Solar Chargers / Battery Packs

[Badgers]

Three mobile sent mea solar battery pack recently for free. Because I am a long standing and valued customer apparently.

It is really light, charges the phone really fast but is shit at recharging itself from the sun it can also be recharged from the mains but not really the point

However it has made want a better one and possibly more solar charging kit as well. Would be nice to use some sun instead of electricity to charge phone and possibly Chromebook I work sitting next to a window that has sun all day and a big windowsill with little on it.

Anyone had experience with such matters? My concern is that the cost for any decent solar tech is still prohibitive. I don't really have that much upfront monies atm, even if it would be worth it long term.

 

[Nivag]

Three mobile sent mea solar battery pack recently for free. Because I am a long standing and valued customer apparently.

It is really light, charges the phone really fast but is shit at recharging itself from the sun it can also be recharged from the mains but not really the point

However it has made want a better one and possibly more solar charging kit as well. Would be nice to use some sun instead of electricity to charge phone and possibly Chromebook I work sitting next to a window that has sun all day and a big windowsill with little on it.

Anyone had experience with such matters? My concern is that the cost for any decent solar tech is still prohibitive. I don't really have that much upfront monies atm, even if it would be worth it long term.

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Have a look at camper van/off grid websites, they use solar panels to recharge their leisure batteries.
I've got a A3 size panel on my garage that I use to either keep my motorcycle battery topped up or charge a spare battery that I use to power some LED lights in the garage.
I should probably have some sort of controller so it doesn't over charge the battery, just not got around to getting one.

 

[Badgers]

Have a look at camper van/off grid websites, they use solar panels to recharge their leisure batteries.
I've got a A3 size panel on my garage that I use to either keep my motorcycle battery topped up or charge a spare battery that I use to power some LED lights in the garage.
I should probably have some sort of controller so it doesn't over charge the battery, just not got around to getting one.

This is the sort of thing. I have somehow ammased about 6 battery packs which are great but still require mains charge and are no friend to the environment. Would be great to be able to charge these all up from the sun (at home or camping) if possible.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

This is the sort of thing. I have somehow ammased about 6 battery packs which are great but still require mains charge and are no friend to the environment. Would be great to be able to charge these all up from the sun (at home or camping) if possible.

Honestly mate it's a ball ache. I got a fairly large anker panel that folds up a few years back and bought a little meter to tell me how much it was outputting so I could place it in an optimum position. It was still slow as fuck in the South of France.

I'd normally just pack a spare power bank and have moved a fuse in the car so that it charges without a key in the ignition if that's also an option.

Also tiny amounts of power to charge from the mains compared to the rest of your house.

 

[Saul Goodman]

Those battery banks with a solar panel are a pure gimmick. A panel that size would take around 6 months to charge the pack.

 

[David Clapson]

I'm also looking but I'm so baffled that I just want a supplier to trust so I can buy what I'm told to. I think maybe I've found some useful people - they supply kit to expeditions etc. The prices seem reasonable. Mobile Solar Phone Chargers and Power Banks

 

[Badgers]

I'm also looking but I'm so baffled that I just want a supplier to trust so I can buy what I'm told to. I think maybe I've found some useful people - they supply kit to expeditions etc. The prices seem reasonable. Mobile Solar Phone Chargers and Power Banks

See this would be good for me
MSC 90W 5v/12v/19v SunPower Folding Solar charger

Would lay out on my windowsill. Also good for camping and such.

£245 is too much of a stretch for me for a while. Might be something to buy early next year.

 

[Nivag]

This is the sort of thing. I have somehow ammased about 6 battery packs which are great but still require mains charge and are no friend to the environment. Would be great to be able to charge these all up from the sun (at home or camping) if possible.

You need to look at the amount of Watts that a panel can produce. No idea what mine is and it's a pain to remove to see if there's a label on the back but I've never had to mains recharge the battery I've got my lights plugged into though I don't use the lights every day so no idea how long the battery would last. But I occasionally charge my phone from it if in the garage working and running a small tyre compressor once a month.
Every time I've checked the voltage it's over 12v at night and when the suns out it's nearer 14v while the panel is plugged in.