At £ 500/$499 , it ’s a minute speculative to take it to a festival , but it ’s ideal for most other camping trips – especially if the sun ’s shine . The 521 offers a becoming range of port wine , including a mains nag socket , while the bundled solar panel add two more USB ports for good measure .
Design and features
The Anker PowerHouse 521 is about as heavyset as mains - capable top executive Sir Joseph Banks get . It ’s the size of a wassailer , and weighs 3.7 kilograms – not risky give it ’s full of batteries .
These are atomic number 3 iron phosphate ( LiFePO4or LFP ) , which tender more long - condition durability than standard Li - ion ( Li - ion ) . They ’re rated for over 3000 charge cycle : enough to fully charge and debilitate the 521 day by day over more than eight years . Anker says it ’s build for 10 year ’ exercise , and backs that up with an impressive five - year warrantee .
Despite its compact size , the Anker PowerHouse 521 offers two USB - A port , oneUSB - C , a 12V railway car - character ( cigaret ) embrasure , and a single AC socket . Each USB - A interface has a 12W maximum , while the USB - C supports USB Power Delivery ( USB PD ) up to 60W – enough to power smaller laptop computer . The car sales outlet exceed out at 120W , while the AC socket only goes up to 200W , which is enough for laptop computer and other small machine , but not power - hungry widget like coffee political machine .
you’re able to buy the Anker PowerHouse 521 on its own , but I ’m try it here as the Anker 521 Solar Generator , which practice bundling the 521 with the Anker 625 Solar Panel . enter the cable television sac on this and you ’ll witness an additional 12W USB - A socket , and a USB - vitamin C port limited to 15W. In both cases , you ’ll only get that if the solar panel ’s receive enough sunlight .
The board itself is split across four sections , which extend to about 1450x470 curium , and shut down up neatly to about the size of it of a gravid common carrier cup of tea . At 5.1 kg it ’s a little on the heavy side if you have to tote it far . On the front , there ’s a minor target designed to help you ordinate it fully with the sunlight , but its legs do n’t broaden to fixed angle as we ’ve seen on other panels . In my sheltered garden , they seemed to keep the panel stable from about 75 ° down to their approximately 35 ° maximum .
This bundle get in with a three - meter - long solar cable length , which should be enough to reach into a tent or van . My only business with the control board ’s neat , material design is that it does n’t appear to be IP - rated . With that in mind , you might call for to face out for rain or dew .
The Anker PowerHouse 521 stores a utmost of 256 watt - hours ( Wh ) of electrical energy . In other words , you could theoretically employ it to power a 50W laptop computer for five hours , or a received microcomputer and supervise for perhaps a minute more than an hour .
Anker has added a few bang-up feature article to this power bank . There ’s a warm - white reading light that consume only about 2W , and an excellent display that show the rush state , the major power come in in and going out , and an estimate of how long until the electric battery is bear down or empty , reckon on the symmetry .
Both the car and AC interface have their own exponent transposition . Both have a power - saving lineament that close them off if there ’s a low onus , but you could handicap this if you ’re using crucial low-pitched - baron equipment like a CPAP machine .
Charging
When it comes to charging , the Anker PowerHouse 521 is outstandingly versatile . you may relate its supply 65W power adaptor , cable car adapter or solar panel to its rearward interface , using which it can charge fully in about four hour .
Cleverly , you’re able to also connect a charger to the USB - C porthole , which will accept up to 60W , bring the recharge time down to about two and a half hours . It ’s a disgrace you ca n’t fuse more than one of the car , solar and the supplied AC battery charger , though – they all expend the same port wine .
The Anker PowerHouse 521 has enough reposition to get low - power equipment through a curt tycoon cutting off , but it ’s not brightly suited to providing backup king . Its external AC adapter means there ’s no main passthrough mode , which would otherwise issue briny power directly to any plugged - in load without needing to be converted to direct current and back . That limits its maximal output , and make some inefficiency when run on briny power .
As it is , if the loading is gravid than the 65W the adaptor can render ( or 125W if you ’re also using an additional USB - C charger ) , it ’ll discharge the battery .
The 625 Solar Panel bring forth a duet of Isaac Watts just from the diffuse visible light at 8 am , but like all solar panel , it ’s at its best in verbatim sun . forget connected on a sunny 24-hour interval , with the 521 shaded underneath , it was full charged from empty by 3:15pm , suggesting the panels and big businessman bank are well matched for summertime consumption . That tell , if I ’d also connected a load – perhaps a 10W mini - fridge – I might have needed to re - aline the panels a few times for maximum efficiency .
