shinester
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China's white trash
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Email: shiny@ausprep.org
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Post by shinester on Mar 3, 2014 9:08:53 GMT 10
I recently [yesterday] grabbed a few things to give me independence of the grid for my phone. You will argue that in a grid-down situation, what's the point of a phone? My phone has GPS, maps, info, light source, entertainment, wifi hotspot capable, spreadsheets and as all smart phones is a mini-computer station that has much usefulness even without towers online. There's also THIS which has phone-to-phone communication without the network, I've not tried it yet so can't comment on it's usefulness, though seems like a good idea. I have a Samsung Galaxy S2, my needs are to have a portable charging system for my BOB. Solar panel THIS panel was selected because of it's fairly small, somewhat robust, portable [meant for BOB] cheap, provides up to 7W [6W usable according to data] which ought to fully charge the batter for my phone in about a hour in full sun or up to 3 hrs during winter and cloudy. Field testing will probably be best to confirm the actual time, though with my set up, it wouldn't matter if it took all day. $30.70 Batteries
 Whilst not essential having a couple of spare batteries allows you to quickly have a full charge in your phone without having to wait hours to charge so you can be using your device without having to wait to charge and it will also get you by without the panel for days. They are so small and light and cheap that it's made NOT to have a couple spare. I got two, I'll probably get a couple more. $4.05 ea / $8.10 for 2 Charging Dock HERE we have a charging dock which you can connect directly to the panel so you can charge your battery without having to connect your phone, so you can be using it and away from the panel whilst charging. If it were sitting on the back of a pack whilst hiking, some tape would keep the battery in place and every BOB ought have tape. $6.60 Price and capabilities of system6550aH total batteries - duration depends on usage, but probably more than I could use in a day 6600aH/day charging in summer, 2200aH/day charging in winter. $45.40 |
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Jackosaur
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Post by Jackosaur on Mar 5, 2014 15:26:03 GMT 10
Has your order arrived yet? let us know how it goes
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myrrph
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trying to figure out how to change my nick :P
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Post by myrrph on Mar 5, 2014 18:18:55 GMT 10
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shinester
Senior Member
China's white trash
Posts: 3,119
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Email: shiny@ausprep.org
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Post by shinester on Mar 7, 2014 1:47:59 GMT 10
Jackosaur, ha, only just made the order, usually takes 1-6 weeks from China. I'll test and share the results when I get all of the bits.
I was trialing the free app for the phone that doesn't need a tower and it's ok, though range is limited to wifi distances.
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myrrph
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trying to figure out how to change my nick :P
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Post by myrrph on Mar 7, 2014 10:54:17 GMT 10
GOOD STUFF! update us, I've been looking for a cheap and good solar charger  |
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wolfstar
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Post by wolfstar on Mar 7, 2014 12:07:34 GMT 10
awesome! they also have smaller ones for sticking to windows (when bugging in or just to reduce power consumption  i have seen them on ebay ^_^ |
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myrrph
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trying to figure out how to change my nick :P
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Post by myrrph on Mar 7, 2014 12:14:04 GMT 10
oh i saw those and saw the specs it would work for non smart phones probably |
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wolfstar
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Post by wolfstar on Mar 7, 2014 20:08:57 GMT 10
i'll buy one n let you know, at worst it can charge my kids leap pads |
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shinester
Senior Member
China's white trash
Posts: 3,119
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Email: shiny@ausprep.org
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Post by shinester on Mar 7, 2014 23:02:33 GMT 10
WARNING THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS MATHS!!!If you want to work out the 'watts' of a solar panel, it is usually listed, such as 3W or in the case above 7W. That makes it easy to work with usually. Now some cheaper Chinese products are like below, look flash but there's BIG black gaps between the silver lines [the bit that converts sunlight to electricity] and this hand held item is listed as 5.5V/80mA. This might sound big compared to a 3W panel, but lets look a little further, To work out the Watts we need to multiply the Volts (V) by the Amps (a). The amps are actually 0.080A, much like we have litres and millilitres. So, 5.5v*0.08A = 0.44Watts. The 7W panel [6W real probably judging by the data] is about 13 times better than the second example. To work out the actual amount of Watts and hours worth of charge we get during the day we have to calculate the strength of the sun at that time of year, the angle of the sun, where you are in Australia.... hmmm. Lets make it really simple keep the panel at an angle towards the north [or lay flat if you have no idea or are moving] and approximate 3 hrs of sun in winter and 6 hours of sun in summer, which is right for Melbourne. [Brisbane gets about 15% more sun.] To find out how many hours of sun we get, we just multiply the Watts of the panel by the hours for that time of year assuming it's in the sun all day. - just for charging itself, it will need to 1350mA/hr which is about 6 days in winter worth of charging. I make this point because smaller panels will have a grave time putting power back into your phone if you have any need to use for it. The one I picked only JUST does the job. I'm also looking at charging rechargeable AA's with the system listed above as it has a USB port which is common for the small chargers.
