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
Looks like revision 2 of the PD spec requires all of those voltages, but in revision 1 it doesn’t require 20v. And if they’re not listing the voltages, they’re prob not listing the PD spec revision it adheres to.
RavPower was my jam before they got booted from Amazon, but yeah, I stick to Ankler for the most part (unless I just need a dumb power bank to dump solar into that’ll charge my better power banks - e.g. the 50,000 mAh behemoth I’ve got charging outside right now).
The reason I had to stray here is because I’m looking for a 12v -> USB PD adapter I can hook to a 12V solar panel. Not the “cigarette lighter” kind, but the kind you hard wire. No-name is about all you can really buy unless I want to crack open an Ankler or fuss with a cigarette lighter-style adapter (those are a PITA sometimes lol).
I’m having trouble imagining what you’re setting out to accomplish. 12v solar panels are higher than 12v. This one gets to 18v, for example. You need a solar charge controller to convert it to 12v, and then you’d need something like this to convert it to 5v to charge your battery bank. Whether your battery bank will “take” 12v without electronics to tell it to is beyond the scope of my knowledge, but AFAIK 5v is universally accepted.
I’ve got two sets of solar panels and two different use-cases.
The panels my power banks use are all regulated 5v output (3x 6 watts, one 20W, and one 12W). I take one or more of those backpacking.
The 12V->USB PD adapter I’m looking for is to hook into my 12V 50 or 100 watt panel I take camping (which one i take depends how many people plan to charge from it). In addition to being a charging point for my laptop, it would also charge my power banks much quicker since they support QC/PD charging at higher voltages than the 5V panels produce.
But yeah, PV panels “open circuit” voltage is closer to 17-21 volts, but once you put a load on them, they’re closer to 12-14.
Oh I think I get it now. So you can terminate the solar panel with something like this and then charge phones with a standard car charger with PD. I like that idea.
Exactly. Except I’m trying to avoid those kinds of “cigarette lighter” style adapters, but I’ve used them before (which is why I’m trying to avoid them this time around lol).
Yeah, it’s hard to find good ones. You could invert it to 120v AC and plug in a regular charger, but you lose efficiency doing that, not to mention the added danger, weight, and complexity.
USB PD 1.0 is irredenta in 2025. 2.0 is basically irrevent outside of old device still on sale.
If the charger does 60 watts or greater it’s going to be 20v. https://www.renesas.com/sites/default/files/media/images/normative-voltage-source-pdp-rating.png
Everything made in the past like 4 years is 3.0. Ideally you shouldn’t buy anything that isn’t PPS (programmable power supply) because it makes charging a LOT more efficient.
But good luck finding a 12v adapter, they’re very hit or miss on supporting it since 12v is optional now and not a lot of things support it.