I'm in the market now to start going solar with a few things. Before I get into the details, I just want to remind myself that survival doesn't need electricity other than my brain activity. Batteries fail, generators run out of gas, so on and so forth. I'm just trying to stay somewhat powered for awhile when the lights go out. There's a lot of posts and topics on the issue. So let me dig in.

I recently got a Solio Classic 2 for the cell phone. It has a USB (~5V) output. What are some more ways, besides a cell phone charger, I can use this little guy? I'm thinking low power applications like powering a flashlight or a radio receiver. Any thoughts (or schematics ) for wiring something like that up?

Next application would be my comms. I'm a ham operator so I love to still be able to talk when the cell towers die. This came in handy twice so far (#1 Virginia earthquake, #2 Hurricane Sandy). I was able to call for help for others and myself if I needed to and stay in the know by using my vehicle radio and handheld. Now, this is where I want to get comms-wise. I would like to solar power a QRP (low power) station. Here's the catch: man-portable and 5 watts out. I found a great transceiver. The MantiZ FX-2 looks to be the station of choice. It's two band and has close to the power out I want. I'm sold but now I want to power it. It takes 9 to 13.8 volts. I immediately think car battery when I see the 13.8 but car batteries aren't man packable. The little square 9 volts wouldn't have the amps to allow full power operation and would probably last 5 mins at the most. I also thought about using my 12v drill batteries to power it. I think they would but can I solar charge those? And what would the setup look like? Other than that, I've looked at 12v sealed lead-acid batteries that are small enough to be carried in a pouch or backpack and seem like they would do the trick also. I'm almost 100% sure they can be recharged with a panel. I'm just new to the solar arena and need some good info. What panel wattage/voltage to what amp/hour? How do all these terms relate?

2nd comms plan is to take my IC-7000 all-mode "mobile" radio with 100w out and put it in a pelican case with a motorcycle or car battery. I know car batteries can be trickle charged so that solves that problem. This obviously isn't a man-packable solution, more of a bug-out vehicle solution. I feel more comfortable knowing how to setup the IC-7000 with the car battery and trickle charger than I do with the smaller QRP station since I know the IC-7000 is a mobile radio (even though right now, it's my base station). This probably sounds dumb but hey, better to ask and find out than to not and be in the dark. The man-packable batteries and chargers just baffle me. I don't know what to match up.

Solar charging regulators? Are they a must?

In review, the Solio Charger charges the iPhone twice over and works great. Fully charging it, using the panels, takes about a whole day of good sun.

Anybody have any experience with the solar AA battery chargers? That's probably the solar solution to the flashlights and radio receiver previously mentioned. Thanks for any input. It's greatly appreciated. I'll take pics and post once I finish with the QRP setup. ... -.-

.--. ... I've read posts about wiring up a house for solar and going completely off the grid right now. Message received and thanks for all the great info. I'm drooling. That's just a dream right now as I'm still an apartment dweller.