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View Full Version : Solar power - i am done with the naysayers!



Wise Old Owl
04-13-2010, 22:05
Yep I found parts, bought top quality batteries, puchased a 5x5 solar panel, found a diode and parts and built a 6 oz (with batteries 2AA & 3AAA) charger for the top of my pack. It charges in direct sunlight in less than five hours. More hours indirect just sends the batteries home... so the tech is here, the new 2500 mah batteries are willing, I spent $40 on this project and I can see a LED light at the end of the green tunnel.


There are some minor adjustments to work out to distribute the power, but as is, this technology has caught up with practical usage.

Tinker
04-13-2010, 22:16
Cool. Keep us posted on results.

WalkingStick75
04-13-2010, 22:17
Yes, Solar power works. I built this one a couple years ago.

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=40034

Cost is under $25.00

Connie
04-13-2010, 22:18
RC aircraft have long-lasting rechargeable batteries.

radio-controlled aircraft

I saw an interesting article about it in a RC hobby magazine.

Maybe, check it out.

I have a Novathink Surge for my iPod Touch. There is also Juice, I think. It works.

shelterbuilder
04-13-2010, 22:29
Alright, my curiosity is piqued. Is the solar panel "crystaline" or "amorphous" (sparkley-blue or smoky-gray)? Amorphous panels seem to be better at producing power under shady/cloudy conditions (although they seem to produce less of it), while crystaline panels seem to have a higher output, but cannot be shaded at all.

If I remember correctly....

Cool AT Breeze
04-13-2010, 22:48
We have a guy here now that has about an 18X24 inch solar panel mounted on PVC attatched to his pack. I asked him how much his chair weighed before I knew what it was. It weighs 28 oz.

Wise Old Owl
04-13-2010, 22:59
amorphous about 10 volts 2x

After charging I waited two days to see how the charge held, it did.

Manwich
04-13-2010, 23:05
I say nay.

Wise Old Owl
04-13-2010, 23:39
I say nay.

Hmmm Got Goat?


http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:fO9RELsFaAv_8M:http://www.goldenbrookfarm.com/images/DaisyRearUdder_000.jpg (http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.goldenbrookfarm.com/images/DaisyRearUdder_000.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.goldenbrookfarm.com/milking-tips.htm&usg=__1Mt2cLHjz1I1ADFD8jDDQngjosU=&h=237&w=158&sz=17&hl=en&start=2&itbs=1&tbnid=fO9RELsFaAv_8M:&tbnh=109&tbnw=73&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dgoat%2Brear%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26 gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1)

Now what was I doing? :D

K2
04-13-2010, 23:46
Good for you! I hope it works out. K2

leaftye
04-14-2010, 01:46
That's awesome that you were able to build your own solar charger. I'm not so handy, but I was lucky that solar chargers have come down in price. I spent about $15 more on a Powerfilm charger that charges AA batteries and can also charges mobile devices with a usb cable. In a little over a half day of hiking with the charger hanging off my top bag (ie, indirect sunlight) I was able to fully charge Sanyo Eneloop 2000 mah batteries and put a partial charge on a second set of Eneloop batteries. In more direct sunlight I was able to fully charge Sanyo 2700 mah batteries and top off my Peek Pronto and cell phone. Mobile solar power has definitely arrived.

sasquatch2014
04-14-2010, 06:33
Sounds lighter than what i have. I have one of the Solio (sp) that folds out into three petals. Works fine for what I am doing and the cost was great. Got it as a gift. Talking of alternative energy sources I keep wondering if there would be a way to power things on the trail off methane? Seems like after a day or two on the trail I have plenty of stored up fuel. Tinker and I discussed this on the last hike and have some ideas on how to work and angle on both bug protection as well as bear aversion.

kanga
04-14-2010, 07:47
that's pretty cool, woo! let me know how it holds up to a beating.

WalkingStick75
04-14-2010, 08:59
Nice project by why re-invent the wheel? I made a solar panel from Home Depot and with a little re-wiring at half the cost I have a solar battery charger. I used it for two weeks in Europe and provided enough power for my camera and GPS which I used whenever hiking to provide a track. I had limited success on the AT, too much tree cover. I also used it on the International AT where road walking is fairly common so again it worked great.

briankeithsmith
04-14-2010, 09:44
If you guys don't mind telling us where you sourced your parts, and any particulars about assembly, I'd love to build one!

shelterbuilder
04-14-2010, 18:03
We have a guy here now that has about an 18X24 inch solar panel mounted on PVC attatched to his pack. I asked him how much his chair weighed before I knew what it was. It weighs 28 oz.

It's NOT a question of the technology not working, but rather an issue of the technology still not being lightweight enough to justify its use in many locations along the AT - especially for some of our UL brethern. Walking in-and-out of the "Green Tunnel", there tends to be too much shade for solar to be MORE practical than just buying regular batteries every so often (although it's certainly more environmentally responsible - and certainly more self-sufficient).