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shinester
Senior Member
China's white trash
Posts: 3,119
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Email: shiny@ausprep.org
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Post by shinester on Mar 7, 2014 23:18:26 GMT 10
Adding some useful extras, batteries HERE $12.37 for 10, I got 20.  and battery charger that you can plug into the USB port $3.68 HERE. I got 2 for redundancy and I might have other power sources.  All of this stuff is useful for camping and general battery use, double use! |
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wolfstar
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Post by wolfstar on Mar 8, 2014 18:23:48 GMT 10
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shinester
Senior Member
China's white trash
Posts: 3,119
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Email: shiny@ausprep.org
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Post by shinester on Mar 9, 2014 4:35:15 GMT 10
- 8000mAh pack, is 40Wh [8A x 5v] of storage power. The panel has a 0.7W panel, which charges 2.1W-4.2W/day, so we're talking 20-10 days. - The battery stores enough to charge 2.5 times [depends on phone], so its ok as a back up battery but THIS is a better option with 80,000mAh. Most of these battery-solar panel units have panels that are FAR too small for the unit. At the very least you will need enough panels that they have to fold out to cover a bigger area. If you want a one piece unit, this is what I recommend. They have a battery and a decent amount of solar charging. 4100mAh pack, is 20.5Wh [4.1 x 5v] of storage power. The panel has a 10.5W panel which charges 31.5W-63W/day, so easily charges itself and your phone [from the battery and the panel] without issue and can do it day after day. $106.71 - HERE4000mAh pack, is 20Wh [4A x 5v] of storage power. The panel is 6W which charges 18W-36W/day, so will charge itself most days. It's a flexible panel so more durable - $114 - HERE1909mAh pack, is 9.6Wh of storage power. [Most phones are about 6W]. The panel is 10W and will charge 30-60W/day, so probably the best value. Get it HERE $74 3000mAh pack, 11.1Wh [3A x 3.7v] of storage power. The panel is 2W which charges 6W-12W/day, so will charge a phone in a day or two. HERE - $48.65 |
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Jackosaur
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Post by Jackosaur on May 18, 2014 21:19:51 GMT 10
Has your solar panel arrived yet? Can you let us know how effective it is?
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shinester
Senior Member
China's white trash
Posts: 3,119
Likes: 3,578
Email: shiny@ausprep.org
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Post by shinester on May 19, 2014 8:55:02 GMT 10
Yep, I've got it and its almost the worst time of the year for solar power generation, so perfect for testing. I've found the spare batteries for the phone VERY handy and use them daily. I'll get to the solar testing as I've got some time.
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Post by You Must Enter A Name on May 19, 2014 13:00:27 GMT 10
I wonder if anyone has had a crack at combining several solar lights from a garden into a makeshift solar station with a usb slot. I might have to look into that this weekend.
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shinester
Senior Member
China's white trash
Posts: 3,119
Likes: 3,578
Email: shiny@ausprep.org
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Post by shinester on May 20, 2014 13:16:54 GMT 10
You could do it easily enough. Voltmeter to work out what voltage you have [It's probably about 3v for the LED] and preferably a regulator for the voltage as solar power usually outputs variance in voltage more so than amperage. The other big factor is the size of the 'actual panels', typically they're tiny on those lights and LEDS use very little power. The usually have a much wider surface area for where the panel might go than actual panel. I've got a hobbist background in electronics, so happy to help.
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Post by yeshi on May 20, 2014 13:38:42 GMT 10
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Post by You Must Enter A Name on May 20, 2014 15:06:57 GMT 10
Thanks Shinester, i'll see what I can scavenge and i'll see if I can do it with what i've got laying around. thank you so much for putting the initial idea in my head though.
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