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At under 1W output you might be better off with one of the larger (but uglier) solar chargers on DealExtreme.com. Depends upon how quickly you need to charge. Of course with a Costco purchase you can return it when it breaks.
I'm a big proponent of solar power, but this thing is a waste. Being very conservative, at 1 watt from the solar panel for 12 hours a day and $0.20/kWh it will break even in 28 years, which is way longer than the useful life of its battery and solar panel.
I don't think the design purpose of this thing is to "Break Even". It is designed to be a portable extensible battery pack to charge your mobile device.
Again, the 1W reference to the solar panel is still at least 50% (to 100%) more efficient than others you can find on Brando or DX at comparable size and even price.
Lolento said:This thing charges through USB as well.
I don't think the design purpose of this thing is to "Break Even". It is designed to be a portable extensible battery pack to charge your mobile device.
Again, the 1W reference to the solar panel is still at least 50% (to 100%) more efficient than others you can find on Brando or DX at comparable size and even price.
I prefer the 6 watt Brunton I got at REI for $31. It folds up to the size of a big wallet.
Do people really spend extended periods of time in direct sunlight? I just don't know how practical this is. I am hardly ever standing around in broad daylight with my laptop/etc. I guess if you were camping in an empty field or something, but then again, you probably have your car (and power) nearby. Unless you used it for backpacking to charge your cellphone, I think it's just a novelty item.
Am I wrong? Whatever the case, in the FW spirit I'll probably pick one up now that it's 75% off.
6 Watt Brunton foldable panel/charger for $31 sounds to good to be true!
For those of us not so lucky, one thing you can do is buy one of those 12v vw panels (eBay) designed to be plugged into a car cigarette lighter, then also buy a 12v dual or triple receptacle (eBay or Meritline) and you can plug 12v cell phone chargers or '12v Ipod chargers' (usb 5 volts out, really).
Using the vw solar panel pictured, I was able to actually RUN, not just charge, a magellan GPS or a 12v AA charger as well as charge cell phones, ipods etc. I also owned he Solio for a while and think it's pretty good at what it does but - oh - that tiny tiny solar panel pains me!
Basically, you need these: http://www.beneteau235.com/vw_solar_panel_f235.htm http://www.Meritline.com/1-to-3-cigarrete-socket-power-splitter---p-27269.aspx
Except for the question of the efficiency of the part of the cigarette power splitters 12v to 5v part, you get a nice cheap sun charging station for your 12 and 5volt devices which have internal batteries.
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