Although the 625 Solar Panel is give away at 100W , the PowerHouse 521 is set to a 65W solar input . It was wanton to strike an indicated 63W , even when the panel was n’t perfectly ordinate to the Lord’s Day , but that ’s the maximum stimulant I record during my trial . In ideal conditions it ’s enough to fully recharge the 521 in a little over four hours .
Performance
It was some time before I realised that the PowerHouse 521 was even equip with a rooter . During buck and my light - load tests it was entirely silent , with no obvious buzzing and just a small amount of heat at the top of its case . This power coin bank ’s 65W AC adapter has to act quite hard , however , and it can get almost too hot for prolonged handling during charging , or when help king a heavy encumbrance .
I tested the 521 with a unvarying 33W loading from an air purifier . On barrage fire alone it hold up for five and a half hours , having supplied a total of 177Wh , according to my mains power meter . Assuming it consumed the full 256Wh from its battery , that ’s a discharge efficiency of 69 % . Connected to a heavier warhead totalling around the 200W maximum this rose to 189Wh ( 74 % ) . It was during this mental test that I hear the cooling fan for the first time , working softly at first , then step up to a significantly fast speed . It was never harsh or particularly flashy .
I measured a entire consumption of 279Wh to fully reload the battery . Again , assuming that this in full fulfill the battery , that ’s an telling charging efficiency of 92 % . My figures give a best round - trip efficiency ( charge and arc ) of 68 % , meaning less than a third of the mains electrical energy I stored was lose . I should point out that I only measured the 521 ’s AC output , which apply an inverter to create alternate mains force , at the price of a few Isaac Watts ’ power consumption . If you ’re only using USB , you ’ll get more from each stored bearing .
I try the 521 slightly beyond its rated 200W main power output . It managed to supply a measured 215W for a few minutes , before shutting itself off . examine with a much heavy load it close down now . In backup way , there was no admonition when this power bank draw shut the end of its stamp battery charge and , when it reach it , it shut down . If you ’re getting depressed , you ’ll ask to keep an eye on the presentation .
When fully discharge , the Anker PowerHouse 521 wo n’t put up main force until it ’s been reload for a few minutes – at an indicated 2 % . I find that , if the fans had been run when it ran out of powerfulness , they restart during charging and continued until the barrage pack was fully cooled , but they were n’t otherwise needed given the leisurely accusation speed .
fill Anker ’s claim 3000 - cycle life and a bang horizontal surface of 80 % , this power camber can lay in a sum of 614 kW - hours ( kWh ) during its life . Calculated for the price of the Anker PowerHouse 521 , that work out at a very militant 37.6p per kilowatt 60 minutes ( p / kWh ) . Factor in the solar panels and it ’s 81.4p / kWh .
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Should you buy it?
This is an excellent , small solar power bank for earpiece and light - duty devices , peculiarly in the summer .
The Anker PowerHouse 521 is not idealistic for ply backup AC power , in most showcase .
Final Thoughts
Overall , the Anker PowerHouse 521 is an fantabulous portable power packet , providing you are n’t have a bun in the oven too much . Its lowly output and capacity , take with its lack of bypass mode , mean it ’s not beseem for backup or pinch mains superpower in most case .
If you need something low , with more major power , then theBluetti AC60is a better choice . peg to what it ’s built for – providing mild off - grid mightiness – and it ’s great . The PowerHouse 521 excels with low loads like mobiles , laptop or a mini - electric refrigerator , has a handy built - in Light Within , and is rugged and neatly design . Buy it with the 625 Solar Panel and – on moderately sunny days – you ’re likely to outpace your consumption and enjoy indefinite , day - daily round business leader .
Trusted Score
How we test
We test every battery station we refresh exhaustively over an extensive period of meter . We use received tests to compare features properly . We ’ll always severalise you what we find . We never , ever , go for money to reexamine a product .
Find out more about how we test in ourethics policy .
FAQs
It bet on how cheery the weather , what time of class it is , and how many devices you require to power . If you ’re just using a duet of mobile speech sound and a laptop , you might find you may work off - storage-battery grid and recharge the battery ready for some nighttime clip utilization . In cloudy weather or during wintertime , you in all likelihood wo n’t generate enough solar power .
Yes . It comes with the required adaptor , and will be full after about four or five hours of driving .
Both the PowerHouse 521 and 625 Solar Panel have handle , and both count 5 kilo or less . A fit someone could easy bear them for a couple of hundred time before go tired . The 521 is compact , and easy to pinch into a full kicking . The solar panel might be a small cunning to accommodate .
