3 ms·

Is it a good idea: solar suitcase?

3 points by csetjozsi 2y ago

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
AStonesThrow 2y ago
Last year, I had far too much Christmas money to play with, and one of my indulgences was a "solar backpack". I had been mulling this over for a while, and I had imagined that a solar-charging backpack would be fantastic for a backup, if we lost power here for more than an hour or so. Also, for long days away from home, I could simply don the backpack and walk around with my devices charging! But it was not all I'd imagined it to be. Now, I chose a backpack set that is capable of running a laptop-sized device, or 2-3 smaller ones. Therefore, it came with a hefty power bank, and this is the best feature of the backpack itself. The power bank is removable, and it comes with an AC wall plug, so it can be charged and used separately. The kit also comes with plenty of cables and adapters for all kinds of DC conversion. Thankfully, my laptops and smartphones all run on USB-C, which is also directly available (as well as USB-A.) Unfortunately, the solar panel centerpiece is, perhaps unexpectedly, quite inefficient. It will probably not charge your laptop at a positive rate. Perhaps it will keep your smartphone alive for a little while longer in bright sun. At the summer solstice, I completely discharged the power bank, and then set the backpack outside to charge. It took over 14 days (without load) to amass a complete charge. That is a long time, folks. The long time is mostly attributed to the large capacity of the power bank. But as you can see, you can't exactly set this up at a picnic table in the park and work on your laptop all day, without an AC outlet. Still, I don't regret this purchase due to the sheer utility of the power bank itself. I keep this charged up via AC, and ready to go in emergencies. But I would never, ever purchase a portable solar gadget again. It's clear that the small surface area, and the low cost of materials here, contribute to a substandard user experience.
- csetjozsi 2y ago
  Thank you very much for your comment! I completely agree that the solar technology available today is not yet strong enough to supply machines with higher consumption (e.g. laptops). I hope that there will be progress in this field soon and that more efficient solar devices can be invented.

3 points by csetjozsi 2y ago

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

Last year, I had far too much Christmas money to play with, and one of my indulgences was a "solar backpack". I had been mulling this over for a while, and I had imagined that a solar-charging backpack would be fantastic for a backup, if we lost power here for more than an hour or so. Also, for long days away from home, I could simply don the backpack and walk around with my devices charging! But it was not all I'd imagined it to be. Now, I chose a backpack set that is capable of running a laptop-sized device, or 2-3 smaller ones. Therefore, it came with a hefty power bank, and this is the best feature of the backpack itself. The power bank is removable, and it comes with an AC wall plug, so it can be charged and used separately. The kit also comes with plenty of cables and adapters for all kinds of DC conversion. Thankfully, my laptops and smartphones all run on USB-C, which is also directly available (as well as USB-A.) Unfortunately, the solar panel centerpiece is, perhaps unexpectedly, quite inefficient. It will probably not charge your laptop at a positive rate. Perhaps it will keep your smartphone alive for a little while longer in bright sun. At the summer solstice, I completely discharged the power bank, and then set the backpack outside to charge. It took over 14 days (without load) to amass a complete charge. That is a long time, folks. The long time is mostly attributed to the large capacity of the power bank. But as you can see, you can't exactly set this up at a picnic table in the park and work on your laptop all day, without an AC outlet. Still, I don't regret this purchase due to the sheer utility of the power bank itself. I keep this charged up via AC, and ready to go in emergencies. But I would never, ever purchase a portable solar gadget again. It's clear that the small surface area, and the low cost of materials here, contribute to a substandard user experience.

csetjozsi 2y ago
Thank you very much for your comment! I completely agree that the solar technology available today is not yet strong enough to supply machines with higher consumption (e.g. laptops). I hope that there will be progress in this field soon and that more efficient solar devices can be invented.