Forum Discussion

monkey44's avatar
monkey44
Nomad II
Aug 30, 2023

Solar Phone Charger

Will be doing some tent camping this season. Need a solar charger to charge phone and camera batteries.

I have a large battery pack to charge any time I have power, and use it at that time. Often don't have power, so need one small enough to charge phone and carry on the trails.

I'm not sure what kind of specs it needs. Fast charging would be best.

I have no clue about solar charging a phone, so advice appreciated.

Thx ... monkey44
  • wa8yxm's avatar
    wa8yxm
    Explorer III
    There are a lot of them out there. Some are battery pack/Solar chargers (I suggest that type) The one I have depending on the level of sunlight can hit 6-7 Volts possibly more.... One device I have seems to "object" to this much charge.

    Another option is a small (like 12 AH) LiFePo4 and a charge controller with a 100 watt panel (I have that too) Rather expensive but when the lights went out in my apartment.. the big inverter/battery pack kept the fridge cold and the little inverter/battery kept the freezer frozen (I have a small "Danfoss class" chest freezer) was very nice being able to keep things... cold.

    Or I could use my Solar panel to charge a battery pack and use it to charge the other device.. in fact I think I'll try that.
  • This kind of charging uses so little power you could get a small inverter and just plug your current charger into that 120V plug.
  • What is the longest time/days you will be camping? How many charges do you expect of phones and camera batteries? 30000mAh portable chargers are cheap. 1-4 of them for under $100 may be enough to not rely on solar for 4-5 days. I recommend that approach. If you want extended charging for 2+ weeks, then I recommend a deep cycle battery for about $100 and a 12v solar charger to top off the portable USB chargers while not in use.

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