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Old 02-22-2023, 12:25 PM   #1
Calenorn
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Solar Power?

Is anyone using solar cells to recharge their devices? Any particular products that work well for you? I'd like to go as small, light and portable as possible, while still working in a reasonable amount of time.
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Old 02-22-2023, 02:00 PM   #2
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Small is very long recharging times in our climate.
I have a folding panel for 12V that is 30cm x 18 cm open excluding handles, 1.5cm thick open, 3cm closed. It trickle charges a radio using 2700mAH AA cells in a couple of days.

I have 4 off power banks (maybe 10,000 mAH) with integral (built in) solar panels I leave on the windowsill. They have maybe 1/8th of solar panel surface. For long term power cuts or camping for one phone and one ereader.

Unless you are outdoors and in a sunnier climate you can't have small, light, portable and charging in a reasonable amount of time.

My son has Solar panels on the house and on average they give about 15% of rated power. Decent power is April to September, and rated power June & July on a sunny day between about 10 am to about 4.30 pm GMT+1 (approx 11° W, 52° N).

Cheaper gadget panels may have a 1/3rd or less of power for same area as quality PV panels the same area.

Best strategy for power cuts or camping is multiple rechargeable power banks (minimum 2), maybe with a separate larger quality panel about 12" x 8" (30cm x 20cm) as the built in solar panels on power banks don't seem much good. The larger panels are 12V, 24V or 48V (actually less than 45V to allow boot inverter for 48V nominal battery system), so a 12V to 5V Switch mode adaptor like a cigar lighter socket adaptor to 5V might be needed. Some of those are linear regulators so waste power on a panel.

A car dashboard or such may get too hot.

Last edited by Quoth; 02-22-2023 at 02:04 PM.
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Old 02-22-2023, 02:24 PM   #3
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https://www.amazon.com/s?k=solar+cha..._ts-doa-p_4_13
The 10 years we lived in the other apt I had one of these type. My bed was next to the window so was very convent.
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Old 02-22-2023, 03:06 PM   #4
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For a short time (days) without power, I second Quoth's suggestion for power banks. For longer duration outages, I'd just switch to paper books. IMHO, the small solar panels you can buy are more in the gimmick category than the serious category. Even if they're expensive, well made, and use quality components - there's only so much a small solar panel can do. And it's not much.
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Old 02-22-2023, 05:39 PM   #5
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A while back I picked up a folding solar charger with a 5V 20W rated output. Sadly, the days when it can come even close to that output are few and far between in this area though it does manage around 8-10W on a cloudy bright day. With the more common heavy clouds and rain, it's too small to be a decent umbrella.
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Old 02-23-2023, 05:32 AM   #6
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A while back I picked up a folding solar charger with a 5V 20W rated output. Sadly, the days when it can come even close to that output are few…
Yes, the rated output is really near peak, i.e. panel in sunlight, or if far from the Tropics, pointed at the sun.
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Old 02-23-2023, 08:34 AM   #7
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Most people turning to solar power don't seem to realize that location plays an important role in recouping your expenses. In areas where clouds obscure the sun for a good portion of the year, it can take a homeowner up to 30 years to recover their expenses. In an area where the sun is prevalent you can recover expenses in less than 10 years. Also, in the US you were able to sell the excess energy that you produced back to your local power company. The power companies were required to buy your excess. Funny that now there are more people turning to solar that states are starting to pass laws that exempt power companies from having to pay you for your excess energy.
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Old 02-23-2023, 09:11 AM   #8
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I'm interested in small solar power banks, just enough to charge one device.

Anyone have specific products they like? There seem to be many to choose from, but they all seem very similar.

A small unit that could be left in a sunny window to recharge slowly, then used once a day to charge small devices (ereader, phone, etc.) is the goal.

Last edited by Calenorn; 02-23-2023 at 09:14 AM.
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Old 02-23-2023, 09:53 AM   #9
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Smart phones take quite a bit of power to charge. They have pretty significant batteries in them. Don't equate small size with small charging needs. And a battery pack capable of charging a smart phone in a reasonable time is not going to have a small battery itself. This all can be done, for sure, but not with small solar panels. Be sure and do good research on what will be required to charge the specific devices you are targeting, within the time constraints of how fast you want to charge them. I would take whatever specs the solar panel quotes and reduce those to 1/4 to maybe get a more realistic picture of what you could actually expect out of them in real world conditions.
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Old 02-23-2023, 09:57 AM   #10
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You'd need multiple units for a decent phone or tablet My experience is that a power bank might take nearly a week at times to recharge completely. Maybe one might do for a 6″ eink, charging from when you go to sleep and on the windowsill. I have some 3m long USB cables.

Devices vary hugely in power consumption (6" or less eink with 800 x 600 dpi & slow single core vs 10" HD tablet using Mobile, Wifi, BT and light up high watching video).
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Old 02-23-2023, 09:59 AM   #11
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I would take whatever specs the solar panel quotes and reduce those to 1/4 to maybe get a more realistic picture of what you could actually expect out of them in real world conditions.
Or 1/10th for the "dark half of the year" at 1/2 way between Arctics and tropics. OTOH for 3 months we have much more daylight than the tropics in Ireland. Iceland, Greenland, Scandinavia even more so!
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Old 02-23-2023, 10:06 AM   #12
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Thanks all. Sounds like the power demands in smart phones has grown faster that the ability of solar cells. I got the impression that solar cells are lighter and less expensive than they were, but I guess they haven't gotten any faster.
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Old 02-23-2023, 10:15 AM   #13
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Maybe one might do for a 6″ eink, charging from when you go to sleep and on the windowsill.
If I designed the world I would make an eink reader with a solar panel on one side and the screen on the other. Waterproof with a rugged case for camping.
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Old 02-23-2023, 11:10 AM   #14
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Look up a couple of weather stations near you on Wunderground.
Down near the bottom of the current graphs (Temp, pressure, wind) , some have Solar Radiation W/sq M (orange) recorded.
Look not only on how much, but how long (the area under the curve) , that is what will be available to charge your device.

The numbers in the Ads are for clear, sunny days at optimum angle(and those might be for only an hour in your area depending on SEASON).

OH! Most dedicated readers take 5VDC (The older USB A/B. micro/mini), Most roof (the big ones) solar panels are 12V individually and have controllers to regulate/Invert to AC.
Unless you need AC for other reasons, avoid those 'solar generators' (besides, they ain't light). Every conversion wastes some energy doing the conversion.

If your device takes USBC (directly), It may support 'turbo mode charging'. Having your solar support that mode might be a plus (it will charge on regular USB 5V if mode not available or the device will not accept)

Also don't sucker in on a lot of Internet ads. Your device controls the maximum charge it will ACCEPT. The power source is a LIMITING factor only if the device can ask for more current.
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Old 02-23-2023, 12:21 PM   #15
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If I designed the world I would make an eink reader with a solar panel on one side and the screen on the other. Waterproof with a rugged case for camping.
The panel would need to detach as it would get no sunlight when you read in the daytime. So you might as well get 2 to 4 off Solar charged 10,000 mAH power banks. They can also be charged from the vehicle or a mains USB charger.

I thought of making such a cover but bought separate solar charged power banks. Two models in local shops, easier to return and get the legally mandated 1year warranty the retailer has to fulfill. Online sellers are also responsible, but getting them to agree is hard. The law where the sale is delivered to is what counts. Business to Business sales are not covered.
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