Solar Panels and Battery Packs

Revision as of 15:44, 6 June 2014

Overview

Whilst the price of Solar energy isn't yet cheap enough to make it more attractive than pulling power from the grid, it's certainly now useful enough for situations where grid power isn't an option. My usage so far has been when camping and also when sailing - times when connecting to the grid isn't possible and having your own supply becomes more essential, read the info here with that in mind.

Solar Panels

• http://wiki.siftah.com/GoalZero_Nomad_13 - The GoalZero Nomad 13 is the solar panel I've been using for camping and sailing, they're durable and rugged and come with lots of connection options.
• http://wiki.siftah.com/Brown_Dog_Gadgets_Folding_USB_Solar_Cell - Review of the Brown Dog Gadgets Folding USB Solar Cell.

Battery Packs

The best way to use a solar panel is with a battery pack to use as an energy store. It relieves much of the inconvenience of being tethered to a solar panel for charging and helps you overcome the unreliability of the sun. Plus, they're a handy emergency source of power for the times when you're not carrying the solar panel with you;

• http://wiki.siftah.com/GoalZero_Guide10_Plus - Charges four AA or AAA batteries and can be charged whilst charging.
• http://wiki.siftah.com/DX_Dual_USB_Solar_Powered_Battery_Charger_232365 - A cheap 10,000mAh battery pack with a built-in solar panel of it's own.
• http://wiki.siftah.com/eBay_18650_USB_Power_Bank - 18650 cell based power bank from eBay with a handy built-in light.
• http://wiki.siftah.com/DX_XIAOMI_Genuine_10400mAh_Power_Bank - 18650 cell based power bank from DX which does pass-through charging!