Portable solar panel for small accessories! Wow!

[deschutestrout]

Just picked up a Goal Zero Guide 10 solar kit. A guide buddy of mine had one on the river last week and I say "I NEED one of those!" This thing is cool! Very compact and slim (great for camping or just having in your car/briefcase. Will charge my tablet, iPod, phone (working on that one...old simple phone), etc. And, it has a rechargeable battery pack (will charge any AA or AAA rechargeable battery) that you can then plug into and/or charge devices, or pull the batteries for flashlights, etc. Many rechargeable accessories available too. This baby's gonna get constant use while camping! Never again a dim flashlight! $120 ... GREAT camping/emergency investment!

[hambone]

This is like one of those ad bots!
I was wondering about one strong enuff to recharge a car battery, drained mine last camp from too much music, really need to wire an aux battery in there at least.

[Westy78]

I got that exact package from Woot a few months ago. Awesome set up. I've used it a couple times and it seems to work well. I like the LED light too. I paid $75 for it with the Woot special.

[deschutestrout]

Hambone ... it comes with a 12v adapter ... Jasan, can you think of a way to hook this to a car battery to trickle charge? It "seems" like there'd be a way to make this work.

[Westy78]

Hambone ... it comes with a 12v adapter ... Jasan, can you think of a way to hook this to a car battery to trickle charge? It "seems" like there'd be a way to make this work.

I'm wondering if you could find a cig lighter plug with a mini USB at the other end. That might work to trickle charge.

[deschutestrout]

What about a male 12v adapter simply clipped to the battery?

[hambone]

Wondering if a solar trickle charge would be enough. Whattya need, 2 amps at least? Those big lead acid batteries are beasts.

[Westy78]

What about a male 12v adapter simply clipped to the battery?

That would work. I forgot that there was a female 12v adapter in the kit. But like Hambone said it may not put out enough juice to keep a battery topped up. For maintenance just sitting it might keep the battery charged enough to start.

[Jivermo]

http://handybobsolar.wordpress.com

Neat stuff here.

[Amskeptic]

What about a male 12v adapter simply clipped to the battery?

That would work. I forgot that there was a female 12v adapter in the kit. But like Hambone said it may not put out enough juice to keep a battery topped up. For maintenance just sitting it might keep the battery charged enough to start.

I have a solar-powered battery trickle charger, the Lanval Commemorative Solar Battery Charger. It tried to help me run the dremel off Chloe's battery last summer . . . it was originally made to keep new Volkswagens charged while sitting in lots.

[Lanval]

@Colin ~

I was going to post something to that effect. Last I checked, you could get those for cheap on ebay; apparently the dealers have hundreds (one comes with each car from the factory, or something to that effect). I bought 4 for $25 at the time, now 5 years ago maybe. I'm sure they're still around. I still have 2, one went to Colin, and one went with Nathanael's old van.

It seems to keep the battery topped up.

ML

[ruckman101]

From what I've heard, if you know the right dumpster, you can salvage scads. All the new vstd sitting in the Swan Island yards fresh off the boat waiting for rail cars to take them to their dealerships have one on the dash, that they toss.

From what I've heard. No verification. I've been toying with the concept of a cigarette lighter in Bertha to charge the devices from, and not sure why plugging a solar panel into the same would trickle charge the battery.


neal

[Amskeptic]

not sure why plugging a solar panel into the same would trickle charge the battery.
neal

You can charge a battery from anywhere in the electrical system. It is how electron flow works.
If the charger creates an electron surfeit at the cigarette lighter ground and an electron deficit at the positive wire (it does just that), the excess electrons flow into the body metal to the negative of the battery, while the electrons get sucked out of the positive terminal of the battery. This reverses the chemical reaction that gave you battery juice, and refreshes the battery potential.

It is all amazing.
Colin

[hambone]

Can you combine a bunch of those cheapy-chargers together, daisy chain whathaveyou? I'm not sure how it would work electrically, because each panel would have to supply the battery independently. But a few of those suckers would probably put out enough watts.
They may not have much longevity though. And it's cloudy a lot here!

It is probably a good idea to have an aux battery in your rig...that is on my next "must have" list. I don't want to keep worrying about 12 volts every camp trip.

[glasseye]

Frito has one; an auxilliary battery, that is. I just re-purposed the five-year-old original starting battery when I got a new one last year. I charge it up before a trip and I can run stuff, like forever. I do USB charging of phone, tablet, camera, power the fan in the roof vent, plus play music until I can't stand it any more.

Oh, sure, you can wire it to the alternator and it's always recharged ready for use, but it takes a little work and some electrical knowledge. If the loads are small, a full-sized battery lasts a long time. I take a "Battery Tender" along with me so if a 117VAC outlet presents itself, I'm ready. Never needed it yet.