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Solar · Jackery

Solar panels for the Jackery Explorer 1000 Plus

Written by Ian Schneider·Solar & Off-Grid Tester

Jackery rates the Explorer 1000 Plus for 800 W of solar and gets there by doubling. Each of its two DC8020 sockets, the round 8 mm barrel Jackery puts on its stations, takes 12 to 60 volts at 11 amps. Use both and the spec table reads 22 amps, 800 W. Thirty-one of the forty-one panels we track publish a voltage, seven of them Jackery's own, and all thirty-one sit under 60.

With nothing over the line, the question is what fills 800 W and how much of it you would carry. Five sets do. The smallest is two of Renogy's 590 W rigid panels, one a socket. The others are four panels, two a socket. The manual wants those two sides matched, same panel and same count, or the channels disagree on voltage and the station can be damaged. With the input full, 1264 Wh is done in a little over an hour and a half of good sun.

One 200 W folding panel on its own gives about 144 W and needs a little under nine hours. The matching rule only applies with both sockets in use, so one panel on one socket is fine. For a weekend at the cabin I'd plug a SolarSaga 200 straight into one side, no adapter, and give it Saturday.

The door
12–60 V
Its width
800 W
Plug
DC8020
Full battery, best case
~1.6 h
Jackery Explorer 1000 Plus portable power station
The manual allows six SolarSaga 80 panels on each socket and twelve across both. Twelve panels for a 32-pound station.

The door

Every panel we track, lined up at the Explorer 1000 Plus's solar input

Every panel we track, standing in a line by the voltage on its label. That figure is the open-circuit voltage, Voc on the sticker, what a panel puts out in sun with nothing drawing from it. The black line is 60 V. No single panel we track reaches it.

Series is how a panel would. Chain two so the plug of one feeds the socket of the next, and their voltages add. Jackery's manual allows two SolarSaga 200s chained on one socket and says a third trips the over-voltage protection.

The pale cap on each bar is the extra voltage a −10 °C morning adds, about 10%. Here the tallest bar wears it and still clears, so I'd spend my worry on the matching rule instead. Hover a bar for the panel's name. If you own a panel that isn't here, type its Voc in the box and the chart draws it a bar.

Swipe sideways for the whole line-up.

020406080volts, open-circuit+1++yours?60 V · the lintel12 V · the step

Hover or tap a bar for the panel’s name and its verdict.

  • Fits through the door
  • Too tall
  • Extra height on a −10 °C morning
  • Maker prints only the operating voltage; the real height is above the dashes
  • 1Our pick: BLUETTI 350W

What we'd buy

The best solar panel for the Explorer 1000 Plus

Picked by the numbers on this station, not by brand.

Best overall

BLUETTI 350W Solar Panel (PV350)

4 panels deliver 800 W, the most the input takes.

Check price at BLUETTI

Best value

Eco-Worthy 200W Flexible HJT Solar Panel 18V ETFE 18BB (GW-L02AM200HJT2)

About $1.30 for every watt it actually delivers here. 4 panels deliver 552 W.

Check price at Eco-Worthy

Best to carry

Renogy 200W Portable Solar Panel Blanket (RPP200SB-SE)

144 W from a 8.82 lb panel, the most delivered watts per pound.

Check price at Renogy

A day on solar

How long the Explorer 1000 Plus takes to charge on solar

A little over an hour and a half with both sockets full, which five sets can manage. One 200 W folding panel on its own gives about 144 W and needs a little under nine hours. One 100 W panel gives about 72 W and needs a little under eighteen hours.

A good day has three to six hours of sun that strong. The full set is done by mid-morning. The one 200 W panel needs more than one of those days, and the 100 W panel needs several. In January at the cabin I'd count on the three and take anything more as a gift. The system builder knows how many of those days your state gets each month.

a good day's sun: 3 to 6 h0 h1 h2 h3 h4 h5 h6 h7 h8 h9 h10 h11 h12 h13 h14 h15 h16 h17 h18 h19 hInput full (800 W) · full in 1.6 hOne 200 W panel (144 W delivered) · full in 8.8 hOne 100 W panel (72 W delivered) · full in 17.6 h

Hours of good sun, from empty. Where you live and the month decide how many of those a day gives; the system builder works it out.

Every panel that fits

Solar panels compatible with the Explorer 1000 Plus

Thirty-one fit. For each: the cable it needs, what one panel delivers in good sun, and the biggest set the two sockets will take between them. Four plug straight in, all Jackery's. Eleven end in MC4, the weatherproof snap-together plug on most rigid and large folding panels, and want an MC4-to-DC8020 adapter. Three more of Jackery's own, the 500 X among them, end in an Anderson plug, a connector of its own, and need the Anderson-to-DC8020 lead. The box has no solar cable of any kind, so the lead goes on the order with the panel.

Own a panel that isn't in the line-up?

Type its voltage into the door chart above for the height test, then put the rest of the label into the panel checker, already set to the Explorer 1000 Plus, for current and plug too. Or build the whole system to see how it keeps up where you live.

The plain answers

How long does the Explorer 1000 Plus take to charge on solar?

One 100 W panel delivers about 72 W in good sun and refills the 1264 Wh battery from empty in about 17.6 hours.

One 200 W panel delivers about 144 W in good sun and refills the 1264 Wh battery from empty in about 8.8 hours.

At its 800 W solar limit it refills in about 1.6 hours. More panel watts than that won't charge it any faster.

A day gives three to six hours of sun that good, depending on season and place, so one 100 W panel takes 3 to 6 days to fill it. The system builder works it out for your state and month.

What adapter does the Explorer 1000 Plus need for solar?

None, if the panel's plug is DC8020: Jackery SolarSaga 200W, Jackery SolarSaga 100 Air, Jackery SolarSaga 80W and 1 other plug straight in. No solar adapter comes in the Explorer 1000 Plus's box, so any other panel needs a cable bought separately.

The cables the other panels need: MC4 to DC8020 (11 panels), Anderson to DC8020 (3 panels), DC5521 to DC8020 (2 panels) and XT60 to DC8020 (1 panel).

10 panels don't have a named plug from their maker, so check the lead before you buy a cable.

Can you use non-Jackery solar panels with the Explorer 1000 Plus?

Yes. What decides it is the panel's voltage and plug, not the brand. 24 panels from Renogy, Anker SOLIX, EcoFlow, BLUETTI, Eco-Worthy and Rich Solar work with it, as long as the panel stays under 60 V on a cold morning and starts above 12 V.

The strongest single panels here are the Renogy 590W N-Type Bifacial (425 W delivered) and the Anker SOLIX 440W Rigid (317 W delivered).

Can you connect two solar panels to the Explorer 1000 Plus?

Yes. It has 2 solar inputs, so the simplest way is one panel on each. Use the same panel model on both. Jackery's inputs share a controller, and mismatched panels hold each other back.

Don't wire two BLUETTI PV100 FX Flexible panels in series: together they would pass its 60 V limit. Parallel them instead.

Past 800 W delivered, more panels only help on cloudy days.

What is the Explorer 1000 Plus's solar input?

DC Input (DC8020) port 1: 12–60 V, up to 11 A. DC Input (DC8020) port 2: 12–60 V, up to 11 A. 800 W across all inputs together.

Input limits from Jackery's documents, checked 2026-09-18 (source). Delivered watts assume 72% of the panel's rating in good sun.