# Solar Chargers For iPhone, Kindle etc.



## Oatmealer (Sep 21, 2010)

Anyone have any recommendations and/or personal experience involving a solar charger to charge various electronics such as the iPhone, Kindle, iPod, Digital Cameras etc? I have read reviews to no end, but most times I fear most of the reviews are fake... I.E. The good reviews are written by the manufacturer, employees, sponsors etc. The bad reviews are written by competitors. Or, are maybe not completely truthful due to the fact that some customers get super vengeful if their minor issue(s) with a seller/vendor/product are not resolved to their ultimate satisfaction, and will stop at nothing to slander the heck out of them etc. 

I'm an adventurer and avid outdoorsman so this product would really come in handy for my outings. And if The SHTF, at least I'll be able to listen to music or read for a bit ha ha.


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

For myself at home (and I have posted this before) I use a solar-panel that keeps a "battery booster-pack" charged up. My battery-pack has an inverter built-in (400watt AC) and it has a normal 12-volt power-port, a set of battery-clamps for boosting a dead-battery on a car (truck, etc) and it has a basic USB power-port as well.

When I need to recharge electronics (MP3 player, phone, laptop, etc) I can just plug it into the booster-pack and let it do what it needs to do. There are other products out there that do something similar, higher wattage solar panels to battery-systems or just solar panels by themselves with just a basic power connector to hook up a USB power or 12-volt power-port ...


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## Tex (Oct 31, 2008)

Just about everybody sells an emergency radio nowadays with multiple ways to charge it and USB jacks for all of your electronics. Most of them charge on AC, DC, solar, or hand crank.


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## 18yroldprepper (Apr 14, 2012)

Make you own. It is a very easy project if you know how to solder. There are many bad instructions out there. The best I have found is: 



This way you can save a few 100 bucks and make a quality solar USB charger that is personalized to your own needs. I am making my own right now and it's going very well. I am using the solar panels from some old solar backyard lights (the ones you put in the ground and never think about again). At a local store they go for 2 bucks a pop. The rest of the parts you can buy at RadioShack for less than 10$. Helpful Tip: use quality rechargeable batteries. You will come out with a much better project. Good luck!


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

You are right, that's a good video describing how to build your own solar-charger out of easily accessable equipment!



Last night I blew my car battery-charger (to replenish the juice in a 12-volt car battery) and thought that I would be needing to replace it today. I took it apart yesterday and saw those voltage regulators, but, didn't know what they were - now I know that I should see about getting replacement regulators, solder them in and the charger should work again just fine.

Off to the electronics-supply-store for parts after work! :2thumb:


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## Magus (Dec 1, 2008)

Nice.glad someone had a video!


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## Onebigelf (Sep 17, 2011)

Harbor Freight has a 1.5 watt solar charger on sale this week for $20. I'm thinking that for something a low draw as charging a cell or laptop, this could be the basis for a portable, light-weight system.

John


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## driscolldb (Jun 12, 2011)

I use a 26 Watt flexible panel when traveling. I did a lengthy review on amazon, with some images. I hang it in the window to charge my devices (mostly my cell phone) for free while I'm at the house. Another preparation/simplification I've made is to make sure that all of my electronic devices hook up with the same kind of cable. That way with just one cable I can charge any device. I also have a chargeable batty pack that is about the size of a pack of cigarettes that has its own solar panel on it. Any device I have can be charged via the battery pack, my laptop, or direct connect to the solar panel

http://www.amazon.com/Brunton-Watt-Foldable-Solar-Array/dp/B000GEFFBO/ref=cm_cr-mr-title


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