Made partially from recycled ocean plastic, this solar backpack is perfect for photographers, students, and business people. The makers claim that the solar panels can charge smartphones fully in as little as 3.5 hours on a sunny day.

Personally, I find that it’s more like 4-5 hours at least.

The XD Design backpack has adjustable internal dividers, making it easy for different people to adjust the storage to their needs. Whether you’re storing a laptop, a DSLR camera, a tablet, or just some everyday essentials, you can configure this backpack to work for you.

You can find both USB and USB-C ports, so you can charge electronic devices from multiple generations, though it might take longer than you think to charge them up.

One of the cheapest solar backpacks on this list, the EnerPlex Packr (what an awful name...) comes with a built-in 3-watt solar panel that maintains a slow yet steady energy charge throughout the day.

Aimed primarily at photographers and outdoors types, this cheap backpack is lightweight and comes with all the padded laptop sleeves and shoulder straps that you would expect from one of these devices.

However, it’s not the most durable or high-quality product on this list.

Still, if you’re looking for a cheap introduction to the world of solar backpacks, then the Packr would be an okay purchase.

At 30 liters of capacity, the PowerKeep Energizer Wanderer is a pretty large backpack that can fit many of your necessary devices and supplies.

Uniquely, the power bank included with this backpack can also be plugged into a wall outlet, allowing you to charge the battery either with solar energy or grid power depending on what’s most convenient at the time. This gives you multiple options on how to best charge your devices.

Nonetheless, the 3-watt solar panel is disappointingly subpar, while the lack of proper waterproofing makes this backpack useless for anyone who spends significant time outdoors.

Although the 15L capacity makes Sunnybag one of the smallest solar backpacks on this list, it does benefit from having a 6-watt solar panel that can charge your smartphone in as little as 2-3 hours of sunlight.

Made from water-repellent fabric, this actually has a removable solar panel, so you can choose to take the panel off entirely and place it somewhere in direct sunlight to charge while you’re doing other things.

While the ability to remove the panels from this one is cool, this backpack does not come with a power bank. This means that you’ll have to buy a separate power bank if you want to store your solar energy for later.

The ECEEN 7W solar backpack comes with a 7-watt removable solar panel, so you can acquire solar power while walking around or you can leave the panel in direct sunlight while you do other things with the backpack.

However, I used this on a camping trip once and was pretty disappointed.

While the removable panel is okay, the bag itself is flimsy and cheap-feeling. The mesh pockets came away quickly and one of the zippers broke in just 2 days.

Yikes.

This large solar backpack is a decent 46 liters, so it’s good for hiking, camping, and outdoor adventures in general. There’s plenty of space to put your stuff.

However, it doesn’t come with a battery pack or power bank, so you’ll need to buy one separately if you want to use this solar-powered backpack efficiently.

As it is, you can only charge smartphones and devices while they’re connected to the solar panel in direct sunlight.

This is a large bag, but it’s not the best solar powered backpack on this list by a longshot.

Designed as a laptop bag, I’ve often swung this bag over my shoulders as I head off to Starbucks to do some remote work on my Chromebook.

This solar-powered backpack comes with a USB port for charging your phone battery and a micro-USB port for charging with an AC outlet, so you have the option of solar-powered charging or regular grid power.

There’s also an LED indicator that tells you when the battery is full, which is nice and handy.

However, the 19.2% charge efficiency of the solar panels is rubbish, and the material for the bag is a little cheap. It’s fine for popping to Starbucks, but I wouldn’t stake my life on this bag.

God, I hated this backpack. The Amazon description was very confusing, which is never a good sign, but I decided to roll the dice on this backpack, and boy did I regret it.

This backpack comes with a 7-watt solar panel, though it seems to hardly work. It comes with adjustable shoulder straps though, which is nice. However, I struggle to find other redeeming qualities after that.

The fabric is cheap, the backpack isn’t properly water-resistant, and it falls apart after a few uses. Can I get a “meh”?

This solar-powered backpack is described by the manufacturer as “stylish,” which is definitely a reach if you ask me. I’d describe it as “kindergarten-esque,” but whatever.

At a weight of 2.8lb, this backpack is much heavier than some of the other products on this list. It also comes with a weird smell and the battery port seems to be very easy to damage.

So, will it charge your devices in the sun? Maybe, if you pray to the sun gods, but don’t expect miracles.

Boasting waterproofing and 2 USB ports to charge your smartphone, laptop, tablet, etc, the HANERGY Solar Powered Laptop Backpack sounds like it’s going to be one of the best solar backpacks on this list.

But it’s not.

The main letdown is the solar panel, which has an abysmal 17.9% charge efficiency. In other words, even if this sat in the sun for 8 hours, you’d be lucky to charge your smartphone battery.

On top of the slow charging, it just feels a little cheap and lackluster. If I’m putting down this much money for a backpack, I want it to feel expensive. Sue me.

Not exactly one of the best solar powered backpacks on this list, the Voltaic Systems Array Rapid Solar Backpack comes with a large 25,000 mAh battery pack included, which is nice of them.

However, their claims of a 1-hour smartphone charge are not exactly true, and for such an expensive solar backpack, this product certainly feels cheap and flimsy.

Oh, and if you’re a city dweller, forget it. This thing is big, bulky, and gets in the way.

I’ve had a couple of friends who bought this backpack, and they ended up hating it.

For one, the stitching came ripped already for one of them, and the other friend found that the material just felt a little thin and flimsy.

Second, the 19-liter capacity is on the small side, and the battery tends to fail after 3-6 months according to multiple owners.

Not what I’d expect from such a pricey solar backpack.

Some solar backpacks come with power banks included, meaning that the solar energy can be stored in the power bank and then used whenever you need to charge your devices. Other solar backpacks force you to charge your devices with the solar energy immediately — you can’t store it for later.

These solar-powered backpacks come in various sizes depending on your needs — you can get small 15-liter backpacks designed for laptops and tablets, or you can get larger 40-liter and above bags designed for camping, hiking, and outdoor pursuits.

Solar backpacks are equipped with a flexible solar panel made from monocrystalline.

They also come with a battery, charge controller, various leads/cables, and they may also come with a power bank to store the energy for use at a later time.

Most decent solar backpacks can provide 120 watts of energy per day — enough to charge most your smaller digital devices (smartphones, tablets, etc.)

The bags work because of technology in the panels called photovoltaic cells (PV cells).

This being GreenCitizen, we have to say that the biggest upside of these backpacks is that they produce green renewable energy that isn’t dependent on grid power, which is often made with fossil fuels.

These backpacks also don’t have byproducts or fumes that are released into the atmosphere, so pollution is reduced too.

The most obvious benefit of sun-powered bags is their ability to help you charge your devices when you’re camping, hiking, or just not near convenient grid power.

Most of these products have at least 1 or 2 USB ports that allow you to connect your smartphone or tablet to charge.

Some bags also allow you to charge slightly larger devices like laptops and DSLR camera batteries.

Generally speaking, you don’t need to be a professional hiker or long-time outdoors-y type in order to use a solar pack. These products are designed to be easy to use for everyday people who don’t know their charge controller from their watt-hours.

That’s me, by the way. I’m the least technologically minded human on the planet.

So yeah, if you’ve got the ability to turn on a laptop and send some emails, you will be able to use one of these bags just fine.