Just spent $80 on a 'solar powered' phone charger that barely works

I bought it online for a camping trip last month, thinking I was being green. It took two full days in direct sun just to get my phone to 20%. My friend joked it was powered by a sad potato. I ended up using my car to charge it anyway, which totally missed the point. Has anyone found a portable solar charger that actually works well?

3 comments

3 Comments

ellis.leo2mo agoMost Upvoted

Yeah, you need one with a big panel AND a battery pack.

claire_hart532mo ago

But how big does the panel really need to be? A huge one is useless if you can't store the power it makes. The battery capacity seems like the real limiting factor.

beth_reed2mo ago

Ellis.leo is right, you really do need both. My first setup was a huge panel on a tiny battery, like trying to fill a shot glass from a fire hose. It was comically bad. The battery would be full by noon on a sunny day and the rest of the power just went to waste. Now I've got a battery that feels too big for the panel, so it never really fills up. I can't seem to win.