Gone solar, be back never
BirkSun Solar Backpack Review:
For anyone who thought solar panels were solely used on the tops of buildings and on farms, get ready to be amazed. Birksun is a fairly new company that produces solar panel backpacks that are designed to charge all electronic needs from organic sunlight.
The only information that I was aware of pertaining to solar panels was limited, I was very skeptical because for one, solar panels are fairly expensive to install, heavy, but also, how the heck would a tiny solar panel efficiently charge a phone, laptop, etc.? Despite my doubts, I really love using alternative energy so I decided to test it out.
Birksun was kind enough to send a bag my way to try out. When my Birksun bag came in the mail, I was so ready to test out the bag to see what it could actually do. First impressions, the bag is very water resistant – meaning the fabric the bag is covered with is a waterproof material that is able to get wet and the zippers are sealed when closed so its perfect for the beach or just a rainy day.
Better yet, the actual panel on the bag is waterproof as well which is super convenient. There is a well-padded, soft laptop sleeve that can hold a 13-15inch laptop. It can hold iPads and other tablets that fit perfectly in the sleeve as well.
I brought the bag to the beach on a sunny day where I resumed to lay it out on my beach towel to begin the charging process. Birksun includes instructions for the fastest and most efficient ways to get power from the bag. It takes a few minutes for the solar panel to warm up and start the charging process and depending on which bag you purchase, will determine how fast the bag will charge the device.
The bag I was testing out on the beach produced around 2% charge every minute it was exposed in the sun. I found it very helpful to connect an external battery to the solar charging device inside the bag so that it would always be charging something even if my phone, iPad, or go pro were already fully charged. Another cool feature of the Birksun bag would be the fact that even if you do not have a device to charge at that exact moment, you can still lie your bag in the sun and it can store up to 1.5 iPhone charges for you to use later.
I love how I can grab a cup of coffee on campus, sit outside the café and lay my bag out while I am working on other things. I never have to worry about being near an outlet because the sun does the work.
Not only is the bag super convenient and looks good, but it is also good for the environment, and who doesn’t love helping Mother Nature out, right?
The light-weight bag also makes it super easy to bring your Birksun any and everywhere you decide to adventure.
The bags are available in a variety of colors, check out www.birksun.com to see the options and to learn more about this awesome company.