Being the wannabe hippy tree hugger than I am, I’d love to be able to charge all my devices with a solar charger. So far the ones I’ve tried haven’t worked out so well, I don’t know if it’s my Southern Indiana location that is the problem, or if they just don’t work well in general… I keep thinking that I’ll give it another try and the Brunton Restore Solar Charger looks like it would be up for the task. It holds a 2,200 mAh rechargeable lithium polymer battery that is housed in a water resistant rubberized shell. It has a mini USB output cable, but can be expanded with tips for other devices. The price seems a little steep at $123.74 though. What do you all think? Do any of you use solar as a primary way of charging your gear? If so, which one do you use?
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I used a Solio charger on a trip to the Boundary Waters this last summer. It worked ok, I guess, once it was fully charged. It took forever to charge, like a couple of days, and then depleted itself after charging my iPhone for a couple of hours. I can’t imagine relying on it regularly for more than one small device unless you were on a tropical island with clear skies for 12 hours a day.
I’d like a combination with a propellor more (using wind energy aswel as solar power)
Great combination on a bike would be: iPhone & satnav & solar panel &
propellor
These little solar chargers are almost useless, unless you have a few days to let them charge. You really need a solar panel that puts out a couple of watts to be of any use. Below are two 5Watt devices that would get the job done:
Here’s one “F15-300 5w Folding Solar Panel Charger” with good reviews for $59.99 (I might even buy this one):
http://www.amazon.com/F15-300-Folding-Solar-Panel-Charger/dp/B001QKWTCK
and another “PowerFilm R15-300 15.4V @ 300mA (0.30A) Rollable Solar Panel” for $119.00 (no reviews yet):
http://www.amazon.com/PowerFilm-R15-300-15-4V-300mA-Rollable/dp/B0007WOK84
My whole house is powered by solar. I have a webpage at my website about it at: http://coppermountainmesa.com/solar1.html
I’ve done some updates to my system recently that are not reflected on the site; like two 120watt panels and two 130watt panels and two new solar controllers