Of course, like so many other things, you take it if you WANT to take it - it's a good conversation-starter, and might get other folks thinking about things that THEY can do to reduce their personal footprint on the earth.

brooklynkayak
04-14-2010, 21:09
What about wind power? I remember some company was developing a small wind generator for backpackers.
Sometimes you don't have enough sun, other times you don't have enough wind:-(

mkmangold
04-15-2010, 00:51
There are some minor adjustments to work out to distribute the power, but as is, this technology has caught up with practical usage.

For what are you using batteries?
I have a WoodGas Stove so I need to recharge 2 AA's each day to keep up with that and I also have an Energizer cellphone recharger which requires less than one AA per day. My headlamp uses an AA every week or more. Other than that, I'm green-to-go with the additional weight of the WoodGas stove.

rusty075
04-15-2010, 17:34
If you guys don't mind telling us where you sourced your parts, and any particulars about assembly, I'd love to build one!

If you want something similar without any building at all you can buy one these: Sollite 4-AAE (http://www.siliconsolar.com/flexible-solar-battery-charger-sollite4aae-p-16200.html). Without batteries it weighs maybe an ounce.

I bought one of those, and made it more useful for powering the electronics that end up going with me by replacing its 4 AA batteries with one of these 6Ah batteries (http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=8484), with a charger circuit (http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=726) and a USB charger (http://www.adafruit.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=10&products_id=14). Now one little box can charge anything that is USB-rechargable: cellphone, camera, ipod, gps, whatever happens to be going with on that particular trip. And its internal battery can be charged from a wall outlet, USB, or by the solar panel, whichever is available. The whole assembly process is explained by instructions on instructables.com (http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-a-solar-iPodiPhone-charger-aka-Might/). All together my contraption weighs 8 ounces, including the watertight box that the battery and electronics to live in.

waywardfool
04-16-2010, 00:24
OK, here's my totally crazy idea of the day.

i was talking with a plumber friend today. You know the automatic toilet flushers, that have a sensor that will flush when you move away? Well, seems there is a problem with the batteries in them not lasting. They have been testing a new model, that uses a miniature turbine generator to recharge the batteries with the flow from each flush (turbine/paddle integral within the valve). Sooo...hikers are gonna spend a minimum of 8-10 hours at a campsite...one of you rocket scientists design us up a mini turbine/paddlewheel generator that will drop into a stream/creek and charge batteries. (Remember grade-school science -- even a tiny motor from a toy will generate power if the shaft spins....).

I want royalties!!!

waywardfool
04-16-2010, 00:31
here is a .pdf spec sheet for Zurn's hydroelectric generator in a faucet...

http://www.zurn.com/operations/ecovantage/pdfs/specsheets/81446.pdf

Graywolf
04-16-2010, 00:41
Wise Owl, Thanks for the thread..I was looking into some flex roll panels that you can actually sew onto your pack.. I will have ot look for the web site..

I have a solar battery charger/light on my gril..weighs 8 oz..I took it off the grill last year and strapped it to the top of the pack..Chraged 4 AA batteries or Camera batteries in less then 4 hours..Worked great..And with the light, made a nice flash light at night..

Graywolf

rusty075
04-16-2010, 02:55
...one of you rocket scientists design us up a mini turbine/paddlewheel generator that will drop into a stream/creek and charge batteries.

I wonder if one of those bicycle headlight generators would work, just attach a little paddlewheel to it.... hmmm....

Pedaling Fool
04-16-2010, 08:41
Solar power technology is still in a rut, but I think there's enormous potential in this technology and we will one day make a breakthrough. There's some researchers looking into a human-engineered leaf; I think artificial photosynthesis is the future. All the DIY-types can only help stimulate advancement - it's the American way.

Blue Jay
04-16-2010, 09:27
Do you need some type of voltage/amperage converter to directly charge a cell phone bettery?

Lostone
04-16-2010, 09:57
there are some devices that are solar specifically

I have Brunton solar panels I use to charge the batteries for my Cpap machine. I use Li batterys.......Works well.

Wise Old Owl
04-17-2010, 21:48
Solar power technology is still in a rut, but I think there's enormous potential in this technology and we will one day make a breakthrough. There's some researchers looking into a human-engineered leaf; I think artificial photosynthesis is the future. All the DIY-types can only help stimulate advancement - it's the American way.

What Rut?

The cells are cheaper, A panel can be had at a hardware store, the rechargables are holding more power, Led light drains a battery at a tenth of a traditional bulb.

Here is the panel with a protection diode.

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg275/MarkSwarbrick/DSCF3079a.jpg

tacedeous
04-18-2010, 01:16
hey WOO,

awesome panel I've been wanting to dive into this project for a while... what did you mount that all too? also, and more importantly, what mp3 player did you find that runs on AAA's? I've been searching with no real luck yet...

