JK Solar Charging Screen 120W

Our new and exclusive JK Solar Charging Screen is one of the coolest products we’ve made in our 30+ year history! Designed by JK and Texenergy, it’s a fantastic way to ensure that your main vehicle battery, and your leisure battery, never runs out of juice.

The folding solar charger screen folds out to cover your vehicle’s windscreen, and captures huge amounts of energy from the sun before converting it into electricity. It can be mounted on the inside or outside of the vehicle, and can be plugged directly into your vehicle’s anciliary 12v power supply or used to top up and recharge your mobile phone, laptop and other gear.

We're so proud with the work we've put into designing and refining the JK Solar Charging Screen, and so happy with the end result, that we've applied for and have been granted registered design status. (6196983.)

At a glance:

• Can be quickly mounted to the inside or the outside of your vehicle’s windscreen, using the suction clamps,

• The system is fully self-contained, with no need to drill, cut or alter the electrics of your vehicle,

• Easy to set up, with no need to alter any settings or adjust any dials – simply plug in and charge up,

• Uses 12 highly-efficient monocrystalline solar panels to capture huge amounts of energy,

• Includes USB-C and USB-A outlets, so you can power up your mobile phone,

• Folding solar screen collapses down to be smaller than a tote bag, with comfortable carry handles, so you can take it anywhere.

Fitting information

We’ve designed the JK Solar Charging Screen to fit on any vehicle which uses 12-volt electricity. It will work just as well in a VW T6 Transporter as it would in a Splitscreen camper which has been converted to 12v. Because it’s been designed to be used with any automobile, there’s no reason you couldn’t mount it to a car or any other vehicle.

There are two cables included with the charging screen, one with a 12v DC charger connection, which measures 2 metres long; and another with crocodile clips, which measures 3 metres long. You’ll need to use these crocodile clips to hook the JK Solar Charging Screen up directly to your vehicle battery on modern vehicles, as the 12v ‘cigar lighter’ socket does not support backcharging.

How to set up your JK Solar Charging Screen

The screen is supplied with really effective suction clamps, which will hold the screen firmly in place on either the inside or outside of your vehicle’s windscreen.

First, place the long, curved ends of the suction clamps through the metal eyelets fixed into the material around the edge of the JK Solar Charging Screen, and then carefully offer it up to your windscreen.

Working ensure that the rounded ends of the suction clamps are facing up, and firmly press the base against the glass before pulling the lever on the clamp to secure it in place.

Repeat this process on each clamp, and adjust their positioning if necessary to ensure that the solar screen is positioned correctly.

If you’re mounting it to the inside of your vehicle, ensure that the gap in the material is located at the top, as this is a space for your rear view mirror. You should also ensure that the solar panels are as close to the glass as possible, to capture the most energy.

Mounting to the outside of your windscreen follows the same process, but you’ll want to ensure that the curved ends of the suction clamps are facing outwards from the vehicle, so that the solar screen can’t be caught by the wind and blown off.

You should also open one of the cab doors in your vehicle and feed the power cable from the charging screen into the vehicle, and then close the door on the cable to keep it in place. Once the JK solar charging screen is in place, you’ll need to either hook it directly into your vehicle’s 12v socket (the ‘cigar lighter’) or use the power pack to hook up your devices, using the power outlets built into it.

Electrical information:

The JK Solar Charging Screen comes with a power port, with a DC outlet, two USB outlets and a USB-C outlet. You’ll also get a three metre charging cable which can connect the power port to the 12v system in your vehicle.

Please note that you won’t be able to charge your vehicle battery via the 12v ‘cigar lighter’ socket in modern vehicles, as these are one-way only.

Easy to mount, inside or out

We’ve made sure that our JK Solar Charging Screen works just as well when it’s mounted to the inside of your vehicle as it does on the outside.

Fixing the screen to the inside of your windscreen means that you can leave it for the day (or longer!) and come back to a fully charged battery, whether it’s your main vehicle battery, or the leisure battery which is supporting your camper’s fridge, lights, etc.

