pvp solar mobile charging devices

[zendeejay]

i've just bought myself a speedloader solar charging device for glastonbury. gonna give it a try this week and report my finds on this thread if anyone else is considering buying one. If you've already bought a similar device please report here.

[ramragon]

i bought a freeloader to take away with me last year, i fully charged it through the usb socket and used it to charge my phone, however once i was down at glastonbury it was really hard to get enough sun to charge it. the solar panels have to face the sun for about 8 hours to charge fully, you couldnt really walk round with it in your hand all that time, i couldnt leave it on top of the tent in case it either rained (rain ruins the solar panels) or stolen. the freeloader would be great if you were in a quiter area with plenty of intense sunlight, like a foriegn country, but not the most practical for the uk and glastonbury.

i also took battery operated mobile chargers, which were similarly crap !

this year i've decided the best option was to go on to ebay and buy 2 spare phone batteries (£9 and £1postage for the 2 from china) and fully charge them before i go.

the freeloader was £29, mobile battery charger £4 and batteries to work it cost around £12 for 2 of us for 5 days. wish id just bought the spare batteries last year and charged them before i went. much easier, smaller to carry and easy to swap.

that would be my advise

[ramragon]

sorry double post

Edited April 28, 2009 by ramragon

[morelego]

I usually take two phones, this year I am just taking one with a spare battery.

I had a battery powered charger and it took ages to give my phone the smallest bit of life.

[r0cky]

For mobile phones, it's best to buy some cheap clone batteries. For my old Nokia (my festival phone), I got a load of them for about £1 each.

The cheap battery powered chargers are complete and utter rubbish. The charging voltage is just whatever the battery produces, and most alkaline batteries have little energy stored.

The battery charges that do work, contain a SMPS to efficiently regulate the charging voltage. The Power Traveller Powerchimp is such a battery charger. It takes AA NiMH.

Solar chargers require actual direct sunshine to work. They charge very little in cloud.

[ramragon]

I usually take two phones, this year I am just taking one with a spare battery.

I had a battery powered charger and it took ages to give my phone the smallest bit of life.

[r0cky]

I nipped into Orange Chill'n'Charge on Friday last year, there was no queue, my mate had to charge up his phone, so I also charged mine as well. But by Saturday the queues were getting long.

[loosechange]

I've got a powermonkey-eXplorer which does a job. You can charge it off the mains or USB before you go which is handy, because as others have mentioned even leaving the solarmonkey on the dashboard / in the window all day you rarely get enough direct sunlight to fully charge the powermonkey again, but I've usually got enough to at least keep the phone from going flat.

I usually take a couple of phones and extra batteries anyway, just in case!

[ramragon]

the freeloader even states that leaving the solar panels behind a window / windscreen will only give you a small fraction of the solar rays and may take up to 4 days to fully charge the battery. the glass reflects so much of the rays powers that it makes the freeloader pointless.

its got to be direct sunlight or nothing.

like i said earlier, great if your abroad and can leave it charging on your balcony throught the day, not the most practical at glastonbury where you will have to carry it round all day or tape it to your cowboy hat !