cheapskae solar panel deal

Now you're talking MY language.

5 VDC at 350 mA? Colour me skeptical. I'm not sure how many phones will even start charging at that low output. My Samsung Galaxy Ace and my wife's LG Google Nexus need a minimum 5VDC @ 700 mA for example, and I believe iPhones need a higher voltage.

It is enough juice to trickle charge a few small NiMH cells though.

Based on my ongoing experiments, the only practical setup is a PV panel that charges a battery pack, which then charges the external device.

Note that the reviewer in the link hasn't even tried it out. Sheesh.

For $20 I ordered one. If I can charge a LiOn battery pack with it (and I have a few) then it will be worth experimenting with. To their credit they admit it won't charge iThings directly.

Great stuff to mess around with, absolutely, so long as you temper your expectations of what it can do. 1.8 watts is not a lot to work with; but a dripping tap will still fill a bathtub. From what I've seen, NiMHs would be more likely to take that trickle charge. The LiOns I've fiddled around with (unprotected 18650s) need a stronger power source to charge, at least 10W of raw output from a panel. But I can't speak for the lithium polymer phone batteries. Let us know how it works out.

For the price it looks like something worth a try. Thanks!