Hey guys, There are quite a few solar rechargers in the market for mobile devices. Frankly I'm very suspicious about some of them. This is why I would like to ask you, if you have some actual experience with one or the other product. I'm going to use my HTC Desire as a live GPS tracker for outdoor activities. Since the base running time is far from brilliant, and I won't have any hands free to change the battery, this was my next bet. (Since I'm climbing, the weather will always be more or less good, which is why discarded external battery packs) Thanks for the hints, Florian
I think you will find that your HTC will draw far more power than a solar charger can put into it (especially using GPS). You would be better of with a power monkey type of thing, that holds a charge and allows your phone to run off it. https://powertraveller.com/iwantsome/primatepower/000239/ I bought a cheaper version for about £10 and it works great.
Hey Pcthug, thank you for the reply. Well, my thoughts were these: Claimed specs by various products: 145 mA @5.5V, and some better ones with 2600 mAh integrated Li-Ion pack. Phone specs: 1400 mAh / 4h running time = 350 mA Including average efficiencies and restrictions: (2400+1200)mAh/(350-100)mA = 14.4h running time. I think this is rather a restrictive calculation, since the phone will run more than 4h if GPS/GRPS is enabled but no display is used. If you do the same rough estimation of the powertraveller you get to about 9h running time. However maybe the average current ouput of 100 mA produced is too optimistic? Florian
Actually, after some consideration, I decided to build my own. If anyone is still interessted in this after I recive the ordered parts, I'm happy to make photos and a small description.
I got a powermonkey too, brilliant. Unfortunately I was in Heathrow airport when I saw it and paid £45 for it... Got ripped off BIG time but it was that or nothing...
Well, here goes: http://metasonix.ch/tutorial/solar-charger/ It's now oversized and not as practical anymore, but it has got the punch and was fun building. Any comments and corrections (incl. language) I'd be happy to learn.
