View Full Version : Solar Charger for the Geek in You
Check this baby out...only 11.oz
Great for recharging all your gizmos on the trail.
http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/electronic/5a68/
SGT Rock
04-13-2005, 15:52
Check this baby out...only 11.oz
Great for recharging all your gizmos on the trail.
http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/electronic/5a68/
Just ask One Leg how good a solar charger works on the AT :sun
11 ounces :eek: you could carry a 20 pack of AA alkaline for that weight.
Mountain Hippie
04-13-2005, 16:47
I have tried three different kinds of those things trying to find a charger I could use at work and on the trail. So far I have not found one that was worth carrying. All three have been retired and placed in the same box that holds my sons battery powered hunting socks. :( If anyone finds something that works let me know.
I have a solar charger. It is lightweight (4 oz), and seems to work just fine with 4 AA NIMH batteries. It obviously works best where there is lots of sunlight. I got it mostly for backpacking in SE Utah (where if it is daylight, the sun is shining), but it was used on the AT on those rare sunny days. According to the specs, it'll charge 4 AAs in 10-14 hours from flat to full.
When my digital camera batteries ran low at Wayah Bald, I popped in the batteries from the solar charger and was up and running. Since it was raining and foggy at the time, the photo wasn't worth a damn, but that was not the fault of the batteries. By the way, the solar charger does NOT work at all in rain and fog - I had it secured in my pack, but the batteries were charged from the day before.
Scribe,
I've been looking around for a solar charger. Where did you get yours and what manuf./model is it? I see Campmor has a relatively inexpensive charger made by Stearns. Any recommendations?
Lucinda,
Yep, I ordered it from Campmor. It didn't cost very much (I have had it for several years and don't remember how much I paid). Based on my experiences, I would recommend it. With one caveat: Akin to all solar chargers, it needs sunlight - doesn't work at all on foggy, gloomy, or rainy days.
I used a couple of solar chargers from a company called Powerqwest. They have since changed their name to Original Power.
Link: http://www.originalpower.com/powerline/products.html#solar
I used the Professional (Part no. F0001) and the Sport (Part no. F0012)
Professional model was too large, and doesn't have battery power storage capability.
The Sport model was the best in that it has batteries that store the power. Both models can attract solar rays even on overcast days, but you'll find that the pro model is just too large and bulky to do anything with. The sport model provided enough power to adequately recharge my leg.
Weight of the sport model is a whopping 1.9 (1 pound 9 oz.), but this was a non-negotiable area of excess weight for me. And, even with the added weight, my pack (fully loaded/food/water) was in the respectable 25 pound range.
Weight of the pro model isn't even worth listing here, as it far exceeds the sport model in both size and weight.
-Scott
P.S. I checked the links on the site, and found that the cheapest price for the Suncatcher Sport model is $99.95 on this site: http://www.mobileplanet.com/vendor.asp?vendor_name=PWL
Steep price? Yeah, but remember, as with anything else, you get what you pay for. The other 2 sites list them for $111.95 & $119.95, respectivly.
On thing that did impress me most was that they DO work on the most overcast of days.(But not in the rain.) They're pretty durable too.
hauptman
04-29-2005, 16:11
Lucinda,
Yep, I ordered it from Campmor. It didn't cost very much (I have had it for several years and don't remember how much I paid). Based on my experiences, I would recommend it. With one caveat: Akin to all solar chargers, it needs sunlight - doesn't work at all on foggy, gloomy, or rainy days.
that sounds like something i could use, but all of my stuff uses only AAA batteries(between 1 and 2 batteries at most). Do you know of a charger that works for AAA batteries(2 batteries preferably, more battery space is just extra weight). I would appreciate any recemmendations that you could give me.
It looks you have lots of options. I did a quick Google search on "AA solar charger" and came up with results like http://store.sundancesolar.com/siflsochfora.html and http://www.siliconsolar.com/aa,_aaa,_c,_d_solar_battery_charger.htm. Of course, it would be great to get recommendations from someone who's used these products, but it looks like there are inexpensive options out there for you to try.
pixpusher
04-29-2005, 16:54
that sounds like something i could use, but all of my stuff uses only AAA batteries(between 1 and 2 batteries at most). Do you know of a charger that works for AAA batteries(2 batteries preferably, more battery space is just extra weight). I would appreciate any recemmendations that you could give me.
I think this link might be helpful for some of you gadget-freaks out there:
SolarWorld Chargers (http://www.solarworld.com/batterychargers.htm#PocketBatteryChargers)
I haven't ordered or tried one myself, but I think I found info on this in that book "The Complete Walker"...
-- pp
Wow, great stuff, great link. Light and not too expensive. This is really appealing to my inner geek. A girl can never have too many gadgets or AA batteries. ;)