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I'm after a small (or foldable), light set of solar panels that'll charge a powerbank sufficiently to charge a couple of phones a day for a week or two, phones will be being used by young people so will be hammered daily, any suggestions?

MrLongbeard wrote: Mon Apr 22, 2024 3:37 pm I'm after a small (or foldable), light set of solar panels that'll charge a powerbank sufficiently to charge a couple of phones a day for a week or two, phones will be being used by young people so will be hammered daily, any suggestions?

Are the two youts genuinely away from grid power for that long? Not sure any single solar panel kit is good enough for that scenario yet. (Even assuming they're going somewhere that's genuinely hot and sunny)

Rockburner wrote: Mon Apr 22, 2024 4:14 pm Are the two youts genuinely away from grid power for that long? Not sure any single solar panel kit is good enough for that scenario yet. (Even assuming they're going somewhere that's genuinely hot and sunny)

Maybe, the first week they think they'll have access to power, the second week is totally off grid in Norway.
I'm trying to temper my daughters expectations as to what may be achievable.

I've been looking at stuff from these guys https://www.mobilesolarchargers.co.uk/s ... dition-10w for now, that panel along with a powerbank that'll charge a phone 7 - 10 times, leave home with it fully charged then top it off when she can.

Best case scenario it's just for daughter, and she persuades her mate to sort her own shit out.

There's loads of specialised solar phone chargers on Ebay

Whatever you get, I'd suggest getting it at least 3 weeks beforehand and trying it out with a (nigh-on) empty powerbank to see if it actually works, and managing expectations

Nothing worse than taking kit on a long trip and it failing on the first use.

Yorick wrote: Mon Apr 22, 2024 5:02 pm There's loads of specialised solar phone chargers on Ebay

Which I wouldn't touch with a 10 foot barge pole.
I'm a smidge risk averse when it comes to lithium batteries, and wouldn't trust anyone but an established business.
90% of them are blatant lies, https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/355540061910 ... BMsK7Z7eBj 10 million mAH my arse, that'll be 1 or 2 18650's and a handful of fishing weights in the case.

I've gone right off ebay too, so many just using it to sell drop shipped rubbish from Temu

10 million mili....

If it contains 18650s, there's 2857 of 'em in there (optimistic 3500mAH ones).

Maybe, just maybe, if there are 4 of them you could recharge it 700 times giving 10M total...eventually. Sadly, the typical life is 300-500 cycles.

Pretty brazen bolleaux advertising though.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/125106118729 ... media=COPY
May teach your little darlings just how essential their phones are!

Sadlonelygit wrote: Mon Apr 22, 2024 10:08 pm https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/125106118729 ... media=COPY
May teach your little darlings just how essential their phones are!

Oh she's well aware, semi plan now is to augment kit with a cheap digital camera to take photos and reduce load on phone battery

I remember feeling hard done by when my Nokia 3210 wouldn't last a whole week on a single charge

Well it took a couple of months but I have finally managed to smack some sense into the issue.
Solar is out, mostly because I don't want them charging lithium cells unattended in their tent and risking a fire, plus the issue that it's a theft risk.

So she's shipping out with 2 fully charged 26,800 mAh powerbanks, yes I've checked they're OK with the airline, apparently they allow up to 20 spare batteries, each less than 10Wh per passenger

If she runs out of power it's her own fault, she knows what she's got to play with and how long it needs to last.