Practical Solar Power for Travelers?

kalido asks: "When travelling with gadgets it can be a pain to keep the power flowing, especially in remote locations. Are there any practical methods to recharge batteries and devices when on the go? A bit of googling turns up the PowerFilm, PowerFlex and SolarRoll flexible solar panels. But I haven't seen any reviews anywhere. Have any of you used these or similar devices and how easy is it to use if attached to a pack, bike, jacket, etc.?"

Re:TRANSLATION

[oblivionboy]

Actually most people for this bring kilowatt generators.

Re:TRANSLATION

[rhizome]

Actually most people for this bring kilowatt generators.

Which run on...?

Re:TRANSLATION

[SeeTheLight]

Methane, after the human powering it eats a lot of beans first.

Re:TRANSLATION

[Triple Click]

Urine.

What for?

[ResQuad]

What devices are you going to be needing? I generally find that when I am going to a place that doesnt have power - dont bring anything that requires it. If you say GPS - bring extra batteries, unless your going for very long time.

Also - please dont say cell phone. If you are far enough to not have power - you problably wont have cell signarl.

Re:What for?

[Neil Blender]

Also - please dont say cell phone. If you are far enough to not have power - you problably wont have cell signarl.

What about hikers? I have been on backpacking trips long enough for my cell to die and have had signal during them.

Big Blue Room

[uberdave]

All those devices require that you go into the big blue room. [catb.org] Why not just use ssh or vnc or something?

Re:Big Blue Room

[Dr.Dubious DDQ]

"Blue"? So THAT'S what color it was before they painted it black and mounted all those little sparkly LED's up in the ceiling...

Re:Big Blue Room

[tsa]

Well, here in Holland they painted the room grey. Extremely depressing, I wish somobody would do something about it.

Re:Big Blue Room

[kamikazejay]

In england the sprinkler system has malfunctioned in the big room.

WindUp May Be The Way To Go

[Doug Dante]

It works in the dark, on the go, and when you want it. FreePlay in particular has manufactured and sold WindUp Radios and Flashlights in Africa for some time now. Free Play WindUp Radios and Flashlights http://windupradio.com/windup.htm [windupradio.com] Sidewinder Portable Cell Phone Charger: http://www.thetravelinsider.info/roadwarriorconten t/sidewinder.htm [thetravelinsider.info] For portable MP-3 players, I guess that you just have to bring extra batteries. They can last quite a long time, depending on your brand.

I'll second that

[twilight30]

My first-ever foreign trip outside Italy (I was working for a solar power firm in the south) was to RWE Schott Solar's facilities near Frankfurt. As an icebreaker our hosts gave each of us FreePlay windup radios.

I used my radio for the next two years in just about every situation imaginable, many without proper electrical otherwise (the Mezzogiorno is unfortunately quite backwards in many ways -- often during the summer we would have weekly blackouts and no water in the evenings).

Solar's fine if you can forget about something for a few hours. But, elbow grease usually is more convenient.

I only stopped using the radio when I gave it away. Still miss using it though.

hand crank charger

[deanpole]

Have you considered a hand crank charger such as this [haimei.com]? It was the first google link for me, and I am sure plenty more exist. Depending on how much power you need, I would prefer a model that uses a foot pedal.... or recumbent bike for that matter.

Here's a good read...

[HotNeedleOfInquiry]

By Bob Pease, a living national treasure amongst hardware engineers. He does yearly walks in Tibet and discusses how he keeps his batteries charged: http://www.elecdesign.com/Articles/ArticleID/4251/ 4251.html [elecdesign.com]

Laptop on a bicycle tour...

[biff-mo]

Check out Ken Kifer's [kenkifer.com] account of bicycle touring with a solar powered laptop [kenkifer.com].

He has some relavent and informative links in the right panel as well.

Don't use solar.

[pclminion]

What everybody else is saying is right. Use a body-kinetic dynamo, like a hand cranked or pumped device. There are several examples to be found on ThinkGeek.

Even if you were using the best photovoltaic material available, you probably couldn't get more than 20 or 30 watts from a module small enough to carry around with you, and that's only when the sun is shining at its peak.

No matter what your solution, bear in mind that you will additionally need a charge controller and a battery to dump the energy into. You can't just plug a random power source directly into a device which expects clean DC at a specific voltage.

Solar works when you're not there though

[xtal]

Solar would be stupid to take mobile.. but assuming you are not being a complete nomad, you can just leave a panel charging up a battery while you're gone someplace - mana from heaven.

i have one

[catfoo]

i just bought the 5w version from Sundance Solar. i have not used it yet, but i almost returned it when i got it. specs stated it weighed .6 pounds but its about twice that. it is very durable feeling. they have a much lighter version aht i think i will order next. FYI i think all of the ones you listed are made by the same company.

from the Brunton site

[catfoo]

http://www.brunton.com/product.php?id=256 [brunton.com] "Editors' Top Product Picks 2004"--Outdoor Photographer "...this solar charger may end your battery woes for good." --Backpacker Magazine "If you can't bear to leave your gadgets behind, pack this waterproof solar panel to power them. It rolls up like a poster and charges like a cigarette lighter."--Newsweek "A boon for off-the-grid campers, the 18-ounce, 57-inch-long Brunton SolarRoll 14 can harvest enough solar energy to power a mobile phone or laptop-or even

Some more general advice...

[jnik]

Unfortunately the panel that Ken Kifer used isn't available anymore, but his page [kenkifer.com] might be of use to you in putting together a system.

I have two of these..

[zogger]

http://www.uni-solar.com/cons_products_marine.html [uni-solar.com]

I'm a unisolar fan when it comes to solar PV. They actually put thought into the frames as well as the solar part, both my flexible modules and the rigid framed ones I have are very tough built.

The FLX-11 models on the page are the ones I have that are flexible/portable for camping, etc.. They work as advertised. Not a tremendous amount of power, but enough for some smaller gadgets. You'll need to McGuyver your connections, they ship with normal ring connectors for screw posts on storage batts, but it's doable to make a 12 VDC cig lighter plug on the end, or whatever you need. Use geek skills and stuff there. NOTE: SOLAR PANELS ARE HOT IF THERE'S LIGHT OUT. As in watch careless handling, shorts, etc. The backing is quite tough, and it has grommets in the corner for handy attaching. Lightweight enough for travelling. If you notice, they make the 32 (numbers correspond to watts basically) model as well, correspondingly larger with more capacity. As to what I have run off a battery charged with one of them, old powerbook lappie, 12 VDC fluorescent light, small TV, multiband radio, FRS radio. It takes a LONG time to get a near flat large battery up to speed, and I never tried to use them for charging any drycells, so don't know there. There's no automatic shutoff, etc, with them, so you have to use your noodle.

Re:I have two of these..

[cr0sh]

NOTE: SOLAR PANELS ARE HOT IF THERE'S LIGHT OUT.

I would also note that a solar panel can get physically hot when it has sat in the sun for a while. Some of the larger panels (nothing a normal person would purchase) even include heat sinks for passive cooling (past a certain temperature efficiency of the panel can drop). Think about it - it is a large piece of silicon sitting in the sun for hours, generating electricity. It acts as a piece of the electrical circuit, so it will heat up from this use (much li

this is true, and...

[zogger]

...the primary reason most solar panels can't be over charged via mirrors or anything like that. There is one company out there now that claims it can be done with there's, but most I have seen explicitly warn against it.

The good thing about them getting hot though is they are self cleaning with snow and ice, usually they heat up enough within a few hours to just melt all that stuff off, or just a light touch with a broom and it slides off easily.

Never did it, but always thought you might be able to run coi

spelling

[zogger]

theres, theirs, sheesh...

need a new word, one size fits all, "thares" and just be done with it

Re:this is true, and...

[cr0sh]

There have been companies that have created panels and other systems using fresnel lenses and/or mirrors to concentrate more light onto the cells, but your right, the heat buildup limits this. I had a similar idea to yours: mount with thermal epoxy copper or aluminium heatsinks to the back of the cells with tubing or channels, and pipe water or brine through the system to extract the heat (you could add the concentrator system then and it would still work provided your solar cell cooling (solar heating?) sy

ScotteVest

[USSJoin]

Scottevest (here) [scottevest.com] is an interesting company, making technical garments. I own their basic vest, and love it dearly, but the Solar Finetex Jacket (look here [scottevest.com]) is a great product, already set up for charging, and with the system of internal conduits, you can run wires without having them hang off you. Check it out; I highly recommend it.

Hamster powered

[infonography]

Duct tape or Richard Gere not included but you can see Here [virgin.net]

how much power?

[Mr. Slippery]

How much power do you need, and for how long? I find myself using solar to top off batteries that I fully charge before my trip.

I found the new Everlite [newlite.com] solar-powered lamps to be very handy, you can charge a cell phone or PDA off of the lamp battery with the adaptors they have. Obviously not enough for a laptop, but to top off your cell phone, pretty practical.

Most of my camping these days is car-camping, though (pull up car, unload tent and cushy gear) so weight's not an issue; I take along an recharga

Be careful with thin-film solar cells!

[grqb]

I'm just in the process of writing a consumer complaint against a lot of thin film solar cells, the type that you showed. Don't get any that were manufactured in China! The problem is that a lot of thin film solar manufacturers will overstate their peak wattage. If it says 12W on the box, then in some cases you'll only get 6W! There was a study done by Humboldt State University [thewatt.com] about this specifically for the Kenyan solar market but it applies everywhere since the same manufacturers sell worldwide (.pdf available here [thewatt.com]). First of all some of these companies just plain out lie about their peak wattage, and then after 3 months there's a further degradation in performance. If you do want to buy thin-film solar equipment, go with the PowerFelx model or any model developed by ICP Solar, as you can read in the pdf document, they are one of the most reliable companies in this area.