Bluetti’s Sora 500 solar panel is incredibly powerful for its size

We don’t review many solar panels The VergeBut the technology inside BlueTick’s incredibly portable Sora 500 panel makes it worth a deeper look. The new N-Type panels made by BlueTie and others give you more bang for the buck, pounds and square inches. This is a big deal for vanlifers like me who rely on these powerful portable solar panels to extend off-grid stays.

In real-world testing, I saw that Bluety’s 500W panel provided 509W to my van’s power station, allowing me to generate over 800W when combined with the three sad 140W monocrystalline solar panels installed on top of my van. That kind of steady output is fantastic. I typically consume about 1.6kWh a day, so this array lets me add a full day’s charge in just two hours. I just wish BlueTie had made the Sora 500 bifacial like Jackery and newcomer Zoupv, with their lightweight, high-wattage, portable, N-type panels designed to maximize output in less than ideal conditions.

The Sora 500 costs €849 in Europe – it’s not being sold in the US yet. Bluetee spokesperson Ellen Lee told me the company wants to bring it to the U.S. market but that it is “currently considering changes in some regional policies and business dynamics.” Things that Zoopav and Zackary already managed to solve.

BlueTea’s single-sided Sora 500 panel uses TOPCon (Tunnel Oxide Passivated Contact) cells, an N-type technology that is replacing the older PERC (Passivated Emitter and Rear Cell) technology. Compared to PERC, TOPCon panels work better in low light, deal with high temperatures better, and degrade more slowly. Depending on implementation, TOPCon panels can achieve higher efficiency (often ~23-25 ​​percent) than typical PERC panels (~20-23 percent).

All these benefits mean that you will get more for your money as soon as you open all 12 panels of the Sora 500 and throughout their extended lifespan. The panel also has IP67 resistance to dust and water and an ETFE coating that makes it easy to wipe off dirt that interferes with solar energy intake.

During my testing in mid-March in the south of France at an altitude of about 600 metres, I was regularly seeing the Sora 500 exceed its rated output, measuring up to 509W on a cool and cloudless day. It does a good job of handling sunlight even when it is partially shady.

For example, on a very sunny day when the 12 individual panels comprising the Sora 500 were producing more than 500W, partially shading one corner panel dropped the output to 412W, and partially shading the rightmost two panels dropped the output to 390W. Partially shading the four panels right of center dropped the output to 276W.

When I blocked the center four panels, the Sora 500’s output dropped dramatically, down to just 50W. This is probably because I turned off the entire array by severing the connections between all four parallel regions. Bluetti uses a half-cut cell design and 3-series, 4-parallel (3S4P) circuit architecture for the Sora 500. This results in multiple independent power zones being created by dividing the cells into smaller parts and distributing them across four parallel power paths. This helps prevent a single shaded area from becoming a hindrance to the entire panel, as you see with cheaper panels.

Unfortunately, BlueTie chose to cover the back of its panel with fabric and a complex system of kickstands and straps. By comparison, the ZoopW 480W and Jackery SolarSage 500

I haven’t tested these panels myself, but I’ve seen unconfirmed user reports claiming that ZoupW boosted output beyond 525W. Importantly, both panels also weigh just 22 pounds (10 kg), making them even lighter than the 28.4 pounds (12.9 kg) BlueTea Sora 500.

And while weight is an important enabler of portability, I should note that these things tend to blow around when the wind blows. Luckily, the BlueAT panel I’m testing has tie-down points for windy days. All three panels are much lighter than EcoFlow’s reliable 400W PERC monster that I’ve been carrying around for the last four years. It weighs 35.3 pounds (16 kg) and is still available for purchase for $599.

For vanlifers, the Bluetooth Sora 500 completely dominates when it comes time to pack the panel into an RV, van, or closet. Zoupav and Jackery use the standard 4-section or 6-section “slab” fold, while BlueAT uses a 12-section grid fold, allowing it to collapse into a very small, briefcase-like package. Still, the 3.3-inch-thick folded Bluity is thinner than both the 3.35-inch thick ZoopW panel and the 3.82-inch Jackery.

In contrast, the Sora 500 can be difficult to install because of all the hinges and straps required to support so many sections. This is a conundrum I mostly managed to overcome after the third installation, but repositioning the panel to follow the sun all day is a lesson in patience.

Without official US pricing for the Sora 500 panel, it’s hard to make direct price-per-watt comparisons with the $649.99 ZoopW 480W and the $999 (often on sale for $799) Jackery SolarSage 500X. However, if we remove European VAT from its €849 price tag and convert it, the Sora 500 works out to be around $820. Although it is competitive, it still leaves out the Zoupw 480W with the best price-per-watt performance in this class.

Bluti’s Sora 500 can’t compete with the ZoopW 480W and the Jackery SolarSage 500X in terms of weight, but it easily wins in terms of watts per square inch when folded. It’s the only 500W panel that effectively disappears into a small closet or under a van bench. Thus, it justifies its price premium for anyone like me who has limited space to store extra solar panels that they need to deploy only occasionally.

Photography by Thomas Ricker/The Verge