Hello:
Help!!! I am basically an electronic idiot…so please bare with me. I am an avid camper/survivalist and am wondering if anyone knows of a product that can be taken outdoors camping to be used as a solar power source…??? Some thing small enough to carry outdoors. I know very little about volts and amps, but I can learn.
For instance, I have a small camp stove which operates using a small blower fan…and is powered by a “AA” battery. Is there a way to bypass the battery and power the fan using a solar panel?
Using the same concept, is there a way to use the solar panel to power up slightly larger items? Most of what I have found are proprietary by nature and used specifically for one particular item…cell phones, Ipods, etc. I guess I’m looking for something more generic. Any help that can direct me…info, books, etc. would be appreciated. Thanks
Djay
toppdawg46@gmail.com is the best way to contact me.
It’s not practical to use a solar panel to directly power anything. You use the solar panel to charge the battery then use the battery.
DealExtreme.com has a load of small solar panel/battery combo’s. The connectors are for small electronics, like the ones you mentioned, but I’m afraid there’s nothing you can do about that. If you want to charge something else, you’ll need to hack some connectors. Usually these use a USB connection to source power, so you can hack up some old USB cables for them. They generally supply 5V as well, so if you need less volts, you’ll need to regulate it down somehow.
I go on hiking/canoeing trips for about a 7 to 9 days each and I’m always thinking about these things, but really the only thing I use batteries for is my headlight and a fresh set lasts me longer than a week. I have a small GPS logger that has an internal battery. I made up a mini USB connector attached to 3AA cells in order to recharge it during the trip, and that’s about all I need.