The Gadgeteer has told you about some laptop bags with built-in solar chargers. Those are great, but what if you already have a bag you love? The Fuse 4W Solar Charger from Voltaic can add solar charging capability to any bag. Connect this pouch to your bag, and you’ll add two 2W solar panels and a 3,000mAh USB battery (output: 5.5V, 600mA via USB port) that charges in sunlight or via USB, AC, and DC power. You’ll be able to charge a variety of smartphones, GPS units, hand-held games, and even slowly charge some tablets with the battery’s USB port or with the included adapter tips. The Fuse 4W Solar Charger is available in charcoal, orange, and silver for $129. There’s even a Fuse 10W Solar Laptop Charger with a 16,000mAh battery (output: 5V/2A, 12V/4A, 16V/3.5A, 19V/3A) that can charge your laptop as well as your tablets, smartphones, and hand-held devices for $339.
Gadgeteer Comment Policy - Please read before commenting
We have found that solar chargers are really only useful at “base camp” as the time it takes to charge something is actually quite long.
We have never found walking around with a backpack and charging the gear to have worked all that well…not that it can’t be done, but unless your back is facing the sun the entire time (8 hours?) , it would be extremely inefficient.
The best is to use the solar cells to charge a battery, from which it then can be used to recharge other gear….as in the set up here:
http://www.rainydaymagazine.com/RDM2008/Home/June/RDMHomeJune08W1.htm#RainyDayPower
A roll up (or foldable) solar panel will increase the surface area and decrease charging time:
http://www.rainydaymagazine.com/RDM2005/GearNGadgets/June2005/RDMGG_Brunton.htm
…again, only practical when not moving about 🙂 Still, solar panels are a great way to keep gear (GPS, camera/flash batteries, cellphones). Laptops are tougher, but still do able.
that 600mah usb may be a bit anemic for some recent portable devices…