Solar charger advice wanted

[Phoenixdadeadhead]

I bought a solar charger, but it shuts off and need to be reset when the battery is about half full. So I decided I should make a solar charger myself. I have a 12 volt 1.5 amp solar panel I bought at Harbor freight for 15 dollars, and I am using 8 rechargeable batteries for my power storage.
On the plus side, it charges my phone as well as my truck will, and it keeps me supplied with fully charged AA batteries.
On the downside it is heavy weighing it at a back breaking 2 pounds 1.5 ounces, including the batteries which make up half the weight.
No matter what I will be taking the batteries which I use in my camera, and flash light, as well as in my emergency cell phone charger (unless use the solar).
My dilemma is the just over a pound that the solar panel alone adds to my already heavy pack. I have a set of chargers that weigh in at about 4 ounces that will charge 2 batteries at a time as well as my cell phone. The batteries could be used in my camera, flash light, and my cell charger (weight included in the 4 ounces). They could be charged from a car or an AC outlet, but I would only be able to use them when a power source is available, and I would only be able to charge 2 batteries in a night.
I figure I will be out for about 3 weeks, and plan on stopping twice in towns, maybe 3 times. I am taking 10 batteries maybe 12 if I dont take the solar.
Is it worth it to take the solar panel at 1 pound of weight, for the security of have fully charged batteries at all times? Or should I just take my chargers and hope that I have enough juice to take all the pictures I want, as well as use my G1 which does many of my trail jobs from music, books, compass, GPS, phone, journal.......... It does a lot of stuff i wont list it all

[WalkingStick75]

You don't state where you will be hiking but on the AT even at most shelters it is hard getting enough sunlight for the charger to work. I did have good luck with my solar charger in the alps but failed on the AT. Best to just buy new batteries as needed, lighter too.

[Phoenixdadeadhead]

I am going from clingman's to springer, but the charger pumps 14.8 volts in decent sun and 12 volts in the shade. It is a great panel which I use for keeping vehicles fully charged when left parked for months at a time. I am not worried about the amount of sun with this panel, on the back seat of my truck, parked under trees, with limo tint on my windows it pushed 12.8 volts at right at 1 amp. It fits perfectly on top of my pack so it will receive light all day in varying degrees. I worry more about blowing a fuse from overcharging more than lack of light.

[WalkingStick75]

Let me know how it works out for you.

[Phoenixdadeadhead]

Let me know how it works out for you.
Guess that means I will have to take it so I can let you know how it works lol.

[Dogwood]

Although, I don't carry a solar charger I've seen soloar charger panels that motorcyclists and hikers sometimesd attache to their packs that work, are 8 oz and less, and are quite compact.

[Phoenixdadeadhead]

Although, I don't carry a solar charger I've seen soloar charger panels that motorcyclists and hikers sometimesd attache to their packs that work, are 8 oz and less, and are quite compact.
I have one, but my phone is a power hog and the panel will not work for it. Also they will not fully charge AA batteries, which I use in my camera. I was really hoping my small solar charger would do what i wanted, but what can I do it doesn't lol

[Blissful]

We got one off of Campmor but it never worked right.
We bounced a battery charger up the trail.

[Phoenixdadeadhead]

We got one off of Campmor but it never worked right.
We bounced a battery charger up the trail.
Yeah the store bought ones just don't seem to do as well as I would want

[Wise Old Owl]

hmmmm yea let us know how this works out, search on old threads as well

[take-a-knee]

Those Brunton roll up solar panels work great but it is more weight than I would carry.

[fancyfeet]

Those Brunton roll up solar panels work great but it is more weight than I would carry.

Kinda expensive, too.

[Phoenixdadeadhead]

Those Brunton roll up solar panels work great but it is more weight than I would carry.
This thing doesn't roll up lol. It is a 1 foot by 5 inch panel in a plastic case. I wish I had one of the roll up ones I would sew it into my lid.

[Buzz_Lightfoot]

PDH, the trouble with using a panel like you described is there is no regulation to the charging cycle. It is just raw DC with no intelligence. Unregulated, it will continue to pump power into a battery even after it is fully charged and will eventually "cook" it and thus vastly shorten its life.

The small chargers that you hook into AC using a small "wall wart" transformer (at least the good ones) have an intelligent charging circuit with a CPU that monitors the battery's state and shut down when the battery is fully charged, thus preventing over charging. A cheap charger might just pump raw DC into the battery similar to a bare solar cell. The instructions for such a charger will say "charge for X number of hours and then turn it off" because there is no intelligence. They are expecting YOU to provide the intelligence.

