The History of Solar Panel Battery Chargers
The history of solar power battery chargers has to begin with the advent of solar power. Attempts to capture the power of the sun have been made since the dawn of man. Realizing its power to give heat and light, intrigued man from the beginning of time. Leonardo da Vinci studied the sun and ways to harness it in the fifteenth century.
Although modern science has taken away the romance of sun gods, mystical beings and other myths and tales, it has not lost its curiosity. Harnessing the suns power to be used in batteries has been around since France decided it needed an alternate energy source long before the fuel shortage of the seventies.
Charles Fritz managed to turn the suns rays into electricity with the first solar cell in 1883. It wasn’t until later in the 1880’s that a solar cell was used to warm water in his house. The studies went on. The possibilities of using up all of the nonrenewable resources was well known in the nineteenth century. People around the world still chose to use coal and other nonrenewable energy sources as though they would never end, or have any consequences.
Three scientists from Bell Labs, Calvin Fuller, Daryl Chaplin and Gerald Pearson made the discovery that silicon was a very good semiconductor. Today solar cells and panels are usually made of silicon.
These small yet applaudable steps were baby steps to the many uses of solar energy today. Now, solar energy is influencing the production of energy much more than those in history ever imagined. It is no longer history, it is the future that depends on solar power and the ability to use the sun as an energy source and to not deplete the earth of nonrenewable resources.
Then the price of oil doubled in the seventies, the government of the United States finally decided to invest time and funds into the development of the solar cell. This is the same solar electric cell that was produced in 1953 by the scientists at Bell Laboratories.
Today the assortment of solar battery chargers is amazing. When you inventory your electronic gadgets, you know that everyone needs to be charged in one way or another. You will find out that most of those electric chargers can be replaced by solar battery chargers.
The solar charger contains solar panels. When these panels are placed in direct sunlight, the panels will convert the energy from the sun and store it in your battery. The more energy you want, the larger the solar panel you will need. Portable solar chargers are available and built into many small devices. Solar powered calculators have been around for decades. At first large and cumbersome, they are now pocket sized and more efficient.
Internal solar batteries are usually what you will find in these small hand held devices. Price counts. There are some that are too small to charge the device with just the sun, but can charge the internal battery. Internal batteries will most likely have to be replaced before the device wears out. Replacement of an internal battery will most likely occur every couple of years and is a danger to the ecosystem. A weak battery in a new device is also a potential issue.
External solar chargers are great when you aren’t anywhere close to an electric outlet. You can plug the charger into your device on a beach, in a foreign country or out in a boat with no AC power. They are also great if you are camping. You can get solar panels large enough to keep everything in your camp charged and usable without tapping into electrical power supplies. They are great for any emergency, survival or your pleasure when electricity is not available.
Before you invest in a solar charger, it will be important to see if your appliances and devices can be used with one. The additional purchase of cables may be necessary in some instances.
In order to charge rechargeable batteries you will need a separate solar panel battery charger. Since this will most likely be used outdoors, it is important to buy one that is weatherproof. Keep the connections clean and free from anything that may clog them and the panels themselves will function more efficiently if they are also kept clean and free from dust and grime.
Top Solar Battery Chargers
When it comes to top solar battery chargers, a person needs to consider several factors. Because not every charger will act differently, the focus should be placed on its overall performance. While price may be a factor for some, quality and how long an item last should also be taken into consideration.
We’ll explore some of the top solar battery chargers to help you make an educated decision. These are remarkable items that not only serve a valuable purpose but will help keep the environment cleaner as you reduce your carbon emission use.
Things you need to take into consideration are:
- How quickly can they charge a battery?
- Is the material eco-friendly?
- How portable is the unit?
Nomad 13.5M Solar Panel
While some units remain pricey this is a generally inexpensive model. But don’t let the price fool you, this is a powerful unit that can take the power of the sun and charge a batter in as little as 9 Hours. This unit also has a sturdy construction, and is easy to tote along with you on a car trip or out in the woods camping. When power isn’t readily available this unit really delivers.
Nomad 27M Solar Panel
This is a powerful unit that can charge a battery in only 4.5 hours. It is easy to handle and is no light you can carry it anywhere with you without any trouble. A great feature to it is the fact it’s waterproof. This means that even if you are camping down by the river you don’t have to worry about it getting ruined. When you need portability and speed this option is for you.
