Review: Going Solar!

When the going gets rough, and the lights flicker out, we will want to power and run our gadgets and drive back the night with the familiar glow of electric lights. I've been collecting solar chargers for a while now, and I thought I would give you a quick review of them.

First up is the B-Squares Modular Solar Electronics which I backed on Kickstarter. This allows the user, in theory, to run a USB outputting rechargeable triple AAA charger, a set of LED lights, or a iPhone charger. The single solar square generates 0.325W of power, which is enough to run the LED's, charge the batteries or run the iPhone. Or at least, it's supposed to. I have had little or no luck with it, and am afraid to say I've been very disappointed with this device. 

 The second of these devices is the original Solio Universal charger which is a mains-capable charger, with a battery pack. It folds out into a tri-leaved floret  is capable of output ranges from 1.5 to 5W, the internal rechargeable battery has a capacity of of 3.7V 1000mAh. It comes with a variety of output ends for the included cables and will even charge iPhones via a USB output. One cool feature of this is that it can be orientated by feeding a pencil through the central hole, propping it up to achieve maximum solar  contact. I've been very happy with this device, and take it camping and adventuring with me frequently.

Lastly is the solar charger that came with another Kickstarter project, the Packlights which I have previously reviewed. I delightful sweetener to their deal was the inclusion of these purpose built charger and battery packs. Also mains-chargeable, these these packs generate  0.77W at a Voltage of 5.25 +- 5% and the internal battery has a capacity of 2200mA with an output of 5.6V at a maximum current of 600mA. It includes a USB output, and both a bright LED light, and a dim LED charge indicator. Another interesting feature is that they give estimated times for charging, which are: by Solar Charge:10-14 hours depending on lighting & weather conditions and by DC Charge: 2-3 hours where the charging current: 140mA (per hour). This is a really nice package, and I'm very glad i acquired two of them. They fit nicely stowed into one of the Platatac FUP pouches so I can imagine wearing them out in the field, ready to recharge my tech. 

Review: Packlight

I am a firm believer in the Kickstarter program which enables people with great ideas but no capital to ask for backers to see them to their seed money. One such project was by the folks at Big I Design who had the idea to pack 45 high performance LED's into a flexible silicone body, make it USB rechargeable. I knew I needed to be a part of this, so I backed them. The reward bundle that I chose was pretty awesome, in that I got two Packlights (one red, one black) with USB charging cords for each, two packets of  Reflective tape and as an extra bonus two Solar Recharging Units, complete with plugs and fittings to recharge mini-USB, phones and iThingies. Pretty awesome bundle. 

I like the idea of a water resistant light source, that I can strap or affix to things and leave there to illuminate. Torches are great, but are not always the best tool for the job. The flexible body of the Packlight means that I can bend it across the back of a pack, the trunk of a tree or onto a wall. Each light has two hanging holes, which will fit a good sized carabiner or loops of paracord lanyards. The ends also house neodymium magnets, the "thin" end makes sufficient contact to support the whole unit from the side of a fridge under its own power. 

One of the most exciting things about the Packlight are its variety of lighting options. A tap of the power button gives a low output illumination of 1, 2 or 3 of the columns of LED's, as a battery life indicator. Holding the power button brings up the lights to full with the following options: Full Power, Outer 2 Columns, Middle Column, All lights flashing in a 1.5 sec interval, all lights flashing in a strobe pattern, rotating column (1, 2, 3) lights, SOS of all lights.

They are -bright- with a listed output of 260 Lumen, I see stars after looking at it.The lights come in at 330g which i think is pretty good considering the size and functionality that comes with the package. 

Aesthetically the only downside is the battery-pack/circuity node, but all that power and programming has to go somewhere, and when strapped to a backpack, I'm sure I wont care. We'll have to see how the USB plug pans out, I have a feeling I will want to tape it over if I know I'm going to be rained on a lot, but otherwise, an awesome addition to my adventure kit!