Solar charger reviews

  • Hey Guest, Early bird pricing on the Summer Moot (29th July - 10th August) available until April 6th, we'd love you to come. PLEASE CLICK HERE to early bird price and get more information.

quietone

Full Member
May 29, 2011
820
93
Wales
Hey all.. I recently bought the Powermonkey Extreme. I must say I'm very impressed, I know its pricey, but well worth it methinks. 9000mAh, very tough, waterproof and came with all the tips (monkeynuts) that I needed as standard. Also 3w solar panel. Charges high end smart phone 4-6 times, normal phone 8-12. Has low static wastage, apparently 75% of charge retained after a year, though I don't believe that will affect myself, as its used weekly. Outputs Usb 5V 700mAh and DC port 2.1A.
Weight is a paltry 466g.

OH and hello everyone, my first post. hope I can be of help to people.
 

dwardo

Bushcrafter through and through
Aug 30, 2006
6,451
475
46
Nr Chester
Would like to bring this thread back from the dead.
I have been looking around for a solar charger but the reviews seem mixed at best. Looking to power a 1800ma HTC one x.
I do have some power units but they are a bit hit and miss with how much charge they have in them, plus they are very heavy.

Any new experiences out there folks?
 
Dec 16, 2007
409
0
Have you looked at teh goal zero? I have one and it uses the nomad 7 panels will hang nicely on the lid of a Sabre 45. Plus comes with a rechargable batt pack that you cna charge your iPhone from later. So can charge from a batt pack or direct from solar. Great out here in the sunshine state..:)
 
Mar 15, 2011
1,118
7
on the heather
Hey Dwardo hows things Bro?.
I’ve been using this one and it has just sat on top of my pack in all weathers for about the last 5 or 6 years, it’s a Silva Solar 1 its been working great until recently when I overloaded my pack and stupidly tried to pull the battery pack out of the sidepocket by the cable. If I can’t get it repaired I would buy it again.
It's been a great wee charger. The only real problem I have had with it was not reading the destructions before I bought the batteries, thinking they were better I got 2700 ?ohms?or mAh ( or something like that :confused:) Instead of the recommended 1600- 1700 batteries, so now I only charge two AA batteries at a time instead of 4, my fault not the chargers.



.

But I must say Swampy99's GoalZero Nomad 7 looks very good.
 
Last edited:

dwardo

Bushcrafter through and through
Aug 30, 2006
6,451
475
46
Nr Chester
Thanks swampy will check them out. Seem to be a decent price but a little sketchy on the specs so far, more reading needed.

Hey pict, good thanks bud.
I need a little more juice than the above if possible. Will keep looking for something with a backup battery of atleast 2000ma
 

munkiboi182

Full Member
Jan 28, 2012
583
2
36
taverham, thorpe marriott, norfolk
i have a globetrotter classic. works a treat with my htc wildfire s. you must remember to FULLY charge it via the usb before the first use or it just wont be as effective. a bit like warming your tyres before the race begins. when i get back from a trek i like to fully charge it again and then just top it up on solar panel as needed.
heard alot of good things about powermonkeys too but never used one
 

leon-1

Full Member
Okay, this is one that I have been playing with for a while.

Firstly switch your phone off when you charge it, it makes a big difference.

Secondly I have the Power Monkey Explorer with two Solar Monkeys, in the UK environment this is a better option than just using the one panel. The only down side being that you can't charge from the power monkey whilst the power monkey is charging.

I have a Freeloader Pico, it's quite good in as much as you can charge the internal battery at the same time as charging the phone. Downside is capacity and charge rate, the internal battery also dissipates energy quite quickly so it has to be used quickly (in the UK that's not a problem). The free loader is Okay but you won't get anywhere near a full battery charge from it.

I have the Solar Gorilla. The solar Gorilla can throw out enough juice to keep my HTC desire and a Motorola Defy Mini charged, it has a charging lead and enough connectors to either charge the Power Gorilla / Mini Gorilla or other mobile device as well as having a dedicated 5v USB output.

If space is an issue I use a strange option. I use the two solar monkeys connected through the y lead and plugged into a mini usb adapter. The mini usb adapter plugs into the charging socket of the Freeloader Pico. This then gives me the option ability to charge the pico from its own small panel and the the other two panels at the same time. I can if I so desire also plug into a smart phone and charge whilst it is charging.

I can using this method trickle feed my phone throughout the day whilst maintaining a charge in the Pico charger, this means that at night I can use the excess in the pico's battery to charge the phone overnight.
 

dwardo

Bushcrafter through and through
Aug 30, 2006
6,451
475
46
Nr Chester
Okay, this is one that I have been playing with for a while.

Firstly switch your phone off when you charge it, it makes a big difference.

Secondly I have the Power Monkey Explorer with two Solar Monkeys, in the UK environment this is a better option than just using the one panel. The only down side being that you can't charge from the power monkey whilst the power monkey is charging.

I have a Freeloader Pico, it's quite good in as much as you can charge the internal battery at the same time as charging the phone. Downside is capacity and charge rate, the internal battery also dissipates energy quite quickly so it has to be used quickly (in the UK that's not a problem). The free loader is Okay but you won't get anywhere near a full battery charge from it.

I have the Solar Gorilla. The solar Gorilla can throw out enough juice to keep my HTC desire and a Motorola Defy Mini charged, it has a charging lead and enough connectors to either charge the Power Gorilla / Mini Gorilla or other mobile device as well as having a dedicated 5v USB output.

If space is an issue I use a strange option. I use the two solar monkeys connected through the y lead and plugged into a mini usb adapter. The mini usb adapter plugs into the charging socket of the Freeloader Pico. This then gives me the option ability to charge the pico from its own small panel and the the other two panels at the same time. I can if I so desire also plug into a smart phone and charge whilst it is charging.

I can using this method trickle feed my phone throughout the day whilst maintaining a charge in the Pico charger, this means that at night I can use the excess in the pico's battery to charge the phone overnight.

Just what i was after bud thanks.
Will keep an eye out for deals on the various bits.
 

BCUK Shop

We have a a number of knives, T-Shirts and other items for sale.

SHOP HERE