My apologies....I had planned on adding more info but time constraints at the time kept that from happening. Again standard disclaimer...

We have a Thunderbolt Magnum 100w solar charging kit. Comes with 'everything you need' to 'start up' except the battery (again a 35 amp hour). It is 'small' self contained and independent of everything else.

During Irma we watched as neighbors ran out of gas. Having this will ensure our small electronics and fans are good to go for the duration. Also got a 'float charger' to keep up the battery...added benefit is that it will keep our ride on mower good to go too.

The kit has the solar panels, charge controller (with 2 built in USB spots) and two LED light bulbs (plus all the wires). Think 60 watt bulb and you have an idea. One will light up the entire room (especially aimed upwards towards the ceiling). Our small lanterns are good for the immediate area lighting. The bulbs will be good for 'we really need to SEE' everything.

Obviously it can REALLY be tested until an outage. Plans are that the the float charger will keep everything ready (in the battery) and when the power goes out we'll charge off that. Then the panels will charge the battery.

Preliminary (VERY INFORMAL) 'test'...had one single 25w panel laying down inside on the couch in front of a North facing window (about 5pm)...registered about 4-5 volts output. Just standing it up facing out the North window and the voltage jumped to about 8-9 volts. When I took it outside and faced the sun...25 volts. Sun was very low in the sky. So no REAL test but I'm optimistic.