Freeplay 12V Personal Energy Source Review
Lightweight portable electrical power can sometimes be difficult to obtain in the wilderness. Quite a few invaluable devices require battery operation and the ability to recharge those batteries reasonably quickly has for the most part been solved with a new generation of very portable lightweight, compact, and efficient solar PV panels which can provide enough power to recharge 4 AAs cells or provide power for GPSs, flashlights, communication equipment, SW radios and even the sterilisation of water. The main downside of course is that the sun has to be out to illuminate the solar PV panel to provide the energy.
A possible solution to generate a limited supply of electrical energy when in the dark is the Freeplay 12V Personal Energy Source.
I was able to find one on sale for about £7.99 or about $15.
First impressions are quite favourable as the unit appears to be well manufactured using quality materials and components. The Freeplay 12V Personal Energy Source weighs in at 280 grams.
The maximum power it can generate is probably around 10-12 Watts. I was able to power a Uniross X-Press 700 NiMh recharger with 4 AA 2600mA Power-Plus NiMh cells (generic NiMh cells) quite easily which was rated at 12V and 500mA (6 Watts) input using the cigarette 12V adapter lead.
I decided to charge the cells for about 15 minutes, which was probably the comfortable limit before getting tired hands, before checking the cell votlage using the battery power level indicator on a Garmin eTrex GPS. Of course in a survival situation this wouldn't really wouldn't be an issue. The battery power indicator registered just below half on the level meter indicating a partial recharge of the cells. It certainly gave enough power to generate a GPS fix. First impressions were favourable, as it certainly seems to work as advertised.
Overall I think this could be a useful addition to a solar PV panel power kit for when limited power is required during the hours of darkness or during an emergency for those occasions when your batteries have just died and you need to make a short emergency cell phone call or to generate a GPS fix. When the sun is shinning though let the sun do the work with the solar PV kit as 15 minutes work using the Freeplay 12V Personal Energy Source seems like a very long time indeed.
Freeplay 12V Personal Energy Source with a cheap compact 2 AA NiMh recharger.