Sometimes life or death depends on having a fully charged Sat Phone. Or you might need a bit of juice for your camera batteries on day 14 of that epic documentary. Enter the Nomad Solar panels– waterproof, rugged and weighing only 13 ounces, this 7 watt panel has 12V DC and USB outputs. Plus you can hang it on the outside of your pack while hiking and blast Eazy E all day long through an iPod speaker system. See how the granola munchers on the trail like that. — Feet Banks
We just got this puppy in the mail recently and haven’t had a chance to run it through the paces, but will be taking it out soon. For ski-touring epics or long summer hikes, who doesn’t like a little campfire music after a hard day. Makes sense to strap this to the top of your backpack and let the sun do the work.
Here are a few feedback postings from customers who’ve purchased the Nomad.
By Tim Walker
I picked up a Goal0 7 watt panel from an REI used item sale at a 90% discount and am pleased to say that it works flawlessly. I picked this up for backpacking use (my wife is a Trailhead ranger for Sequoia Kings Canyon National park. She will be the primary user of the panel. So far I have charged my Droid incredible, Droid Transformer Tablet (for watching movies in the backcountry) and a regular samsung phone. Takes about 2 hours each phone and about 4.5 hours to charge an almost dead transformer with its 24.4 Wh battery charged over USB. I did find that in low light conditions turning off the smart phone will allow it to charge where if you leave it on it will turn on and off and cycle as if it had too low of a charge. Easy fix is find better sun or turn it off to charge… Love the Panels love the product! Awesome Company as far as I can tell!
By Victor D
Just got back from a trip to Yosemite, we were in the backcountry and got lost because of the snow conditions and not being about to see the trail. So with the use of my gps and my Nomad 7 keeping it charged during the day and my Guide 10 charging my GPS as the sun went behind the mountains, we were able to find our way out of the valley and back to camp. I was sold after that and will always pack in my Nomad 7 and Guide 10. Also on the trail, people kept asking me what I had attached to my backpack, I said, Goal Zero, check them out on the web. Thanks!!!!
By Sandra Healy
I understand you’re having problems getting this to work with Apple products, but you DO say on the website that the Guide 10 and Nomad 7 will charge iPods. They won’t charge mine. I’m happy that I can charge batteries, but my main purpose was to charge the iPod. I was thinking of getting a bigger solar panel and battery pack, but will wait until I hear something definitive about charging Apple products.
By Eric Vance
This product is amazing!! I would give it total of 5 stars if the solar panel wouldn’t get so hot on the actual panel. I bought the Nomad 7 at Costco’s special event on Goal Zero products. Ipod touch still gets hot behind the panel. I might make a pouch for my ipod out of thermal foam wrapped in white duct tape. Over-all it is great laying down flat in the grass my battery went up 10 percent in 5 minutes. It charges my iPod touch faster then the AC USB wall wart. The solar panel puts out lots of power. Must buy for any Emergency kit, electronics lover, renewable energy lovers, or all of the above! Great buy best solar panel out there.
By Jeff Voigt
As the equipment testing manager at the American Alpine Institute, I am always on the lookout for the newest and best gear out there. I have been using the Nomad 7 since the 2010 Outdoor Retailer Show, and I have to say that it really is the perfect solution for charging small electronics in the backcountry. I recently picked up a Guide 10 and a new Nomad 7 (with the 6.5 volt output for the Guide 10) and so far I love the combination of the two. The Nomad has charged the Guide 10 from dead to fully charged in under 2 hours (even on partly cloudy days!) every time I have recharged the Guide 10. The Guide 10 is a perfect light-weight insurance policy against ending up with a dead headlamp, GPS, FRS radio or cell phone on a trip in the backcountry. With the Guide 10 fully charged, I can take my smart phone from 25% to full and my USB rechargeable headlamp from 50% to full, before the available power runs out. The ability to pull the AA and AAA batteries out of the Guide 10 and use them in a device that can’t be charged via USB makes the Guide 10 all-the-more valuable! The best part about all of Goal0’s products is that they are actually affordable! You can literally purchase two Goal0 solar panels for the same cost as you would pay for one comparable panel from the leading competitor!
