Solar chargers?

[larry]

I have been thinking about buying a solar charger for canoe trips. I don't know anything about them and have pretty limited knowledge of this type of device. While catching up on Will Steger's trip, I found his advice quoted from his website below. I actually couldn't find the product her refers to on the Brunton site. When I googled "Brunton solar charger" a bunch devices come up and I quickly got lost in trying to understand the descriptions. I would be interested in hearing opinions on chargers others have used. Also there must be an electrical engineer that paddles and could educate me a bit. Thanks for any words of wisdom on this topic.

From https://www.stegerwildernesscenter.org/category/expeditiongear/
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[Cruiser]

If something gets added to your pack, it is usually to fulfill some defined purpose, rarely is it because it seemed like a good idea.

The first order of business would be to figure out "how much" power you think you are going to require and what devices you want to use, this will drive all of the decisions.

If you consider solar, it isn't just a solar panel, there's a charge controller and also the battery pack(s) and likely some sort of case to make transport manageable .... most of the panel/battery combos I reviewed, require an unrealistic amount of bright sunshine to get the packs recharged. So the idea of recharging the batteries every day usually, isn't really that effective/feasible (from a weight carried PoV).

Effective use of the power you take, is also very important, consider for example taking and charging a cell phone ....case 1: you take a battery with a 12V plug and use a 12VDC converter to make 115VAC, so that you can plug in a standard wall adapter to charge the phone case 2: get a battery with a 5V USB outlet suitable to charge the phone.

With all the losses entailed in case 1, it will take about 5x the power as case 2 to do the same job.

For all cases I considered, the power density of a good lithium battery was the most effective way to take power on the trail.

Brian

 

[Mnoutdoorfunguy]

Take a look at the Joos Orange.
For us, it has been reliable, very functional, easy to use, compact, durable and provides the power we have needed.
The one drawback, in our experience, is that it may be a little heavier than comparable chargers.

 

[larry]

The lithium battery makes a lot of sense for my use, Brian. All I would need to charge is a camera, but gps is nice too. I've been enjoying paddling videos that use a go pro and was thinking about getting one of those. I imagine on a week trip you could use a few charges.

 

[southcove]

Just sent you a PM on a couple of the points you raised.

 

[sweeper]

I would think unless you're doing a lot video, spare batteries are a lighter option or you could buy one of those BioLite stoves with the USB ports.

https://www.mountainsteals.com/stea...PBSJ8gOiq_h4I8Z1tSXsRVhYYjdT02HxoCsnIQAvD_BwE

 

[latremorej]

I agree on the spare battery. Unless your trips are more than a week long... I have and use the goal zero GUIDE 10 PLUS + NOMAD 7 SOLAR PANEL KIT
www.goalzero.com/shop/kits/guide-10-nomad-7/

it works great, as long as you have lots of direct sunlight. It is pretty heavy though. I have switched to a portable battery bank large enough to charge my phone 3 times and as long as I keep it on airplane mode, it works great for trips up to a week long. I don't do alot of video though. Just some pics, and turn on service at night to check in with the Mrs.

 

[red langford]

Just sent you a PM on a couple of the points you raised.

The great thing about forums is that shared knowledge allows the whole community to grow. Taking information into the DM/PM world means others can't benefit from your knowledge. Sorry if there is another reason for going private that I missed.

 

[recped]

The lithium battery makes a lot of sense for my use, Brian. All I would need to charge is a camera, but gps is nice too. I've been enjoying paddling videos that use a go pro and was thinking about getting one of those. I imagine on a week trip you could use a few charges.

Look at the Anker power banks on Amazon.

Either a 10,000 or preferably the 20,000 Mah versions, high quality units, heavier than some but when it comes to battery packs that a good thing.

For sure avoid any of the cheap plastic ones that promise amazing amounts of power dirt cheap, ther specs are fake and the batteries are of the lowest quality. This is especially true of the packs with built-in solar panels, useless and potentially dangerous devices!

This past summer of 46 days I powered an Inreach, a canon camera (1200 stills, 1 hour video), a GoPro (10 hours) and a music player from 1 x 10,000 + 1 x 20,000 units, had to resort to a little AA powered emergency charger for the last 2 days.

There is some good info at this site, as you'll see quality panels are not cheap. I think the thin film type are the way to go for paddlers, combined with a good power bank they could provide endless power (except at the Arctic Circle in mid-winter!)

https://www.modernoutpost.com/produ...aterproof-solar-for-kayaks-and-canoes-canada/

If you get a GoPro buy a bunch of cheap compatible batteries on eBay, about $5/each and work almost as well as the GoPro originals which are 5 times (maybe more?) the price.

 

[larry]

Thank you for the new responses. Lots of good information. I don't go much over a week, so the battery sounds like the best option for me.

 

[Robin]

I go with the cheap batteries from eBay for my GoPro also, they do work well. I also carry spare batteries for my SPOT, headlamps and my little weather radio.

 

[Alan Gage]

I do the same as Robin. I looked into the solar charger and/or power bank route but it was too much weight, money, and complexity. The only thing I need batteries for is my camera and those are small and cheap so I just bring along half a dozen or so. Oh yeah, I do carry a spare set for my SPOT as well.

It might make sense if you had a lot of devices to keep charged though.

Alan