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Solar · Jackery

Solar panels for the Jackery Explorer 2000 Plus

Written by Ian Schneider·Solar & Off-Grid Tester

Jackery rates the Explorer 2000 Plus for 1400 W of solar across its two inputs, 11 to 60 volts and 12 amps on each. The manual's spec table and the product page's spec text print the figure in the same words, Double to 24A/1400W Max. Thirty-one of the forty-one panels we track publish a voltage. All thirty-one sit under 60, and seven of them are Jackery's own.

No set of panels we track fills it. Four of Renogy's 590 W rigid panels come closest at 1048 W, two on each socket, and the 2042.8 Wh battery is full in a little under two hours of good sun. A full input would do it in an hour and a half. Those panels weigh 58.4 pounds apiece and belong on a roof.

If what you own is a folding panel, the arithmetic is slower. One 200 W folder gives about 144 W in real sun and needs about fourteen hours, a few days of good weather. Four of Jackery's SolarSaga 500 X deliver 1000 W and have the battery full in about two hours, at 23.15 pounds each. For a cabin weekend that is the set I'd carry, two to a socket, with the afternoon left over.

The door
11–60 V
Its width
1400 W
Plug
DC8020
Full battery, best case
~1.5 h
Jackery Explorer 2000 Plus portable power station
The manual's package list: the station, a car charge cable, an AC charge cable, the manual itself and an accessories bag. The car cable goes into the panel's socket, and the manual asks that the two never charge the unit at the same time.

The door

Every panel we track, lined up at the Explorer 2000 Plus's solar input

Each bar is a panel we track, and its height is the open-circuit voltage, Voc on the back label. That is the voltage across a panel's leads in sun before anything is connected, and a socket never sees more than it. The black line is 60 V, the top of Jackery's window. Thirty-one bars, and none reaches it.

The pale cap on each bar is the extra voltage a cold morning adds, about 10% at −10 °C. Jackery gives 60 as a working voltage, with no separate line for Voc, so the caps have to clear it too. Renogy's 590 W rigid is the tallest bar at 52.63 V, and its cap stays under. On a January morning on my deck, before the sun has been on the glass, I'd put the Fluke across that panel to see how much of the cap shows up.

Hover any bar for the panel behind it. If you own a panel that isn't on the chart, type its Voc into the field and a bar for it stands in the line with the others.

Swipe sideways for the whole line-up.

020406080volts, open-circuit+1++yours?60 V · the lintel11 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 2000 Plus

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

Best overall

BLUETTI 350W Solar Panel (PV350)

4 panels deliver 888 W.

Check price at BLUETTI

Best value

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

About $1.25 for every watt it actually delivers here. 4 panels deliver 576 W.

Check price at Eco-Worthy

Best to carry

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

134 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 2000 Plus takes to charge on solar

An hour and a half, if the input were full. Nothing we track gets it there. Four of Renogy's 590 W rigid panels come closest at 1048 W and put the tick at a little under two hours. Four Jackery SolarSaga 500 X land at 1000 W and two hours, which is where I'd be looking. Four panels means two on each socket, and the manual wants the same panel, in the same number, on both.

One 200 W folding panel gives about 144 W in real sun and needs about fourteen hours. One 100 W panel gives about 72 W and needs about twenty-eight. A good day has 3 to 6 hours of sun that strong, and a January day in Truckee sits at the short end of that, with pines in it. The system builder turns the hours into days for your state and 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 h20 h21 h22 h23 h24 h25 h26 h27 h28 h29 hInput full (1400 W) · full in 1.5 hOne 200 W panel (144 W delivered) · full in 14.2 hOne 100 W panel (72 W delivered) · full in 28.4 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 2000 Plus

Thirty-one fit, seven of them Jackery's own. The socket is a DC8020, Jackery's name for an 8 mm barrel plug. For each panel: the lead that gets it there, what one panel gives in good sun, and the most the two sockets take from a set. Four plug straight in, all Jackery's. Eleven arrive on MC4, the weatherproof snap-together pair on the back of most rigid panels, and want an MC4-to-DC8020 lead. Three more Jackery panels end in an Anderson plug and want an Anderson-to-DC8020 lead. Every best set is four panels, two per socket, and the connector that puts a second panel on a socket is sold separately. The SolarSaga 80 is the manual's exception: six on one socket, twelve across both. Sorted by delivered watts.

Jackery's own, the pairings it documents

Everyone else's

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 2000 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 2000 Plus take to charge on solar?

One 100 W panel delivers about 72 W in good sun and refills the 2042.8 Wh battery from empty in about 28.4 hours.

One 200 W panel delivers about 144 W in good sun and refills the 2042.8 Wh battery from empty in about 14.2 hours.

At its 1400 W solar limit it refills in about 1.5 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 5 to 10 days to fill it. The system builder works it out for your state and month.

What adapter does the Explorer 2000 Plus need for solar?

None, if the panel's plug is DC8020: Jackery SolarSaga 80W, Jackery SolarSaga 200W, Jackery SolarSaga 100 Air and 1 other plug straight in. No solar adapter comes in the Explorer 2000 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 2000 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 11 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 2000 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.

Wired in series, up to 2 Jackery SolarSaga 100 Prime panels fit under its 60 V limit, even on a -10°C morning. Series adds voltage; parallel adds current.

Past 1400 W delivered, more panels only help on cloudy days.

What is the Explorer 2000 Plus's solar input?

DC8020 input port 1 (DC 8mm; shared with car charging): 11–60 V, up to 12 A. DC8020 input port 2 (DC 8mm; shared with car charging): 11–60 V, up to 12 A. 1400 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.

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