solar charging question

Hello again ETS-ers, asking for your input and opinions once again. Up front standard disclaimers, I have no affiliation or financial interest in the product I will be posting and asking about in this thread.

I received a link to this product I think because I liked a page on facebook. So first here is the product:

Xsolar

First off, has anyone had any experience with this or a similar type solar charger? I know absolutely nothing about these or what all the numbers mean. I have tried to follow previous threads about solar chargers and ended up lost, dazed and confused. I am really more interested in whether this is a good way to go as an entry level (and cost-conscious) solar charging device. See my intended/anticipated usage for this in the next section.

Second, would something like this be very useful? My main purpose for purchasing a solar charger such as this would be to recharge a cell phone or maybe an i-pod in areas where there is no electrical service. Say, in a primitive camping area at summer camp or a weekend camp out/camporee during scouting activities. It may also be used to charge a tablet or similar device, although I really wouldn't anticipate taking said tablet on a camp out or to summer camp. That said, I would anticipate using this to charge the tablet or similar device during a power outage at home.

So, bottom line, is this a decent product as an entry level solar charging device for my planned/anticipated usage?

Thanks in advance for your help and advice.

I'm not familiar with the xsolar, but I do have the Goal Zero Guide 10 Plus. I like it.

I have the WakaWaka Power+, which I backed on Kickstarter (https://us.waka-waka.com/store/catalogue/wakawaka-power_23/) (no other affiliation). It's significantly more expensive and has less power onboard (2200 mAh vs 5000 mAh), but does have a built-in light.

Here's what I can say about it from my personal experience:

• It charges on an overcast day - can go from zero to full in 12 hours of cruddy sun exposure, much less when the sun is shining bright
• It has extremely low self-discharge, I can leave it alone for months and it will be at 90% of charge
• Very tough for how light and small it is

If the one you linked to works as well for $30, it's a steal. I'd be concerned, however, that for that price the solar panel might not be as good.

The solar panel looks rather small, so might take some time to charge. My experience, is that in most cases a powerpack is way more practical. Reliable and consistant amount of power.

With a solar you never know how much it will charge, you need to put it exposed to the sun and therefor exposed to the weather and possible dishonest people.

My Goal Zero Solar Charger has Panasonic (Sanyo) Eneloops in the battery pack. These are available to use directly in a AA powered device, or they can act as a source if charging something with the USB port. Solar keeps the batteries charged. Nice thing is that you can have multiple sets of batteries charged/charging, rather than having a non-standard battery hard wired into the charging unit.

Both the Xsolar and the WakaWaka Power+ have batteries onboard; the solar capability is used to recharge the battery.

I have a couple of eboot Solar Chargers, whick look to be identical to the xsolar.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00KMRYSQ8/ref=noref?ie=UTF8&psc=1&s=electronics

I've used them to charge an Olight R40 Flashlight directly, a Landrover A8 Andriod Smartphone and a eyeTV DVB-T Wifi server (allows me to watch Broadcast TV and Radio on the Smartphone)

The 1W Solar Panel will take quite a while to recharge the Lithium Battery. It should keep the Lithium battery topped up though if you charge the battery using an external USB power source.

Here is a Funkyprepper review.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83DHX9D4CK4

They also make ideal Secret Santa presents at work.

Yes I know that. I mean if you run the solar charger battery down, you are not sure when you enough power in the battery again to fully charge your phone again. Changing wheather or if you are unable to put the charger in a sunny place consistantly, will make the availible power after draining the solarcharger battery once a big mistery.

If the battery in the solarcharger is enough for your expected use, then you don't need the solar part.

A few thoughts from a guy who's been messing with photovoltaic solar panels for some time:

First and foremost, I think you should largely ignore the solar part. This is a battery pack designed to be charged by grid-powered chargers/devices. The charging spec's are for PC (at nearly twice the standard USB rate!?!) or more powerful chargers. I suggest you compare it (battery size and cost) with the non-solar rechargers that are available everywhere.

It's odd they wouldn't list more of the hard spec's on the solar aspect. Or maybe not, because they're hardly sexy. If the photo on the web page is to be believed (?!) it's a lithium polymer 5000 mAh battery. The solar charging capability is apparently 200 mA. I'm playing very fast and loose with the math here, but I believe it would take at least 3 days of full 8-hour direct sunlight to recharge this. Assuming ideal conditions. It's a biggish battery and a tiny, tiny panel. So the solar panel is a trickle charger -- still somewhat useful, but don't be fooled into thinking that this is a self-contained off-grid solution; it certainly is not. It may however give you enough juice in a dicey situation to get your phone connected and fire off a few text messages (and get triangulation going if someone's looking for you).

I'm not saying don't buy one; but be realistic about your expectations. Hope this helps.

I agrea. With solar, go big or go home.

Sorry, I misunderstood. In my case, the WakaWaka Power+ will charge in almost any daytime light conditions, albeit it might be quite slow. I keep one each along with a spare Lightning cable in each of our two cars' emergency kits. I've also used them while camping to keep phones charged.

so would something like this serve my needs better?

http://www.woot.com/offers/gorilla-16-800-mah-battery-pack-w-led-screen-11?ref=cnt_dly_img

or possibly a combination of both? the solar for the times i can reliably charge in the sun and the other above as a back-up?

As I said, my intended use for this is charging phones, maybe an ipod or tablet, in the event I am away from power at a primitive campsite or at home in the event of a power outage. Now, what that means in how much "juice" I need to accomplish that, I have no idea.

For me, I use the WakaWaka Power+ in the emergency kits I keep in each car, along with a spare set of cables. Each is good for one full charge of an iPhone 6, has extremely low self-discharge, and recharges itself in almost any amount of sunlight. I also use these when camping.

For shorter excursions I use a non-solar LiPo powerpack. I don't have the model you look at but those have a lot of claimed capacity for the price.

It's essential to top any devices like this off every month or three (depending on how much it self-discharges) and every time you use them if you want them to work when you need them.

A High Efficiency 14W Solar Charger for $50.

http://www.amazon.com/Christmas-X-DRAGON...s=solar+charger

I have good results with NewTrent Powerpaks. This is the rugged version;

http://www.amazon.com/New-Trent-PowerPak...ywords=newtrent

This combination should also satisfy the more power hungry requirement USB devices for the larger Android and iPad tablets.

For short outings, just go for an external battery pack. Do check the following with batterypacks:

- Power output: tablets often require a 2.1A, 2A or at least 1A power output. Check if the powerpack has this output. Regular USB has a 0.5A output.
- Check the capacity of your devices and look at the capacity of the powerpack. The amount of charges you can get is the total amount of powerpack (example 16800 mah from the one you linked at) – charge losses (converting the battery output to USB output and back, batteries heating up, cable resistance, etc) which will be in the 30% area (depending on the quality of the devices) divided by the capacity of your phone.
Note; lots of cheap Chinese batterypacks have inflated capacity numbers.

For longer you can add a solar panel, but use it to charge a batterypack, not directly to your device (unless the sun output is very consistent) . The problem with solar in inconsistent power output. Interruption of the power will stop Iphones from charging and requires you to unplug and re-plug the cable. With my android phone that doesn't seem to be a problem, but when hovering at the minimum required power input my phone will keep giving the vibrating and sound of being connected and disconnected continuously. Which eat more power then it’s getting.

Two links explaining what to get (no affiliations):
http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/External-Battery-Reviews
http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/Solar-Charger-Reviews

I have a Mophie battery/case on my iPhone, doubles the battery capacity with nothing else required; it's always available. That and I try to keep the phone in airplane mode when I don't expect or want to receive calls.