Are these portable solar panels any good?
>>776772
You don't need a solar charger. Carry back up batteries for your lights, as well as for your gps. Just rurn your phone off.
>>776776
That wasn't the question he asked.
Bump for interest.
>>776772
I have a goal zero without the battery pack. I strap it on the outside of my pack and use it to charge my phone and other electronics. Works awesome. I've dropped it a few times and it's a little scuffed up but works fine. 10/10 would recommend.
Get refurbished if you can, mine was 40 bucks.
I have heard that they charge slooow as heck and are really impractical if you're not staying put in one place
>>776779
I am looking into getting a battery charger though. I've never needed more than one extra set of batteries for my flashlight but not even needing that would be nice.
>>776780
Like I said above strap it to you when you're moving and It'll charge just as well as if you were staying put.
They charge slower than a portable battery pack but not so slow as to be useless.
Any way to rig a bicycle to charge a phone or laptop while riding places?
>>776784
Surely. You'd have to pedal a little harder though. Can't say if there is a commercial product out there or not.
>>776779
How many hours does it take to fully charge a smartphone if you're hiking around? Does moving affect the overall performance of the panels? Thanks lad.
>>776791
Assuming it's nice and sunny about 3-4 hours from completely depleted to full charge but I rarely let it fall that far when /out/. Clouds will significantly slow that down.
I've heard you can charge your phone 3 times over with the battery pack but I don't know as I don't have one.
>>776791
>Does moving affect the overall performance of the panels
Not if you are in the sun. But heading into shade will obviously effect it.
>>776772
Good for faggots that need to play games or facebook while /out/
I only see thru-hikers using them
>>776776
Some people do different things than what you do.
>>776772
Some are worth it and some are not. Don't cheap out on these.
>>776784
Yes. There's a few brands. You can even get stuff to ride your bike in place to recharge stuff, but those are bulky and heavy.
https://www.google.com/search?q=bicycle+battery+charger&tbm=isch
>>776809
>facebook while /out/
Satellite phones?
>>776772
I have that same kit.
The charger is awesome - Charges 4xAA or AAA batteries from a USB port in 3-4 hours.
The solar charger is a joke. I've left it and the charger in full sun for 6+ hours and it barely made a dent in the batteries. Plugged it into the truck's USB when I headed home, 3 hours later they were fully charged.
I've tried it several times and gotten the same results. Lights up, phone detects power, but it just can't pump the current any modern device needs.
If you're going completely off-grid for well over a week and still need USB/AA/AAA-powered devices, I'd find a different solution.
For a 2-3 day trip, charge a power pack at home and run off that. More reliable power that works day or night, sunny or cloudy, with plenty of capacity for a few days innawoods.
>>776793
>charge your phone 3 times over with the battery pack
Depends on the pack. The Guide10+ pictured adds about 20% to my phone (3400mAh battery).
A 10A-H+ pack will charge my phone 3x.
>>776772
I have a generic brand panel with a similar design. It works. Though they seem pretty fragile and you have to make sure the output isn't too high.
I'd say they're not entirely reliable or practical. But otherwise handy in a pinch.
Yes if you go on long hikes like I do. I bought mine because I was going for a 18 day hike and my mother required me to have daily phone calls to her. Though some days I couldn't as I didn't have reception.
>>776772
I would like to know as well
interest bump
This Anker solar panel is very good. I was on a two week long trekking trip in Sweden last year and used my smartphone as GPS. The panel charged the phone every day. Also it does not weigh to much, and you can hang it on your backpack while walking
>>776772
look up powerfilm r13
I'm going to live innawoods for a few months, and I need a panel to charge my ereader. Does anyone have experience with the Anker 15W? It's on sale right now for $46.
>>776772
look up their mha charging rate or whatever, compare to your devices capacities. Decide if its suitable by that metric.
I have the 15W ravpower solar charger. So far it has worked really well for me, but only when paired with an easyacc power bank. I say this because your phone and the more expensive power banks will limit the charge rate if the input amps arent stable. The easyacc power bank i have doesnt have that feature so it will accept whatever the solar charger feeds it. A solar charger isnt needed unless youre going to be out more than 3 or so days though.
How would you feel about a small, lightweight steam engine to generate electricity with?
>>776772
Personally I think GoalZero is a bit of a gimmick company. They put a heavy emphasis on their overall design and advertising but seems their stuff is sorta weak.
That said, I've heard of a lot of Solar Panels for backpackers that work great if you're /out/ and vlogging it / taking ALOT of photos etc. Most of the time backup batteries will do the trick but these things are a nice investment imo. Great of off the grid and saves you some money on batteries in the loooong run.