The way to tell a good charger is that it will have a small LCD display. The same CPU that drives intelligent charging is used for the status display. Be aware that not all intelligent chargers are created equal. Some charge batteries in pairs. This is bad because not two batteries are ever precisely equal. Charged in a pair instead of a charging circuit for each cell means that one of the two will always be slightly over charged while its mate will be slighly UNDER charged. Look for a charger that explicitly says it has a seperate charging circuit for each cell.

Here's where the fun begins. All "wall warts" are labeled with their output voltage and current. If you can find a smart charger whose input is 12 volts you will be able to rig an adapter cable and run it directly from the solar panel rather than from its wall wart. (Just be careful not to reverse the polarity +/- leads). Your panel has an output of 1.5 amps (1500ma) which is more than hefty enough so don't worry about the current capacity.

Some more random thoughts. 1.5 amp (18 watts) output is more than you need for what you are trying to accomplish. To save weight you could get a panel that has less current capacity. Say around 1 amp (12 watts). Don't go smaller than 9 watts else charging times will start to go up due to insuficient output. One advantage your higher output panel has however is that it will still be able to charge when not fully illuminated (Shade, cloudy day, etc.) due to its higher output. Panel output goes up or down based on the amount of light hitting the panel.

One final thing, make sure and solar panel you get has what is called a "blocking diode" in it. A diode is a "one way valve" for electricty. When a panel is not recieving any light and it has no diode to prevent reverse current flow it will DISCHARGE your battery through the panel.

Yikes, I hope I have not confused you by all this technobabble!

Take care,
BL

[Buzz_Lightfoot]

We got one off of Campmor but it never worked right.
We bounced a battery charger up the trail.

Too many of the panels you see have far too little output for far too much price. ):

[Phoenixdadeadhead]

Nope you haven't but I should have shown you my panel b4 your wrote all that lol. It is not an issue of the charger i have built working as I need it, the question is whether it is worth it for the added weight

[Phoenixdadeadhead]

Here is the panel I am using http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=44768

[Buzz_Lightfoot]

Nope you haven't but I should have shown you my panel b4 your wrote all that lol. It is not an issue of the charger i have built working as I need it, the question is whether it is worth it for the added weight

Ha. Well maybe it will help someone else then! :)

1.5 WATTS not amps! Yeow though that is a wimpy panel... then the answer is, "No, it's not worth the weight!"

BL

[take-a-knee]

Kinda expensive, too.

That has something to do with why they work well.

[shelterbuilder]

Frankly, there are better places to buy solar panels than Harbor Freight. (Not knocking the company - I use their tools all the time.) Their panels are amorphous silicon, not mono or polycrystaline, and while they will deliver a charge under cloudy conditions, you pay for this in terms of a lower output under full direct sunlight. (Of course, for the AT, this might be a plus!) AND THEY ARE PRICEY!!!

Check out places like Backwoods Solar (Sandpoint, Idaho, I think), or Real Goods Solar (Ukiah, CA.) Better prices and selection. They may carry some of the panels that are "flexible". It sounds like you're trying to make a unit that would have the panel attached to the top of your pack, and have the rest of the hardware elsewhere in the pack with wires running to it from the panel.

FWIW, in the end, you may find that it's cheaper, easier, and lighter in weight to just buy fresh batteries in town, and CONSERVE, CONSERVE, CONSERVE while you're out. People tend to forget that solar power is NOT like plugging into the wall outlet - solar has its limitations: generation is slow and weather-dependent, and storage batteries are bulky and heavy. LED lighting is a good companion for solar, since it uses your power very efficently.

Good luck.

[Buzz_Lightfoot]

Frankly, there are better places to buy solar panels than Harbor Freight. (Not knocking the company - I use their tools all the time.) Their panels are amorphous silicon, not mono or polycrystaline, and while they will deliver a charge under cloudy conditions, you pay for this in terms of a lower output under full direct sunlight. (Of course, for the AT, this might be a plus!) AND THEY ARE PRICEY!!!

Check out places like Backwoods Solar (Sandpoint, Idaho, I think), or Real Goods Solar (Ukiah, CA.) Better prices and selection. They may carry some of the panels that are "flexible". It sounds like you're trying to make a unit that would have the panel attached to the top of your pack, and have the rest of the hardware elsewhere in the pack with wires running to it from the panel.



Good post Shelter. Your point about not buying the panel from Harbor Freight hits the nail on the head. This advice boiled down to the basics should be applied to ANY purchase. Stick with a company that specializes in the item you are purchasing. Especially if you are not familiar with the item in question. Think of it this way Phoenix, would you buy your tent at Walmart? Again, not knocking Walmart. Sure, you COULD get a tent there. Would it be a great tent? Almost certainly not. An outfitter would be the best choice because of their specialization. They are much more likely to sell a quality product.

