Portable Charger for USB Devices with Solar Panel

[Dowser]

NERD CORNER

I hate travelling anywhere without my Mobile Phone and that includes when I'm hiking in the Mountains.

When I'm in the hills I always find myself trying to conserve the battery life on my iPhone, when what I really want to be doing it using it as normal, while knowing that if I need to make an emergency call the battery will not be dead.

Quick overnighters do not pose a problem, but when I decide to go on longer expeditions, say four or five days, I like the idea of being able to lie in my tent listening to music, reading an ebook, watching a movie or playing a game if the weather turns bad.

The battery on my phone has an average life of about 24hrs when being used for any of the above, so I decided to make a portable charger that will charge all USB devices, including my iPhone and Portable Speakers.

I bought the following items to assemble my Charger and this is what I came up with:

10 x AA 1.2v 2900mAh Ni-MH Batteries
£12.00

10 x AA (12v) Battery Holder box with PP3 clip connection
£0.75

BELKIN F8Z445ea Micro Car Charger with USB Output
Input 12v DC
Output 5v/1000mAh
£2.29

PP3 Connectors
£1.39 for 10

Solar Panel 12v 1.5w @ 17.5v Trickle Charger
£19.99

This is the finished article

I removed the circuitry from the Micro Car Charger with USB Output and soldered on a PP3 Connector so that it can be easily connected to the Battery Pack.  I also removed the green LED power indicator from the charger circuitry so that it would not be an additional drain on the power supply.

Once the USB Output is connected to the battery pack I can then charge any USB device including my iPhone, iPad and USB portable speakers.

I have also attached a PP3 connector to the Solar Panel output cable so that the solar panel can be easily connected to the battery pack.  When I am on the move the solar panel can be attached to my Rucksack and it will replenish the power supply/battery pack whilst I am travelling.

This solar panel does not need direct sunlight and will still put out a decent charge on a cloudy day.  If I am only going for a couple of days the solar panel would not be necessary as the battery pack alone will carry ample charge of all my gadgets.

The battery pack weighs 300g
The Solar Panel and cables weigh 400g

I am travelling so light these days I do not feel that 700 grams will make to much difference to my pack and it's an additional weight that I'm willing to carry if it will allow me to have a constant supply of power in the hills for as long as I decide to stay there.

I will be testing it out over the next few weeks and will let you know how it performs.

[Spud]

Good job, will be interesting to see how it performs!

[RedLeader]

This is a great idea, will be interesting to see how it works out.

[Kayakgirl]

Are you taking orders?

[dean1970]

I wonder would a dynamo from a torch or something work? 

[Dowser]

Are you taking orders?

Let me see how it performs first.

I am going to to try and power my iPhone and Speakers from it alone for a month and see if it does the job before going commercial 

I wonder would a dynamo from a torch or something work? 

You can buy wind up chargers for iPhone but you would have to do a serious amount of winding to charge 10 AA Batteries.  Most wind up torches run on LED's which require a very low level of power.  If you don't get your Amps and Volts correct you could end up blowing up your phone 

The idea behind the solar panel is that I don't have to do anything but strap it to my ruck.  Might not work, but I'm pretty sure all the physics are correct.  I'll be doing a trial period before relying on it.

[Kayakgirl]

Whilst we are talking about gadgets I bought lenses on EBay for my I Phone.
For £14.00. Today I received a fish eye, macro and .67 wide lens. It also comes with magnetic rings to place round the camera lense on the phone for the lenses to connect. Looking forward to getting out on the hills to take some photos!

[LandyLiam]

i see you've been out in this fine weather testing   

[Kayakgirl]

Lol

[Dowser]

i see you've been out in this fine weather testing   

Did you hack my computer!!! Thats my entry for this months "Footprints" photo comp 

[LandyLiam]

phew, i thought it was for the "grab a friend/partner/relative and go out and experience something outdoors with them" competition for the firesteel 

[Spud]

i see you've been out in this fine weather testing   

Did you hack my computer!!! Thats my entry for this months "Footprints" photo comp 

[Matthew]

  If you don't get your Amps and Volts correct you could end up blowing up your phone 

That should help sort out the voltage issue from using a kinetic source of power. With a change in the capacitor values it would produce a 4.7V output for charging.

[Rusty Madra]

I'm quite happy that the lessons Macgyver taught us as children have been remembered