Attaching the solar charger to the outside of the windscreen does make it slightly more effective, since the window glass isn’t blocking any light, and is great if you’re parked up at a campsite and aren’t going to be leaving your vehicle unattended.

Plug and play!

One of our favourite things about the design of the JK Solar Charging System is that the hardest part of setting it up is going the suction clamps, and they’re really easy!

Once the screen is in place, it’s easy to plug it into your vehicle’s electrics using the ‘cigar lighter’ to connect it to the 12v system, or plug in your phone, laptop, GPS, handheld games console, lava lamp, 8-track player or anything else you might take camping with you! There’s no need to cut a hole in your roof, or alter your vehicle’s wiring, or bond the solar panels to your roof – when you’re done with it, just unfold it and tuck it away in a door pocket, cupboard or behind the seat.

A game-changer for Van Lifers

If you’re a dedicated Van Lifer, then our JK Solar Charging Screen could be an absolute game changer! Use your laptop, camera, DVD player, fridge, lights, sink, cooker, radio or TV as much as you want, safe in the knowledge that you can charge your kit – and your vehicle batteries – straight back up again when the sun rises.

The charging cable which is built into the unit measures three meters long, so there’s plenty of range for you to be able to walk around while charging, or hang out in the back of your camper while the solar screen is set up at the front.

You can take it with you

Because it folds up to just 37 cm by 30 cm by 6 cm, our solar charger screen is great for charging up your phones at the beach, while you’re climbing, or if you’re just hanging out in the garden, park or a festival. It’s easy to carry around, thanks to the comfortable sewn-in handles, and can be folded out or put away again seconds.

We took one of the test samples of the JK Solar Charging Screen with us when we went rock climbing at Portlands, and it worked great!

These clamps really do suck

We’ve put almost as much effort into the suction clamps as we did the JK Solar Charging Screen itself. The charging screen is supplied with six suction clamps, which have a wide, flat suction surface and a lever which ‘pulls’ this surface up so it’s concave, forming a really strong bond between the suction clamp and the glass.

About monocrystalline solar panels

The twelve solar panels in our JK Solar Charging Screen are made using a monocrystalline design, which makes them excellent at capturing energy from the sun in dim light, or from within the windscreen of your vehicle.

Monocrystalline solar panels use a number small, efficient solar cells, rather than a fewer bigger one. Each solar cell is made from high-purity silicon, and cut into octagons, so that lots of them can fit together across the surface of the solar panel, since the octagonal shapes fit together nicely. Monocrystalline solar panels are ideal for use on your campervan or caravan:

• Designed for a larger surface area on each solar cell, to absorb and convert more energy,

• Reduced reflectivity, so more energy is captured by the panel and less is reflected away,

• More efficient than other types of solar panel,

• Can have a lifespan of up to 30 years, with proper care and maintenance.

Explaining the layers which make up a solar panel

Each of the charging screen’s solar panels are made up of multiple layers of different materials, which all work together to make the panel as efficient and effective as possible. The backing layer of fibreglass provides a base, which holds another layer of sunlight-resistant ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) to hold the cells in place and seal the unit.

The backs of the silicone solar cells themselves sit on this layer of EVA, with another layer of EVA on top to keep them in place. Finally, there’s a surface of ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE), a plastic which can resist high temperatures while also letting UV light through to the solar cells. This multi-layer design means that all the materials used work in tandem to ensure that the solar cells get the most light possible, and that the panel as a whole is highly resistant to high temperatures, UV light and moisture. It also means that the panels are semi-flexible, being thinner and lighter than bulkier designs. As a bonus, it also leaves the solar panels nice and easy to clean, with decent water resistance!

What does 120W actually mean?

In simple terms, without going into the mind-bending scientific formulae, it means your JK Solar Charging Screen will give you 120-Watt hours (120wh) of power for each hour of sunlight it gets. A 120-Watt solar panel is more than enough for running smaller electrical devices like lights, phone chargers etc., and should certainly be enough to handle things like a fridge, depending on its energy demands.