Instead of the sane approach of specifying 5, 9, 12, 15, and/or 20 volts and the amperages, products insist on listing every model of device in existence instead.

Most will do 12V, but I always want to make sure it’ll power my laptop (20V) as well.

A big thank you to reviewers who post images of the actual products where it shows the relevant info in one short line on the labels:

e.g. PD Output: 5V=3A, 9V=3A, 12V=3A, 15V=3A, 20V=3A

  • SmokeyDope@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    12v solar -> USB PD adapter

    Is this by chance closer to what you are looking for? input voltage range is 13V-27V, output is usbc-pd 18w or 12v-1.5A the DC out is a bit higher.

    • Admiral Patrick@dubvee.orgOP
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      1 day ago

      Something like that, but closer to 45 to 65 watts and capable of 20v. There’s one I saw a while back (can’t find it now), but it’s up to 100W PD and uses MC4 connectors straight to the panel. It was…expensive.

      This is what I’m currently looking at (and it lists the voltages unlike the other ones that came up in search results). Only problem with this one is reviews say it defaults to “off” and you have to press the button to turn it on. Not ideal when it’s going to be hooked to a PV panel.

      • SmokeyDope@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        If money isnt a big issue and you want something truly beefy for a solar system I would recommend something like this then. Your solution is essentially a usbc-pd car charger without the ability to remove from a cigarette plug. You would achieve the same affect wiring up a female cigarette car plug and buying a regular pd car charger with the bonus of being able to swap the outlet out for other 12v car plugs as needed.

        If you want an integrated charger thats fine though at the end of the day theyre all just fancy variable dc to dc converters that take in 12-24v and pop out the usbc-pd voltage ranges as rated. just wanted to give you some options.

        Im a electical engineer and made my own 200w solar system. I feel your pain had to mcguyver some stuff to run off usbcpd. LMK if you want to talk shop. Related guide I wrote explaining USBC-pd and dc-to-dc on lemmy

        • Admiral Patrick@dubvee.orgOP
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          24 hours ago

          That looks a bit overkill for camping, but yeah, definitely what I’m after / trying to achieve. I guess I could justify the expense if I set it up at the house between trips. Actually…that’s not a bad idea.

          If you want an integrated charger

          Not for this, but I’m eventually looking for a 48v lithium charger for solar panels. The ones I looked at weren’t terribly expensive but were designed for larger systems than what I have (I just want to safely charge my 48v 20AH multipurpose ebike battery from solar)

          It’s in storage since I moved a few years ago, but I had a 1.2 KW ground mounted grid-tie setup at my old house (basically a proof-of-concept before moving to something bigger). Looking to dig that out for either a bigger grid tie setup or possibly feeding something akin to a PowerWall. Probably going with LiFeP04 for safety / peace of mind reasons.

          Cool guide! Skimmed it, but saved it for later to read through in more detail when I’m not on mobile.

          • SmokeyDope@lemmy.world
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            23 hours ago

            To charge your 48v ebike battery you will probably be looking at a proper 48v solar charge controller from victron then. They are expensive but worth it. dont want to fry your battery with no-name brand junk pwm advertising as mppt. , Though you can get away with the cheaper 48v 100/20 or 100/10s versions if you want to save some cash. a single 12v solar panel wont cut it though you need a couple 200w or 400w foldups chained to add voltage up to around 48v to charge a big battery effectively.

            • Admiral Patrick@dubvee.orgOP
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              23 hours ago

              That one’s actually what I’d consider affordable considering something like this beast (solar inverter / charger) was what I was originally looking at.