Solar Battery Chargers

Jay Honeck wrote:
I see these things available locally for around $40 bucks. They claim to be
able to recharge cell phones and laptops. They also say they're good for
trickle-charging vehicle batteries.

My thinking is that a solar charger would be great for Sun N Fun and
Oshkosh -- places where my cell phone (and walkie-talkies, and laptop)
batteries routinely die after a few days. It also looks like something I
could use to keep my motorcycle battery charged over the winter.

I have one of these things that I occasionally use on a spare car that
we have (during periods of inactivity). I can't really tell how much
of a difference it makes, but I figured it couldn't hurt. I remember
running some little tests on it, after I bought it. It appears that in
bright sunlight, without any load, it would put out 12 or 13 volts,
but that second you put a small load across it (fairly high resistor),
the voltage would droop to almost nothing. I can't remember if I tried
to measure the current or not. I'd say this would be fine to leave on
your motorcycle over the winter, but I wouldn't bet on it charging your
cell phone, walkie-talkies, or laptop over the course of a few days.

--- Jay


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