Wise Old Owl
04-19-2010, 12:41
hey WOO,

awesome panel I've been wanting to dive into this project for a while... what did you mount that all too? also, and more importantly, what mp3 player did you find that runs on AAA's? I've been searching with no real luck yet...

actually I have two, one is a extra chip stuffed into my cell phone that holds 8 megabytes and the other is a two megabytes I picked up at a store on a AAA.


http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:avuEDQ4sd4CWWM:http://www.tycromedia.com/images/512MB%20TRIO%20MP3%20PLAYER%20%20PERPVOICE%20RECOR DER%20THUMB%20DRIVE.jpg (http://www.tycromedia.com/images/512MB%20TRIO%20MP3%20PLAYER%20%20PERPVOICE%20RECOR DER%20THUMB%20DRIVE.jpg)Trio MP3 2mg 1 AAA lasts hours. Works great but I don't thinks its made anymore.


The solar panel has a shoe string for attaching to the top of the pack.

Pedaling Fool
04-28-2010, 09:53
What Rut?

The cells are cheaper, A panel can be had at a hardware store, the rechargables are holding more power, Led light drains a battery at a tenth of a traditional bulb.

Here is the panel with a protection diode.

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg275/MarkSwarbrick/DSCF3079a.jpg
It is much better suited for personal use, I was primarily speaking of a broader use, but that will change one day, I'm sure.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/23/AR2010042302220.html?wpisrc=nl_most

An Excerpt:

1. Solar and wind power are the greenest of them all.

Unfortunately, solar and wind technologies require huge amounts of land to deliver relatively small amounts of energy, disrupting natural habitats. Even an aging natural gas well producing 60,000 cubic feet per day generates more than 20 times the watts per square meter of a wind turbine. A nuclear power plant cranks out about 56 watts per square meter, eight times as much as is derived from solar photovoltaic installations. The real estate that wind and solar energy demand led the Nature Conservancy to issue a report last year critical of "energy sprawl," (http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0006802#pone-0006802-g001) including tens of thousands of miles of high-voltage transmission lines needed to carry electricity from wind and solar installations to distant cities.

Nor does wind energy substantially reduce CO2 emissions. Since the wind doesn't always blow, utilities must use gas- or coal-fired generators to offset wind's unreliability. The result is minimal -- or no -- carbon dioxide reduction.

Denmark, the poster child for wind energy boosters, more than doubled its production of wind energy between 1999 and 2007. Yet data from Energinet.dk (http://www.energinet.dk/NR/rdonlyres/EC3E484D-08D5-4179-9D85-7B9A9DBD3E08/0/Environmentalreport2008.pdf), the operator of Denmark's natural gas and electricity grids, show that carbon dioxide emissions from electricity generation in 2007 were at about the same level as they were back in 1990, before the country began its frenzied construction of turbines. Denmark has done a good job of keeping its overall carbon dioxide emissions flat, but that is in large part because of near-zero population growth and exorbitant energy taxes, not wind energy. And through 2017, the Danes foresee no decrease in carbon dioxide emissions from electricity generation."

Spokes
04-28-2010, 10:02
What about wind power? I remember some company was developing a small wind generator for backpackers.
Sometimes you don't have enough sun, other times you don't have enough wind:-(

I tried it but the blades kept hitting me in the head.........

babbage
05-06-2010, 18:36
You lost me -- What do you need batteries for?

Wise Old Owl
05-18-2010, 20:54
You lost me -- What do you need batteries for?

The three go in a micro AM/FM digital radio or the Headlamp. Or drop one in a tiny MP3

The AA go in the Garmin GPS... or a Maglite which is altered for LED.

Remmber this is 6 oz WITH batteries. very UL

M1 Thumb
05-18-2010, 21:38
Has anyone tried out the npower peg yet? There was a previous post, elsewhere, about it. I'm hoping someone feels adventurous enough to buy one, field test it, and report back here their thoughts about it.


http://greennpower.com/index.php?option=com_ixxocart&Itemid=74&p=catalog&parent=1&pg=1

Dogwood
05-18-2010, 21:48
I imagine if a system was light enough in weight, practical in real use, cost effective, and there existed a market for it we would see solar energy being generated on the trail by being incorporated into the designs of backpacks through the use of photoelectric coatings and sprays, fabrics, and rugged enough for use in backpacking, extremely thin flexible rollout solar panels.

I envision, not to far in the future, a GPS with the ability to store detailed topo maps, a high res/high megapixel digital camera, reliable and fast internet connectivity, reliable global cell ph coverage, AM/FM radio, music player(all with high storage ability) and light all in one high enough quality solar or extremely long lasting battery powered device.

Wise Old Owl
05-18-2010, 21:53
I imagine if a system was light enough in weight, practical in real use, cost effective, and there existed a market for it we would see solar energy being generated on the trail by being incorporated into the designs of backpacks through the use of photoelectric coatings and sprays, fabrics, and rugged enough for use in backpacking, extremely thin flexible rollout solar panels.

I envision, not to far in the future, a GPS with the ability to store detailed topo maps, a high res/high megapixel digital camera, reliable and fast internet connectivity, reliable global cell ph coverage, AM/FM radio, music player(all with high storage ability) and light all in one high enough quality solar or extremely long lasting battery powered device.

Shhhhh its in the works...