Solar Panels Question

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I try to keep some basic hurricane/tornado season preps. Tornado season seems to start earlier and earlier.

One thing I have always thought about was a basic hiking/camping/bugout portable solar panel charger for a phone or whatever. Does anyone have experience with these?

I have my eye on BigBlue 5V 28W Solar Charger due to some outdoor gear reviews.
It is an unfortunate human failing that a full pocketbook often groans more loudly than an empty stomach.

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

Re: Solar Panels Question

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Hi, K9s. Did you end up buying the BigBlue? I have the ravpower 15W panel that I've camped with a couple of times. To state the obvious, it outputs WAY less than the max most of the time. I bought a usb power meter to gauge what I could realistically expect from it and ran some tests in various daylight conditions, but I've since lost the data. In any case, as a prep for you to keep a phone or a couple of batteries charged, your choice seems like a very good call. I may try to pick up something with higher output myself.

Re: Solar Panels Question

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Yes, and it is really good. It is big and heavy compared to the 15w, but I am not one to use a lot of electronics while camping/hiking/outdoors stuff. It would be something most would keep at base camp or whatever. It is for recharging a recharger - for me - in a weather emergency or power outage.
It is an unfortunate human failing that a full pocketbook often groans more loudly than an empty stomach.

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

Re: Solar Panels Question

7
I have three (did have 4, but gave one away) HoneyComb DASH10-2 power paks for couple of years. They work very well. Does appear that model no longer available. Charges my LG6 cell muy pronto. Added adapters to lead for various size USB so covers three size ports. Get at least two full charges of cell when fully charged.
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Re: Solar Panels Question

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The power that these solar panels provide... it really makes me wonder why every building and home shouldn't have solar cells on them in the future.
It is an unfortunate human failing that a full pocketbook often groans more loudly than an empty stomach.

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

Re: Solar Panels Question

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https://www.politico.com/magazine/story ... age-226755

"The cost of lithium-ion batteries has plunged 85 percent in a decade, and 30 percent in just the past year, so utilities across the U.S. have started attaching containers full of them to the grid—and they’re planning to install far more of them in the coming years."

"The energy world really is changing at the speed of light. Wind and solar generation has almost quintupled in the past decade, providing 9 percent of U.S. electricity last year without emitting any greenhouse gases. This has further complicated the already daunting task of balancing supply and demand on the grid every instant, forcing utilities to respond to every passing cloud and lull in the wind. The rise of Big Data has helped to identify where more electrons are needed in real time, while new transmission lines have helped move electrons longer distances to meet those needs. But lithium-ion batteries were too expensive to use to capture power on the grid before yet another technology transformation—the growth of electric vehicles, from zero a decade ago to more than 1 million on American roads today—drove down their costs through mass production."

"Now grid storage is poised to grow at a faster pace than the electric cars that made it cost-effective, and even faster than the renewables it will help to accommodate on the grid. Last year, Florida Power & Light completed a 10-megawatt grid battery hailed as the largest of its kind in the world; last month, FPL announced a battery project more than 40 times larger. Republican regulators in Arizona recently approved more than twice as much power storage in their state as the entire country installed last year; Hawaii is building more than three times as much, and California nearly five times as much."
It is an unfortunate human failing that a full pocketbook often groans more loudly than an empty stomach.

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

Re: Solar Panels Question

12
I'm bringing one of those 100w Harbor Freight sets with me to Abaco next week. They are not back-pack material, unless the back belongs to a donkey or mule. But they can go in a car. I took one of the 4 panels out and set it up and even though the day was overcast, it put out full voltage (not sure of the wattage). I want to use it charge UPS batteries, which come out easily, and a spare car battery. The set came with 2 12v LED bulbs that look like standard light bulbs and put out a lot of lumens. I'll let you know how it all works when I get down there and get settled. Only going for a week.
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