Summary
- Anker’s SOLIX solar umbrella offers an easy way to generate power in your backyard or at the beach.
- The umbrella is part of Anker’s outdoor energy product line and is compatible with portable power stations.
- While not as powerful as fixed arrays, the umbrella provides a convenient way to charge devices outdoors.
I love renewable energy for the way you can turn everyday infrastructure into stuff that provides power. While it’s a big project to line the rooftop of a shed with solar panels, Anker’s new solar umbrella is a much easier way to make your backyard a place you turn to for power. I can’t wait to order one.
This Umbrella Draws Power From the Sun
Anker announced the SOLIX solar umbrella at CES 2025. The umbrella is lined with perovskite solar cells, which may be more effective than regular panels in both bright and low light. This enables the umbrella to possibly generate more power in less space, though we won’t know for sure until the umbrella is available for purchase.
This umbrella is part of Anker’s SOLIX line of outdoor and home backup energy products. We’ve reviewed the Anker SOLIX C800 Plus, a portable battery that can power appliances and devices when camping or during a power outage. We’ve also tried the SOLIX C300 DC, in case you prefer something shaped more like a speaker. If you don’t have access to a power outlet, you can recharge either device using a portable solar panel or, soon, a SOLIX umbrella.
Don’t expect the umbrella to be a powerhouse. Anker is promising up to 100 watts of output, which pales compared to a fixed array that can supply thousands of watts per hour (our rooftop system currently generates over 11,000). Still, that makes it more capable than foldable 50w solar panels and more in line with 100w briefcase panels commonly offered alongside portable power stations.
The Kinds of Devices We Hope to Power
The SOLIX solar umbrella will come with an XT-60 connector that can supply power to portable power stations like the C1000X pictured above or Anker’s new EverFrost battery-powered coolers. You also get a USB-C cable for other types devices.
While it isn’t clear if the umbrella is durable enough to be left outdoors 24/7, I hope so. The product does have an IP67 waterproof rating. As an umbrella, it can also extend a degree of protection to the devices underneath its canopy.
At my house, we have purchased several Anker batteries to keep us going during outages, including the C1000X and the F3800. The umbrella can serve as one way to charge these devices, in addition to our portable solar panels. We can also use the umbrella to charge our smaller phone battery banks during times when the umbrella would otherwise be sitting with the capacity to generate energy but with nowhere to store it.
Yet, as an umbrella, this purchase wouldn’t be just for emergencies. When we go sit on our back porch to have lunch on a beautiful day, we can plug in our phones to charge without having to go inside or run an extension cord from an outside outlet. It’s that use, which is how it would be used most of the time, that makes the umbrella so compelling.
I Love Renewable Energy Baked Into Everyday Stuff
My wife and I have built our home to draw its power primarily from renewable energy. We have rooftop solar that provides for much of our energy and offsets our electric bill with the excess that we don’t use. We don’t have a built-in battery bank, so those panels turn off when the grid goes down. That’s why we’ve purchased solar generators. They’re a more affordable way to keep our devices charged and our fridge running than expensive built-in home battery systems like the Tesla Powerwall or the Enphase IQ system.
The SOLIX umbrella is an ideal addition. Like rooftop solar, it’s a way of turning something that we would have anyway (a roof, an outdoor umbrella) into an on-site power plant. I hope to see more products like it. I’d happily buy a ready-made carport topped with panels for our two EVs. Can you imagine the possibilities of a solar gazebo? I could charge my spare lawn mower batteries there while cutting grass, then swap them out as needed.
On its own, a solar umbrella isn’t the most exciting thing. Rather, it contributes to a future where free energy is ubiquitous and readily available. Whether indoors or out, a power source isn’t that far away.