Wired magazine review of 4 portable solar chargers (Jan 2012)

[Danneaux]

Hi All!

Wired magazine tested four portable solar chargers -- some with accumulator/buffer batteries -- in their January 2012 edition. Most will charge or top-off phones, while one example will handle larger charging duties, like iPads, and other tablets:
http://www.wired.com/reviews/2012/01/reviews_roundup_solarchargers/?pid=2122&viewall=true

For those looking for an alternative or supplement to dynohub charging.

I have a Joos Orange coming in the next day or so, and will report after it arrives.

Best,

Dan.

[rualexander]

I recently picked up a Guide 10 Plus Mobile Kit at a heavily discounted price (£39.99), and I am fairly happy with it as an additional power source.
Yesterday I had it in good sun (albeit Scottish May sun) for three hours, and it put enough charge into the Guide 10 Plus AA battery pack unit to then put 30% charge into my Motorola Defy's extra capacity 2430mAh battery.
On a recent 3 day tour, I tried it on a cloudy day and got enough into the AA pack for about 20% phone charge after a full day (maybe 7 hours).
I also tried charging the Guide 10 Plus AA pack unit directly from my hub dynamo and Axa Nano Plus, but for some reason failed to get any significant juice into it on a five hour day, which puzzled me but maybe the connector came loose. I haven't had a chance to try again yet. I did email the Goal Zero folk and they said it should charge ok.

If I see the larger solar panel (the Nomad 7) at a decent price I may get it as it charges twice as fast, although its twice the size. The Nomad 3.5 panel that comes with the Mobile Kit is nice and compact when folded.

[Danneaux]

Very useful report, Rual; I file such things away for reference. They're a real help in making my own choices and evaluating what works in which conditions. Oregon's weather is often cloudy in the Fall/Winter/Spring months, and I'm conscious the soon-to-arrive Joos Orange is not ideally suited for those conditions; I would expect its charging to slow compared to yours in other than sunny conditions. Really, I won't know what to expect till after it arrives and I can play with it for awhile, but it surely helps to know what you're getting from your charger now, for comparison. Thanks.

As for charging from the Axa Nano Plus...have you checked the USB cord, or tried swapping for another? The internal wiring is pretty fine, but so many of the ones I've seen have pretty sketchy solder joints at the connections, and it sometimes doesn't take much use for them to fatigue and either break outright or result in increased electrical resistance, both of which affect charging.

Please keep us posted as things progress; I'm really interested in how an even larger array like the Nomad 7 works in practice. At this point, the claims for the Joos Orange seem almost too good to be true, so I am continuing to keep an eye on other offerings in the market. As was writing this, the email arrival/pickup notice for the Joos came through, so hopefully I can get some experience with it while the sun is still out (it is currently just after 14:00 on this very cloudy Thursday).

Best,

Dan.

[Danneaux]

Oh, boy!  

'Just got the Joos Orange charger out of the box. It is currently 1600 hours (4PM) and raining. Inside the south-facing sliding glass patio doors, the Joos doesn't charge if laid flat. Tipping it at an angle with the included props starts it charging indoors. Moving it outside at the same angle, the charge indicator really blinks quickly. In about 15 minutes, it has come up from 3 blinks to 4 blinks on the charge indicator -- from 40-60% to 60-80%, so charging is definitely taking place. I presume it arrived with a partial charge already in it.

Heavy little box, this thing, but it has a steel heat-sink on the back and contains the battery as well.

More later, possibly under its own topic. Gotta go play now.

Best,

Dan. (...who, at age 53, is like most small children and some adolescents -- fascinated by blinking lights on electricky gadgets)