Solar chargers - any good?
 

Hi,

I have a Veho muvi, Galaxy S4 and a ixus 130 p&s camera. While traveling both the muvi (a gopro like thingy) and the phone die quite fast. Phone I can live without, muvi I would like to use.

Now I don't want to search for outlets all the time so ... what about portable solar chargers! ?

Anybody using this and what are the general experiences?

I'm flying through Incheon Airport Seoul and I expect to be able to pick one up there... enjoying my layover :)

Alex

Fortune and Glory, kid. Fortune and Glory.

Maybe they've improved since I last bought one a few years ago but my experience wasn't good. My A5 paper size (roughly) one could be left in the sun for days and nothing much would happen. I'd guess you'd need something the size of a door to charge anything before the warranty on it runs out. :(

If anyone else says they've managed to charge an iPhone from a solar panel that costs less than an iPhone I'd be interested in what and how much and where and how you did it.

Is this for backpacking or similar? If you're on a bike, with loads of volts and stuff available, why not just use a car charger - or the circuitry from one anyway. If you're on foot or just want a plug and play solution have you thought about one of the external battery things - something like this: Power Bank 8400mAh Emergency Battery Portable External Phone Micro USB Charger | eBay

and just charge it up every now and again.

I had one on a quad bike to keep battery topped up when not in use. It was in full sun all day every day. The quad bike was not used frequently and the battery was always needing charging by mains, so not much good for me. That was probably 8 years ago to be fair so as backofbeyond says maybe better now.

Again, my experience dates back about eight or nine years. The small, £20ish unit didn't seem to do a lot except power its own LED charge indicator light.

As above, I had one called solar monkey or something like that, wasn't great.

For the phone ...
A 'solar' panel of about 20 watts is required.

I charge a separate battery during the day, while I use the phone. At night, when I'm not using the phone, the battery charges the phone. With very little phone use the phone will last 2 days .. and you need that to survive the days when the sun is not out. Even then I carry spare batteries sometimes.

The above is for backpacking .. no vehicle. If you have a vehicle .. charge off the vehicles battery ... the amount of energy used by phone, GPS, camera and video devices is small compared to the rest of the vehicle. If you need to use the things while the vehicle is running .. charge a spare battery and swap batteries at night.

I bought one of these last year:

Goal Zero Guide 10 Plus Solar Recharging Kit - Mountain Equipment Co-op. Free Shipping Available

I like the fact that I can charge the battery pack from the panel or plug it into the bike as well, you could strap the panel to the bike and leave it in the sun and charge stuff or string it up on the side of a tent.

You can charge an iPhone from the panel directly, the problem is, that if something even partially blocks the panel (cloud, or person walks infront of panel) the phone stops charging and you have to remove/ reinsert the cable into the panel again to get it started, so better to keep the battery pack charging from the panel and your device plugged into the battery pack.

The other good thing with the way the battery pack is set up is that it uses rechargaeble AA's, its not a dedicated pack with a non replaceable single cell - if you have a bad AA, you replace it, you can also charge AAA and it comes with a 12v car lighter socket so you can charge 12v equipment.

I charge my iPhone, GoPro batteries (USB twin battery charger) and Canon Camera batteries (using a 12v charger) with this system (only 2 things at the same time though) it is the best Ive found so far, not perfect, but pretty good, it has been fairly durable so far.

Thanks all!

I've checked them here in kathmandu but a lot of promises on funky brands. I have a layover and -if they sell any- I'll pick one up.

It's for backpacking mostly, unfortunately no motorbike at the moment. And during trekkings and such it can be quite useful. Well, the idea. You please a solar thingy on top of the pack, walk all day in brisk sunlight (like that ever happens. ..) and at the end of the day your stuff is charged!

Will post next week to show of my new panel, if Incheon Airport is any good!

Alex

Fortune and Glory, kid. Fortune and Glory.

Do the maths Alex!
Add up the power of your devices- then match that to what a panel can deliver in full sun...and you'll find that you'll probably will need a very large one!
You would be best served by a rechargeable power bank- one which would also start your moto such as the Micro Start PPS ( it comes with both a mains and a 12 volt charger too) and is ideal. IMHO. Weighs 530 grs inc all charging and jump leads.

p.s Indiana doesn't need/have any of those...:Beach:

When I was canoing out in Canada I met a guy who had one of these. Even in the endless daylight (22 hours a day), in bright light it would take FOREVER to charge anything. But YES !! IT DOES work. I think it's great for a smart phone, GPS, small batteries etc but useless for a laptop or silmilar.

Yes, they are far from perfect Ted, but I charge batteries on my bike as I ride and then set up the solar charger when the bike is not running especially for GoPro batteries, there are certainly larger 'roll up' chargers on the market with a higher wattage, but they are not practical to carry on a bike IMO, this is the best solution Ive found at the moment until they get much more efficient and cheaper.

Last Summer in direct sunlight and combined with the battery pack it would increase my iPhone battery from 10% to 75% in a few hours no problem and the battery pack would be charged up again after another 3-4 hours.


I do like the look of the Micro Start unit mentioned by Bertrand, does anyone know what the batteries capacity is?, I could not find that info on the website

Grif, you may not be on the right website.
look here:
Micro-Starts - PPS Models by Antigravity Batteries
XP3 is ideal for motos.

2016 Update
now using the XP-10
More juice ! and:
Two USB outputs ( 5V 2A and 5V 1A)
Plus 12V 10A output
Plus 19V ~ 3.5A output
Does everything except make coffee!

Ah, thanks Bertrand, yes it does look like a good bit of kit...especially for travelling solo...yet another item for my wish list ;)

I have a MicroStart that I bought originally to use around my workshop to jump vehicles that had been sitting too long, however I've since started taking it with me any time I ride anywhere.

From a 2/5 charge, it has enough power to jump a very dead V8 engine, and it'll charge a phone pretty quickly. I had an issue with a little 250 for a while where the starter wouldn't turn freely, just going off the battery it would never start cold, however with the MicroStart after about 5 minutes of constant churning it would kick over fast enough to start. Would have been ruined a few times without the battery pack. And without the full charging case, it's about the size of a paperback book, so easy to transport. I'd definitely buy another. :thumbup1:

Power Monkey Freeloader Pro
 

I've used this for hiking and canoe trips. Its difficult to draw a definitive answer as to their usefulness.

• You can't charge any device at the same time as charging the inbuilt battery on the device. (maybe you can with other de vices)
• Most usually offer an additional solar charging set of panels. Get these...
• When you're moving you need to make sure that the panels are facing the sun and are not in the shade. This is difficult to put it mildly.
• If you've access to a 12V battery as well these portable panels become very redundant.

The Freeloader pro comes with a universal battery charger that is really quite good and will charge anything up to about 7v - basically up to the battery for a Canon EOS 5 series / Nikon D700/800 series

In reality the Freeloader Pro and Global extra charger thinggy kept my GoPro 2, Panasonic GX1 and iPhone active throughout 6 nights on kilimanjaro with no external electrical input. (I did have 3 of each batteries) and got in two 1/2 charges a day
You have to really budget charging times of the batteries. Africa being Africa means allot of sun and being on Kilimanjaro means you're are closer to it, so basically ideal conditions for Solar to work.

In a car or on a bike - not too useful. Awesome on a canoe or push-bike, ok for hiking, perfect for several day camping.

GD