Ranger Base Camp Kit
For some the need for strong power in the outdoors is essential. While we might love our kids to enjoy nature the laptop might still be drug out to enjoy a movie around the campfire. That is where the Ranger Base Camp Kit can help. With the solar powered batteries you can quickly recharge a laptop with no problem at all, and for the camera buff in nature this can provide enough power to recharge that as well.
30M Solar Panel
This powerful device could become your best friend very quickly. It has the power to recharge your cell phone in no time at all. While this panel is designed to be used with an actual adventure kit think of it as a way to help you enhance the overall power that you can store and deliver to your devices. Since panel linking is a very common thing to do, this makes the perfect edition to an existing kit or to add to a starter kit.
Of course, there are other great solar battery chargers available as well, and each can provide you with endless hours of power. From an iPhone charger to solar grills and even solar umbrellas there are plenty of options out there for you to get the cleanest power available. Take the time to explore all your different options.
Solar Panel Chargers for Travelers
Many travelers like to take their portable electronic devices with them, whether it is a cell phone, portable gaming systems, I-Pods or whatever. The problem is that many times there are no places available to recharge the internal batteries, and this can be a real problem if there is some kind of emergency. That is why solar panel battery chargers are so handy nowadays. However, there are many different solar and wind power energy solutions available, to keep these devices running and charged up no matter where your travels may take you.
One of the coolest gadgets on the market in recent years has got to be the K3 Wind and Solar Charger-Kenisis Charger. This is a very handy device that can be used to charge just about any 5 watt or less power consuming device. You can take this product just about anywhere. Not only does it have it’s own internal battery to charge up your electronics, it has a solar panel built right in, as well as a small wind turbine, tripling your charging power. This unit costs just $89.
Sunlinq makes a 12 watt solar panel that can be completely folded up into a compact size, yet can be used to charge and power many different things. It comes with the panel, and adapters for cigarette lighter sockets, as well as clips to hook directly to a 12 volt battery. This unit can charge the batteries for rechargeable lanterns, flashlights, and whatever else can be charged using the cigarette adapters. It weighs just under a pound, and it’s folded dimensions are 9”x5”x.7”, unfolded .7”x29”x18.” Sunlinq also makes 6.5, 12, and 25 watt panels as well. This unit sells for just under $155.
One of the cheapest products available is the Multi-function Solar Emergency Charger, at just $7.50. This small and compact solar charger uses a 1350mAH rechargeable polymer internal battery, and can charge PDAs, MP3 players, digital cameras, and many other small devices. It has a highly efficient panel conversion, more that 15% efficiency.
For people who travel to remote areas, or that spend a lot of time in places where there isn’t any external power sources, then the company Goal has products that will fit your needs as well. They supply some of the highest quality solar panels, power packs, lights and universal adapters that money can buy.
They even sell combination kits, that include their completely folding panels, and power packs in one convenient package. You can buy their Sherpa 120 which will supply 120 watt hours of power, replaces 70,000 AA batteries. It includes the power pack, Nomad 27 watt panel, the UA, and accessories for just $829.95.
If you are a person who is always out and about, you know how important it is to keep your electronics charged. Some systems can actually crash without some kind of charge. Products like cell phones, and GPS systems, while having a small back up supply to keep recorded information, will lose everything if allowed to completely drain. Buying any of these solar charging products or even another type of a solar battery charger can not only help keep all your information safe, but can actually save your life in an emergency.
I Only Need About 5 Watts..
So, I if I buy a solar battery charger for my cell phone, I noticed that it take forever to charge. Really it is about 4-8 hours depending on sun light. But if I buy the small 5 watt chargers it takes slow time to charger. Yet, when I have purchased the 13 watt or even 27 watt chargers it rarely takes that much time. I guess it has to do with the solar panel and how the more panels the more power. Whatever the case, here is the one I have.
It is the K3 Solar Wind Charger from Kinesis.
It is actually pretty light given all that it comes with, also I enjoy the color I got, which was the green model.
What Are The Best Solar Panel Battery Chargers?
I have noticed that there are about 100 or more solar panel battery chargers on the market, I have yet to find some that are really quality AND good looking. If you noticed in the solar industry of portable solar chargers, there are a few online retailers selling them, but yet there are hundreds of chargers. How can I actually decide? Well, I did decide and I will be adding some videos to this post or on youtube, whatever comes first.
