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Portable Solar Power Generator - Free Power On The Move
I know, it's pretty annoying when your ipod battery is flat only a few hours into a long journey. No music, no audio books, gee you'll have to think of something else to do. Or perhaps it's your cell phone that is the problem, just as you are talking to someone. You hear those dreaded beeps and then the phone goes dead. You'll have to find a phone box somewhere - one that works that is.
I know, it’s pretty annoying when your ipod battery is flat only a few hours into a long journey. No music, no audio books, gee you’ll have to think of something else to do. Or perhaps it’s your cell phone that is the problem, just as you are talking to someone. You hear those dreaded beeps and then the phone goes dead. You’ll have to find a phone box somewhere - one that works that is.
I’m like most other people. I take it for granted that I can get instant access to entertainment or business communications with a hand held device. This explains why I have all sorts of gadgets like many other people do. However I am often left in an inconvenient situation because I have forgotten to recharge them. Thus a great solution to situations like these is to carry a solar power generator.
There are quite a few portable solar power generators around at the moment. They all have the same basic set up. A number of solar panels will absorb photons from sunlight to create electricity. This is stored in a battery, like a lithium ion battery that you might find in laptops. The generator will have a connection that can be used to connect various appliances to the generator so that they can use the stored electricity.
The plus point for the solar generator is that if the battery is ever low the generator will use sunlight to recharge it. As long as the sun is shining the battery will be topping up or be full. Thus any mobile or portable appliances that you have will have a power supply. You will never have that flat battery experience again.
If you think that a portable solar generator is something to add to your collection of mobile devices then here are a few selection pointers. Evaluate the solar panels because they are vital for the device to work well. The larger the surface area of the solar cells the more electricity producing ability in the generator. Of course this must be contrasted with being too large and awkward. The solar power generator should be roughly of a similar dimension with the mobile devices that it will be supplying power to. It needs to be easy to stow in a backpack or even carry by hand.
You also want to find out what kind of capacity the battery has. For example, how long will an power sucking device such as a PSP last. The longer this time is the better the battery but again this has to be balanced against the size and weight of the battery if you want a generator that will be completely portable.
Something else to consider is the type of hand held devices you can plug into the generator and whether you need any adapters. At the very least it should be compatible with a cell/mobile phone, a gps device, a blackberry and a pda. You would also want it to be compatible with the popular entertainment appliances like PSP’s , ipods and a dvd player.