Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Gear Forum :: Solar Charger
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A1t2o |
Bjfinnegan: "MPowerd makes a Luci lantern that also works as a power bank and has a solar panel built in. Looks like a 4,000mAh battery on the current model. I use these. I bring 2-3 and use them primarily as lights, but also as a backup solar power bank. These are designed to be used as lights that will charge enough in an average day to use at night. The original version can get a full charge in about 7 hours of direct sunlight. At least that's what the website says, in reality it takes longer but even without charging, the battery would last me about a week. The power bank model is the same thing, but with a bigger battery and a USB port. I always set mine out in the mornings to charge. Sometimes, depending on the site, I'll arrange them on the clothes line so the morning sun will hit them without me needing to do anything. Usually that is enough to keep them fully charged the whole trip unless I need to use the charger function. |
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keth0601 |
One thing I've found really nice is to make sure you get one with the tie-in points around the edges and corners as you can attach them to thwarts, packs, etc while on the move to get as much charge time as possible. Try and make sure you get one that's at least water resistant and do what you can to keep the battery bank dry as well. If anyone knows of an integrated solar panel and charging bank that's waterproof and 15 watts or so or larger I'd love to know about it. I've thought about permanently attaching a battery bank to one of the panels and sealing the connections. Not sure why nobody makes something like this yet... I won't bother with the solar panel unless I'm gone a week or more. Otherwise weight-wise it seems better just to bring a battery bank or two. |
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Jaywalker |
I got the Anker for a 20 day fall trip where I felt I might need to charge my headlamp, phone, Garmin Mini and Gopro several times. I brought a 10kmAh Anker bank along too. I think I only had to top off the power bank once in 20 days. I could probably have gotten by without the solar panel, but was glad to have it in case an emergency drained my devices for some reason. Depending on what all you have to charge, how many mAh, and how many times, it may well be work just brining a power bank. |
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Bjfinnegan |
Efficiency of solar varies greatly, you'll want to be realistic about what is possible. They quote 28hrs to recharge via solar, which is probably in optimal conditions. So probably 2-3 days in reality. It's a small panel but doesn't seem out of the ordinary unless you're bringing those large folding panels out. |
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IdealTarHeel |
Needs to be lightweight and reliable. Any suggestions? The IdealTarHeel |
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egknuti |
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kebs |
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