Too many of the "Solar panel you can plug into your car and keep your battery charged for free!" panels put out so little power that if your battery was dead it would take a month of full sun to get enough power from the panel to MAYBE get one shot at starting your car. Didn't start? Well, wait another month! Remember, the power was FREE from the sun so how can you complain? (Sarcasm mode off!)

This sort of thing is too common. Another example are the "emergency radios" that are sold by generalist product companies on their catalogs. Some are companies are very reputable and names you would trust. Truth be told most of these "emergency radios" perform so poorly that it is nearly criminal. Some of them have recievers that are so bad that you will be lucky to recieve 3-4 stations when in reality a good reciever would pick up dozens or more. Below is a link to a prime example of a great radio from a company that specializes in them (Universal Radio):

http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/spcialty/0184.html

Example of an "emergency radio" to avoid sold by a reputable company:

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0058151629044a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH_all&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ntk=Products&QueryText=emergency+radio&sort=all&_D%3AhasJS=+&N=0&Nty=1&hasJS=true&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.form23&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1

Interestingly, Cabelas sells the CCrane radio as well... just an older model.

Nearly all of the windup radios, flashlights, etc. sound good on the surface but as Shelterbuilder says a good unit with a fresh set of batteries and by practicing a little energy conservation is the best way to go.

BL

[Wise Old Owl]

Kinda expensive, too.

Funny how the cost has come down all over the internet and now at stores and not Bruton.

I saw the Solar panel that we are talking about and it was intended to keep a trickle charge on a battery for a car or RV that is sitting in the parking lot for a long time. 1.5 watts was very intentional.

The Eton radio is interesting but I don't like the weight of the crank or the fact that the tuner is not digital and lacks a front end filter. One of my picky points is a cheap radio "survival" has a front end filter that is as wide as a barn door. So when you are walking the trail you hear two am stations or two fm stations at the same time or it fades from one to another as you are walking making it hard to follow.

[shelterbuilder]

...Nearly (http://Nearly) all of the windup radios, flashlights, etc. sound good on the surface but as Shelterbuilder says a good unit with a fresh set of batteries and by practicing a little energy conservation is the best way to go.

BL

I agree with you about most of the wind-up "toys" out there...that having been said, I confess that I am somewhat of an equipment freak, and love experimenting with all sorts of new "toys". (Note: "experiment" does not equal "depend upon" - at least not at first)

I was in Target yesterday and I saw a small version of a wind-up flashlight for under $10 (2 1/2" x 3 1/2" x 3/4"). Now, I carry a slightly larger version of a wind-up flashlight in my "getaway" daypack, mainly because I don't have to worry about replacing leaky batteries every so often, and I have used this one at home and at the club's cabin for years, with reasonable success. HOWEVER, it is a pain in the butt to wind up enough to get good light for any reasonable length of time, and if I wasn't lazy enough/forgetful enough that I would check the batteries twice a year, I'd probably go back to the old-style flashlight.

Bottom line: sometimes new ideas may sound good on paper, but in practice, they may not be quite as good as the old ideas! Don't give up on the new stuff, but don't depend on it UNTIL it's proven.

[Buzz_Lightfoot]

I saw the Solar panel that we are talking about and it was intended to keep a trickle charge on a battery for a car or RV that is sitting in the parking lot for a long time. 1.5 watts was very intentional.

The Eton radio is interesting but I don't like the weight of the crank or the fact that the tuner is not digital and lacks a front end filter. One of my picky points is a cheap radio "survival" has a front end filter that is as wide as a barn door. So when you are walking the trail you hear two am stations or two fm stations at the same time or it fades from one to another as you are walking making it hard to follow.

Intentional, maybe. But 1.5 watts is so little that it smacks of a gimmick to seperate people from their money rather than a useful item.

I agree with your statement about cheap radios. It is another way of what I was trying to say. I wasn't picking on the Eton specifically, I was just looking for an example for the point I was trying to make.

I wouldnt want to carry the C.Crane radio either. Although it is a fine radio it certainly isnt a BACKPACK radio. It's big and heavy! Something a little more reasonable (1.3 pounds) might be this:

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-ICF-SW7600GR-Shortwave-Receiver-Reception/dp/B00006IS4X/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1244414465&sr=8-11

Syncronous AM reception, selectable sidebands. I have one that I use to listen to baseball games when fishing.

Still 1.3 pounds is a bit much. A radio with very good performance and is tiny and light is this:

http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/widerxvr/1005.html

I wouldnt mind having one of those myself.

