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Solar · Jackery

Solar panels for the Jackery Explorer 600 v2

Written by Ian Schneider·Solar & Off-Grid Tester

The Explorer 600 v2 takes solar through one DC8020 socket, the 8 mm barrel plug on the end of Jackery's own panel leads. The window behind it runs from 16 to 60 volts. Of the forty-one panels we track, thirty-one publish a voltage, and all thirty-one fit. Seven of them are Jackery's own. The manual asks that a panel's voltage sit inside that range, and nothing on our list sits outside it.

The watts are the smaller number. The port takes 200 W, and seven panels we track hand it that much on their own. The lightest of the seven is Jackery's SolarSaga 500 X at 23.15 pounds, which outweighs the 14.1 pound station. The other six weigh more. At 200 W the 640 Wh battery is full in a little over three hours of good sun.

Four of Jackery's folding panels plug straight in with no adapter, and none of the four fills the port alone. The manual allows one 100 W or one 200 W panel on the socket, and asks for a solar panel connector, sold separately, before two 100 W panels share it. For a weekend at the cabin I'd carry one 200 W folder. It needs a little over four hours of good sun, which a Saturday has. The 500 X is for people charging against a clock.

The door
16–60 V
Its width
200 W
Plug
DC8020
Full battery, best case
~3.2 h
Jackery Explorer 600 v2 portable power station
The manual's in-the-box page is three line drawings with no labels under them. From the drawings alone we could not tell you whether a solar cable is one of the three.

The door

Every panel we track, lined up at the Explorer 600 v2's solar input

Every panel we track, in a line by the voltage on its label. That figure is the open-circuit voltage, Voc on the sticker, the most a panel will ever show the station, read with nothing connected. Jackery's caution wants it between 16 and 60 volts. The black line is 60. Every bar stops short of it.

The pale cap on each bar is what a cold morning adds, about 10% at minus 10 °C. Voltage only goes up in the cold, and on a station with this much headroom up is the safe direction. The floor is easier to overlook. The spec table starts the socket at 11 volts, but that lower band belongs to the car cable, and the solar caution starts at 16. The lowest panel on the chart reads 19.6 and clears it.

Hover a bar for the panel's name. If your panel isn't here, type its Voc in the box and it takes a place in the line.

Swipe sideways for the whole line-up.

020406080volts, open-circuit+1++yours?60 V · the lintel16 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 600 v2

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

Best overall

BLUETTI 350W Solar Panel (PV350)

One panel delivers 200 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 $1.80 for every watt it actually delivers here. 2 panels deliver 200 W, the most the input takes.

Check price at Eco-Worthy

Best to carry

Jackery SolarSaga 40 Air (JS-40C)

30 W from a 1.98 lb panel, the most delivered watts per pound.

Check price at Jackery

A day on solar

How long the Explorer 600 v2 takes to charge on solar

A little over three hours with the port full at 200 W. Twenty-seven of the thirty-one panels that fit can get it there as a set, seven of them with a single panel. One 200 W folding panel on its own gives about 144 W and needs a little over four hours. One 100 W panel gives about 72 W and needs about nine hours.

A good day has three to six hours of sun that strong. The full set is done inside one. The 200 W folder on its own uses most of a day, and the 100 W panel runs into a second. On my deck in January the pines take the early hours and the late ones, so I'd count on the three and treat the six as a gift. The system builder does the same sum for your state.

a good day's sun: 3 to 6 h0 h1 h2 h3 h4 h5 h6 h7 h8 h9 h10 hInput full (200 W) · full in 3.2 hOne 200 W panel (144 W delivered) · full in 4.4 hOne 100 W panel (72 W delivered) · full in 8.9 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 600 v2

Thirty-one fit. For each one, the cable it needs, what a single panel delivers in good sun, and the biggest set the port will take. Four of Jackery's own plug in with no adapter. Eleven arrive on MC4, the weatherproof snap-fit pair most panels end in, and need an MC4-to-DC8020 lead. Three more of Jackery's come on an Anderson plug, a flat two-pole DC connector, and need their own adapter. Any set of two or more shares the one socket through Jackery's solar panel connector, sold separately. Sorted by delivered watts.

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 600 v2, 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 600 v2 take to charge on solar?

One 100 W panel delivers about 72 W in good sun and refills the 640 Wh battery from empty in about 8.9 hours.

One 200 W panel delivers about 144 W in good sun and refills the 640 Wh battery from empty in about 4.4 hours.

At its 200 W solar limit it refills in about 3.2 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 2 to 3 days to fill it. The system builder works it out for your state and month.

What adapter does the Explorer 600 v2 need for solar?

None, if the panel's plug is DC8020: Jackery SolarSaga 100 Air, Jackery SolarSaga 80W, Jackery SolarSaga 40 Air and 1 other plug straight in.

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 600 v2?

Yes. What decides it is the panel's voltage and plug, not the brand. 24 panels from Anker SOLIX, BLUETTI, EcoFlow, Renogy, Eco-Worthy and Rich Solar work with it, as long as the panel stays under 60 V on a cold morning and starts above 16 V.

The strongest single panels here are the Anker SOLIX 440W Rigid (200 W delivered) and the BLUETTI 350W (200 W delivered).

Can you connect two solar panels to the Explorer 600 v2?

Yes, joined into one input with a series or parallel cable.

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

Past 200 W delivered, more panels only help on cloudy days.

What is the Explorer 600 v2's solar input?

DC Input (8020): 16–60 V, up to 10.5 A, 200 W.

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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