>>776784
The term you're looking for is "Dynamo Hub", FYI. I don't have any experience with them though.
>>776772
To be honest, hand-crank might get you better results.
Think about when you're setting up camp and when you're setting off. It's when the sun is low in the east or west. During the day, you might rest for only an hour or two. Also, by angling it away or having it in a partial shadow (i.e. innawoods), you lose quite a bit of power. Take into account that these panels are mostly only 20 % efficient and they don't seem so good anymore.
This vid shows why Solar roadways are bullshit, but at 4:30 mark he explains beautifully how solar energy works.
>but it's LEDs
Doesn't matter, applies for batteries as well. However, you are powering batteries, not always-on LEDs, so your mileage may be A BIT better than a roadway. However, what you gain by not draining energy 24/7, you lose on being innawoods and being possibly worse-positioned than horizontally on a roadway. Also, if it ain't sunny, you're pretty much fucked.
As much as I love batteries for their portability, I have an accumulator-powered flashlight which charges by USB, my phone uses USB as well and all I need are a couple battery packs. Fuck it, even one 10K Amp battery pack will do. And it's lighter and less sensitive!
So it's:
>Battery-pack
>Hand-crank
>Dynamo on bike as in >>776939 (underneath hand-crank because you need to move around to charge)
>voodoo
>solar panels
Really, it's expensive tech and it depends on the weather.
>>777050
To address your battery pack comment:
>Depends on the pack
Obviously, that's simple math. The more A-h you get, the more charges you can have.
To make a couple of simple calculations (for the sake of defending battery packs):
My cheapo chinese battery pack is about 13cm long, 7cm wide and 1.5cm thick (about as thick as an AA battery). That may be about as thick as the solar panel. It charges my phone about 2 times (2400mA battery), so it's about 5000 mA. Given that the solar panel in OPs pick is about 3 AAs tall and about 5 AAs wide, that is about 15cm tall and 25 cm wide. If I halve it (because my battery pack is as thick as this panel folded) we get 15×12.5×1.5.
The grand finale: For the same volume in my pack that I would carry the solar panel, which depends on solar power, cleanliness and weather conditions, I can get about two of my cheapo 5000mA battery packs which will work even when I'm exploring Viet Cong tunnels.
As a price comparison, I looked up Guide 10 plus from GoalZero and the price is CZK 3590 (about 140$, give or take). For that price, I can buy 2 of these and then some.
https://www.alza.cz/remax-proda-aa-1094-30000mah-bila-d4201718.htm?catid=18854166
That gives me 60 000 mAh for the same volume, works everywhere and it can charge (my) phone a full 25 times.
>>776787
There are Hub-Dynamos and exension kits to get a mini-USB port on your bike. But for big tours I think I'd prefer to have some solar panel over my rear panniers to charge the batteries for my GPS in the middle of Fuckingnowheristan, it's probably less weight than the tons of batteries you'd need for some weeks extensive use.
>>779229
Look at my post here: >>779221
This might get you through some extensive weeks. However, if you're not hiking but biking, you are much less restricted by weight. If your GPS is battery operated, I don't know if this might be of use to you.
So hereby I change my original post: Get battery packs, but if you expect you could get lost/you expect to be for months without electricity, get a solar charger as well.
>>779202
>it's expensive tech
It isn't. Most of this stuff is way over priced if you are getting it premade. The tech itself is absurdly inexpensive. You can make each one of those for very cheap to nearly free. The only one that remains mostly the same across the board are batteries. Solar panels are easy to solder together from cheap partially broken ones you can get in bulk on eBay. Anything that needs to be cranked/turned can be made from easily sourced, common parts that are free to very cheap.
>>779229
I'd prefer both solar and crank based energy options.
>>776784
Just use a dynamo hub with one of those fancy lights with a USB plug. It will charge must faster and be much lighter than any solar panel.
>>779373
How is a bike lighter than a solar panel?
I use one in the UK (5ever no sun) on a sunny day a few hours charges the pack enough for half an iPhone charge.
If you are smart with the power then it should work fine, also if you are based anywhere with actual sun then you should be able to keep your phone going.
I have the goal zero switch 8 pack. If for nothing else it is very handy day to day to keep the charged pack thing with you. It's saved my ass a few times
>>779300
this guy gets it. I bought 5v solar panels off ebay to charge one of those backup battery packs you are all squawking about. $1.45 each panel and I only think I need 2.
