Solar Battery charging.

[filsgreen]

Hi everyone.
I've got a few bob for Chrimbo; I'm thinking of spending it on batteries and chargers. It got me thinking, is there a solar panel, that would charge batteries? Any recommendations or opinions would be great, as well as ideas on where to buy AA batteries.

Thanks

Phil

[omega man]

I've spent some time looking into this, this is the best currently available imo :


https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/shop/b ... b0QAvD_BwE

Hope that helps
OM

[Brambles]

I have played around with solar chargers for a while, even made my own generator. If you simply want to charge phones, tablets, AA AND AAA batteries you can't go wrong with either an Aukey, Anker or Kingsolar USB solar panel. Best if it's over 10W otherwise it can take a while to charge stuff. I have had a Uniross Nomad battery charger for years that has been a real champ as well as a charger it acts as a battery too. As for batteries, without a shadow of a doubt, Lidl Tronic rechargeables batteries are the best. I have had some 4 years or more and they are still good. They've seen off Eveready and Duracells.

Yorkshire Andy has a few set ups too. If you look in the equipment, DIY and Handicrafts and Tutorials forums, there are quite a few threads on Solar.

[Deeps]

If you use the 18650/14500 batteries you can also get usb powered chargers pretty cheaply too. As already said, there are a number of options and the spec seems to keep on improving, when I got mine it was 14W, that's not that great now but it does me for the odd time I've used it. If you're looking at charging things that are USB powered then these folding camping panels are fine, as Brambles says, there are some good brands out there.

I'm looking at getting a semi permanent set up as my next project, have been for a while I'm lazy. I also spunked away a lot of my christmas money that I'd intended to use so its back to square one(point one).

[filsgreen]

Thanks for the advice everyone, it's much appreciated. I've got to admit, I'm not that clever with electronics, how would I connect my Technoline charger to the solar panel?

Happy New year to everyone

Phil

[Deeps]

Thanks for the advice everyone, it's much appreciated. I've got to admit, I'm not that clever with electronics, how would I connect my Technoline charger to the solar panel?

Happy New year to everyone

Phil

I'm no expert either but if its a 240V 3 pin plug then you probably won't, at least not without putting something in between the panel and the charger. Mine has a couple of USB ports, you can get battery chargers that have a USB connection, they're what I use when charging through the panel.

[filsgreen]

Thanks Deeps. I've got one of these:

https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/Anker-Astro-E6 ... mwBanner=1

Will one of these be compatible?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Charger-Waterpr ... le+charger

[Deeps]

You should be fine, the panel has 2 USB charging points so you can be charging that powerbank on one and something else on the other. They're pretty simple systems and having a few powerbanks of different sizes can be handy anyway.

[filsgreen]

Cheers Deeps. I've just found an EBL battery charger that connects to a USB lead for £9.

[Deeps]

Have a nose, there are a lot of USB powered/charged devices, including electric tooth brushes, the zombie apocalypse doesn't need to be slummed.

I've tried to cover my basics of battery charging using a similar panel, including the 18650/14500 batteries, in my head this would be for the more short to medium term scenarios, I've a healthy stash of batteries both rechargeable and 'once only' to support the devices like lighting and small devices that make life easy. Your situation might be different, if I had to run off to the hills I'd be taking the solar panel and batteries and chargers but while I'm aware of the possibility its not really what I prep for.