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+--- Thread: 'Splain me 'bout solar chargers... (/showthread.php?tid=216053)
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'Splain me 'bout solar chargers... - Buzz - 04-29-2018
What possible good are they for real world phone/tablet use? Seems like they charge at around 200mAh in bright sunlight, so if you're lucky enough to get the equivalent of 10 hours of bright sun per day, it'll take 10 days of pointing the thing at the sun to fill up a 20,000mAh unit under optimal conditions, w/ no loss due to any operational gotchas. Reality would be more like two weeks. It just doesn't seem to me that they're efficient enough to justify the hassle of schlepping them around. Like Eric Burdon said in the 70's, "What are they good for?"
Thanks.
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Re: 'Splain me 'bout solar chargers... - Markintosh - 04-29-2018
I have the Biolite 10+ panel. It takes just over an hour to charge my iPhone on a sunny day. Worth the schlep for me when I am doing a short camp trip or in the trailer.
Re: 'Splain me 'bout solar chargers... - OWC Jamie - 04-29-2018
For how much electricity you use a year to charge your phone the only way I see they could possibly be worthwhile would be to charge a phone off-grid.
Re: 'Splain me 'bout solar chargers... - Buzz - 04-29-2018
Markintosh wrote:
I have the Biolite 10+ panel. It takes just over an hour to charge my iPhone on a sunny day. Worth the schlep for me when I am doing a short camp trip or in the trailer.
That makes more sense than a one panel on a power bank... better to take a multi-panel solar charger and a conventional power bank? It just seems to me that those single panel equipped power banks are a needless waste of technology, IOW, a gimmick, unless someone can explain otherwise.
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Re: 'Splain me 'bout solar chargers... - Sarcany - 04-29-2018
There are niches...
They can make sense for hiking and camping. Takes about 2 solid days for a decent portable folding charger to directly charge a modern power-hungry phone from empty to full, but a backpack charger or a big folding array can keep a phone charged enough for some music playing and use of the GPS for awhile or can top-off.
...You seem to have overlooked the packs that combine a battery with solar cells that allow you to start off with a full battery charged from wall-power, top-off the battery via solar during the day, and then use the battery to top off your phone at night. Those work pretty well.
They can also be invaluable during extended blackouts. Until my friend's dad got her a small gas-powered generator for her balcony, she relied on solar chargers in Puerto Rico.
Re: 'Splain me 'bout solar chargers... - NewtonMP2100 - 04-29-2018
.......Don't let the sun..... go..........down on me..........
Re: 'Splain me 'bout solar chargers... - SDGuy - 04-29-2018
Buzz wrote:
What possible good are they for real world phone/tablet use? Seems like they charge at around 200mAh in bright sunlight...
Well - the one I bought last month is rated at 24W output: "three USB ports...up to 2.4A per port or 4.8A overall" - it measures about 12" x 6.5" folded up.
Re: 'Splain me 'bout solar chargers... - Buzz - 04-29-2018
Doc/SD- that's my point, that Rav unit has like 20X - 30X the surface area of a single cell power bank, and actually puts out a decent charge. If you charge up a power bank before leaving, it makes more sense (to me) to also take something like the Rav unit, since a single solar cell power bank is gonna take 2 - 3 days of time and attention per phone charge. If you're gonna rely on a power bank while camping (and hiking), it seems like a better choice to just get the next size bigger power bank than to try to nurse one of those single solar cell puppies. OTOH, if you schlep something like that Rav unit, you can probably get by w/ a smaller power bank, assuming fair-weather camping (non-tropical winter campers need not apply).
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Re: 'Splain me 'bout solar chargers... - RAMd®d - 04-29-2018
If it was me and I was camping (which I don't) I'd take a BA power bank that would/should just outlast the duration.
If I was hiking (which I don't) I'd take a very light power bank which would/should just outlast the duration.
If I was going on a three-hour tour (which I'd never do) I'd take both.
Re: 'Splain me 'bout solar chargers... - freeradical - 04-30-2018
If you depend upon GPS, you should get a dedicated GPS unit.
I have a Garmin etrex 20x. That thing will run for months on a pair of AA eneloops. It's water proof too down to a depth of one meter. Try that with your phone.