power

First of all it is important to understand that the type of portable solar power solutions sold here at The Solar Power Store (and honestly most all solar panels everywhere) are typically used to charge a battery – not run a product directly. There are several reasons for that. First of all, the small portable solar panel might not create enough wattage to directly power an electric appliance, but it can slowly build up the charge of a higher wattage battery, so the battery can run the electric appliance. Secondly, it is just a matter of power regulation. The solar cell is charging the battery at a varying rate of power depending on the amount of available direct sunlight, but the battery can discharge the power to the electric appliance at a constant rate – necessary to make sure the electrical appliance is not damaged.

But let’s say you want to create enough solar power to run your laptop – not just charge it up slowly. When you feed the laptop with enough wattage to run (from your solar panels) all by itself, you are really just feeding the laptop’s battery with energy, and letting the battery run the laptop. So while it appears that you are powering your laptop you are just charging the battery (at a rate faster than the laptop is consuming), and the battery is doing the work of regulating the energy for you.

In fact most of the electronic devices you want to power already have batteries built-in to regulate the power. Electronic devices like a cell phone, GPS unit, PDA, digital camera, MP3 player, camcorder, portable DVD player, or even a satellite phone – all have the rechargeable battery built-in, and are solar power ready.

And finally, how much power is needed for your charging needs? The chart below shows typical charge times (measured in hours) for various wattage solar panels in good sunlight conditions.

Electronic Device	5W Panel	10W Panel	15W Panel	25W Panel
Cell Phone	(C) 2-4H / (R)	(C) 1-2H / (R)	(C) 1H / (R)	(C) 1H / (R)
GPS	(C) 2-4H / (R)	(C) 1-4H / (R)	(C) 1-3H / (R)	(C) 1-2H / (R)
PDA	(C) 2-4H	(C) 1-3H	(C) 1-3H / (R)	(C) 1-2H / (R)
Digital Camera	(C) 2-4H	(C) 1-3H	(C) 1-3H	(C) 1-2H
MP3 Player	(C) 2-4H	(C) 1-4H	(C) 1-3H / (R)	(C) 1-2H / (R)
Digital Camcorder	(C) 2-5H	(C) 1-3H	(C) 1-3H	(C) 1-2H
Portable DVD Player	-	(T)	(C) 2-4H / (R)	(C) 1-3H
Laptop	-	(T)	(C) 5-10H	(C) 4-8H
Car/Marine Battery	(T)	(T)	(C) 24H	(C) 12H

The information in the above chart represents typical charge times in good sunlight conditions. These approximations may not be suitable for all electronic items in all sunlight conditions. For real world varying light conditions you may want to plan for as much as double your anticipated wattage needs.
  (C) Typical charge time, measured in hours
  (R) Typically enough power to run constantly (charging faster than usage)
  (T) Only enough power to trickle charge the battery to slowly gain power

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At The Solar Power Store, we offer an assortment of both flexible and rigid portable solar power solutions to keep you and your gear powerd up on even
your most adventuresome expeditions. The Solar Power Store is a division of ROC Gear, Inc., your online specialty gear supplier. In case you need other
outdoor gear, be sure to check out our other specialty sites at www.rocgear.com. ROC Gear is located at 116 Commerce Commons, Commerce, GA 30529.
Phone: 706-955-0245. E-mail: mail@rocgear.com. ©2008 The Solar Power Store. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy.