# Solar Charger for Laptop



## Idaholady (Apr 24, 2010)

I'd like to buy a good solar charger for my laptop. If the power goes out, I want to be able to continue using my laptop to watch movies, listen to music or play a few games. 

Does anyone have a solar charger that they would recommend? Or do you know of a company that has a reasonably priced one that doesn't take too long to charge before using...Goal Zero has some products, but when I looked at the charging time; yikes, we don't have that many hours of sun light to recharge the thing........


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

Have you thought of making your own? Prices have fallen so much the last couple of years, that this option is very much viable.

Where your charger plugs into your laptop..... what does it say next to that port? Does it say "12VDC"? If it does, you are in LUCK!!!!


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## Suntactics (Oct 29, 2012)

you would need 30-40 watt solar charger, we carry a 14 watt, but it's for things like ipads.


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## mosquitomountainman (Jan 25, 2010)

Are you wanting something that's portable or something mounted permanently?


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## CulexPipiens (Nov 17, 2010)

A 50 watt panel, small inverter, battery charger and a battery and you've got a setup that can power it for quite awhile (and/or other small stuff). On ebay it looks like you could put this together for about $120 plus some wire. Figure $150 tops.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

If the power input jack on her laptop is 12VDC in, then you can do it all for less than $50


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## CulexPipiens (Nov 17, 2010)

LincTex said:


> If the power input jack on her laptop is 12VDC in, then you can do it all for less than $50


I'm assuming you're thinking panel direct to laptop? If so, then you're limited to do this only during daylight and it's pretty much dedicated to the laptop. Running the panel/charger/battery/inverter lets you use it whenever and also for other lower power stuff too if you want.

If I'm wrong in my assumption, please share your solution idea.


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## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

I have had good luck with "universal" laptop power supplies, they use to be problematic but more recently they seem on par with dedicated power supplies.
They make "universal" supplies with a 12V input but like much electronics these days I don't know of a "quality" unit:dunno: If they hold up long term (they should if made properly) then they are a great option imo. 
It is always better to go dc-dc than dc-ac-dc if practical.

Here is a random example of what I mean 








http://www.bixnet.com/unautpowad.html


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

CulexPipiens said:


> If I'm wrong in my assumption, please share your solution idea.


I was actually thinking of using the solar panel to charge a small (12-15ah) 12v SLA/AGM battery (or larger if possible) and running off of that.... but you were very close. Solar by itself for the day, and 12v battery at night.

If size and weight don't matter, A good used car battery increases capacity 100 fold, and can be had for about $10


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## Idaholady (Apr 24, 2010)

Thanks for the great responses. I will look for the power inverter pack. I plan to keep the panel in one place and use the laptop 2-3 hours a day.....not necessarily everyday; but often.... I'm also thinking about putting together something too.


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## catdog6949 (Apr 25, 2012)

*12v and laptops, also large tablets...*

On my last trip to the wilderness we bought a "goal zero" 7 watt panel with thier battery pack, aa and aaa charger which plug's into the panel. Now you can charge, cell phones and tablet's that use standard "usb' to mini like on cell phones, but the panel also has a 12v outlet. Which you can use also.

My smart phone would only charge well off the batterry pack (which also has a 500 hr led light on it), but twice on the pack and I had too charge the battery pack( 4 to6 hr.s) on the panel!

I have a largertablet which willnot charge off the panel or the batterry/charger pack, goal zefo suggested, getting a larger panel and a portable battery they sell $200. Then I couldrun every thing off the batterry power pack which would be charged from solar panel's

I have decided just too get an extra couple of 7 watts gang them togethr through thier 12v out lets and get a car jump box to use as a battery pack much cheaper!,using the solar panels asa trickle charger .

So bear in mind when you buy devices plug and battery capabilities. All our stuff lights etc. Radio's now run on aa or aaa. Which charges in thier goal zero charger.

Cat and Turtle


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

Idaholady said:


> I plan to keep the panel in one place ....


^ This makes all the difference. It pretty easy to make a system that will do what you want for really not much money.

Portable set-ups (including goal zero) are far overpriced for what you get from them.

The only slippery slope I can foresee is once you start to run other items from your solar system (blender/mixer, TV/DVD, angle grinder, electric drill) you will get hooked and will soon want to run other items. You will automatically find yourself wanting the ability to make more and *more power* (insert Tim Allen "oh Oh Oh " here!)

If what I just said is true, make a list if the items you would "*like* to operate in a post-SHTF world, and for how long (mix a cake mix for 10 minutes, watch a 3 hour movie, build a garden shed) and I'll do the best I can to come up with a moderately sized system for you.

If I am blowing smoke and you really want to run the laptop ONLY, then - - piece-o'-cake


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## ZangLussuria (May 25, 2012)

catdog6949 said:


> On my last trip to the wilderness we bought a "goal zero" 7 watt panel with thier battery pack, aa and aaa charger which plug's into the panel. Now you can charge, cell phones and tablet's that use standard "usb' to mini like on cell phones, but the panel also has a 12v outlet. Which you can use also.
> 
> My smart phone would only charge well off the batterry pack (which also has a 500 hr led light on it), but twice on the pack and I had too charge the battery pack( 4 to6 hr.s) on the panel!
> 
> ...


Just wondering which Goal Zero battery charger you have and what tablet specifically.
The Goal Zero Guide 10 only put out .5A. Not enough for some smartphones and especially not a tablet, specifically iPads. The Guide 10 Plus puts out 1A and charges iPads. I have the Guide 10 Plus and a Nomad 7 panel.


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## BillS (May 30, 2011)

A solar charger for a laptop when you live in Idaho might not be very practical. You're limited by the amount of sunlight that far north and the power consumption of the laptop. You might be better off using an iPad. Here's an article about the power consumption of an iPad vs a laptop

http://www.eccomagazine.com/index.p...top-or-netbook&catid=68:technology&Itemid=207

A netbook uses about 8 watts per hour. An iPad uses about 2.5 watts per hour. I plan on using a AA battery to USB charger to charge our iPads. We have about 200 AA batteries.


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## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

BillS said:


> Here's an article about the power consumption of an iPad vs a laptop
> 
> http://www.eccomagazine.com/index.p...top-or-netbook&catid=68:technology&Itemid=207


FYI. I got this warning when I clicked the link. I didn't follow through to the site.

*We recommend caution while surfing on eccomagazine.com

In the last 30 days AVG has detected:

1 active threats
14 compromised pages *


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

BillS said:


> I plan on using a AA battery to USB charger to charge our iPads. We have about 200 AA batteries.


And all 200 of them are slowly going dead over time....

You might want to put your theory into practice... I'll bet you find out that using AA batteries to charge an iPad is a futile effort, and eats them like I eat popcorn. It would be WAAAAAAAAAYYYYY cheaper to get a small solar panel, and then charge your iPad from a normal 12 volt car battery.



> current solutions will not charge an iPad with AA batteries. The iPad battery is rated at 25Wh so anything less then that will not even give you 1 full charge.


http://apple.stackexchange.com/ques...-best-icharger-that-charges-from-aa-batteries

I can imagine what 200 (used once and then never to be used again) AA batteries cost you.


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## catdog6949 (Apr 25, 2012)

*Zang..........*

Sorry took awhile to respond Zang..... but we have decided to switch to smaller tablets a nook and an ASEUS tablet , the nook chargers off the batterry pack. The ASEUS off the panel or the batterry pack.

And of course all of our batterries for everything else! Now we are thinking of getting the, 13 watt solar panel and ganging the 7 to it through the 12v. Out let's via a "Y" conector to provide enough watt's too power a 12v. Power box. So we can run other thing's.

Our original tablet was a "Toshiba Thrive", would not charge , needs a 12v. Batterry box and a variable 12v. Power cord to charge it! It was easier too buy the newr tablets.

Cat and Turtle


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## FrankW (Mar 10, 2012)

I also think this is agood idea.

there are SO MANY prepper relevant manuals on the internet if you download them all and can sitll use your laptop in SHTF it would be an invaluable resource.

reading pdf's is also not as power intensive as playing games...


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## ZangLussuria (May 25, 2012)

No problem.
My Goal Zero panel and battery pack is mainly for backup/emergency since I can use regular AA's in them. I keep a pack of AA/AAA from Costco. They cost less than $20 for about 40pcs. They have the Duralock technology which makes them stable for 10 years. This puts them in the same expiry as lithium's but cost much less.
I can't afford to stock that much lithiums if it's just for emergencies. It doesn't go sub-zero temps here anyway.

For everyday use for my gear, I use the high mAh power banks/rechargeable battery packs. I'll test these if they can be charged by the Nomad 7 panels.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

ZangLussuria said:


> I keep a pack of AA/AAA from Costco. They cost less than $20 for about 40pcs.


You can buy near as many 1800 mah AAA and 3000mah AA batteries for the same price.

I haven't heard a good enough argument yet for the GoalZero products to tempt me into getting any of them. You can put together the same product yourself for so much less money.


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## ZangLussuria (May 25, 2012)

LincTex said:


> You can buy near as many 1800 mah AAA and 3000mah AA batteries for the same price.
> 
> I haven't heard a good enough argument yet for the GoalZero products to tempt me into getting any of them. You can put together the same product yourself for so much less money.


Agreed. I have Eneloops in my Goal Zero and various other AA chargers. I just keep the Alkalines for emergencies.
I'm still studying alternative energy. Most of what they sell here is either crappy cheapo stuff or specialized equipment that cost way more than the Goal Zero. I'm from the other side of the world. I got the Goal Zero to have something on hand right now since it is readily available.
I'm still learning when it comes to solar setups. I would rather have something that works right now though than to have bits and pieces of something I'm not sure will work yet especially with my current skill set.
For those with experience with such setups, I agree that there are a lot of cheaper options.
I'm gonna be starting on a solar project soon for some backup power at least for the laptop.


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