Owl you seem to know a thing or two about radios. Do you have an amateur license?

73 de KD3ST.

BL

[CowHead]

personally i like a book,and a candle if I want high tech I'll stay at home

[CowHead]

I bought a solar charger, but it shuts off and need to be reset when the battery is about half full. So I decided I should make a solar charger myself. I have a 12 volt 1.5 amp solar panel I bought at Harbor freight for 15 dollars, and I am using 8 rechargeable batteries for my power storage.
On the plus side, it charges my phone as well as my truck will, and it keeps me supplied with fully charged AA batteries.
On the downside it is heavy weighing it at a back breaking 2 pounds 1.5 ounces, including the batteries which make up half the weight.
No matter what I will be taking the batteries which I use in my camera, and flash light, as well as in my emergency cell phone charger (unless use the solar).
My dilemma is the just over a pound that the solar panel alone adds to my already heavy pack. I have a set of chargers that weigh in at about 4 ounces that will charge 2 batteries at a time as well as my cell phone. The batteries could be used in my camera, flash light, and my cell charger (weight included in the 4 ounces). They could be charged from a car or an AC outlet, but I would only be able to use them when a power source is available, and I would only be able to charge 2 batteries in a night.
I figure I will be out for about 3 weeks, and plan on stopping twice in towns, maybe 3 times. I am taking 10 batteries maybe 12 if I dont take the solar.
Is it worth it to take the solar panel at 1 pound of weight, for the security of have fully charged batteries at all times? Or should I just take my chargers and hope that I have enough juice to take all the pictures I want, as well as use my G1 which does many of my trail jobs from music, books, compass, GPS, phone, journal.......... It does a lot of stuff i wont list it all

This kind of kills your go-lite go fast forum

[Phoenixdadeadhead]

This kind of kills your go-lite go fast forum
Honestly that was never meant to be what it turned into lol. It was a question of tactics. Some people like to go light and fast, but I personally like to stop and smell the roses. It was meant as a question to those who like to hike 40 miles in a day with 8 pound packs, and their eyes locked on the trail in front of them. I am not saying their way is wrong since I am sure they're way is perfect for them, but I would like to know more about their way, naybe learn what I am missing. I used to carry extremely heavy packs, but groing up around military bases my whole life, and starting my hiking life with soldiers who used their feild gear, what do you expect lol.
I don't know if you have ever seen them but I used to use a millitary extreme cold down bag which weighed 16 pounds lol. I also used a pup tent from the army that was made of a thich rubber like material green on one side white on the other so you could turn it inside out in the snow. It had the coolest tube for a door and a smaller tube for a window/vent. I didn't use a stuff sack I used a 5 gallon metal bucket to keep my sleeping bag in which I used as a chair, a firepit, and sometimes a bathtub. So my 40 pound pack is Ultra light to me lol.
I would like to learn about minamalist style of thinking though, since to me there is no wrong way, and I would like to learn all ways.

[CowHead]

Honestly that was never meant to be what it turned into lol. It was a question of tactics. Some people like to go light and fast, but I personally like to stop and smell the roses. It was meant as a question to those who like to hike 40 miles in a day with 8 pound packs, and their eyes locked on the trail in front of them. I am not saying their way is wrong since I am sure they're way is perfect for them, but I would like to know more about their way, naybe learn what I am missing. I used to carry extremely heavy packs, but groing up around military bases my whole life, and starting my hiking life with soldiers who used their feild gear, what do you expect lol.
I don't know if you have ever seen them but I used to use a millitary extreme cold down bag which weighed 16 pounds lol. I also used a pup tent from the army that was made of a thich rubber like material green on one side white on the other so you could turn it inside out in the snow. It had the coolest tube for a door and a smaller tube for a window/vent. I didn't use a stuff sack I used a 5 gallon metal bucket to keep my sleeping bag in which I used as a chair, a firepit, and sometimes a bathtub. So my 40 pound pack is Ultra light to me lol.
I would like to learn about minamalist style of thinking though, since to me there is no wrong way, and I would like to learn all ways.

:cool:HYOH.

[Phoenixdadeadhead]

you have no idea how many people said that. Whoever made that saying should be hung from a tree. The thought that asking others to share their experiences is wrong has to be the most moronic thing I have ever heard. Good thing the people historically didn't follow that stupid saying or we would all be banging rocks together to make fire and eating grubs.
Here's a goOd saying for all those people
SHARE AND SHARE ALIKE!!!!!!!
there is nothing wrong with opposing ways of accomplishing the same goal, but it sure is nice when good hearted humans share their experiences so others may learn a little from them