I need to purchase a solar charger for my iPhone. Anyone have any experience with these? Any suggestions?

I keep my phone in an Otter Box, so I don't know if the kind that "dock" with the phone would be appropriate. I'd like one that charges quickly (I've seen some that claim 2 hours), and I don't necessarily need the charger to have it's own battery. However, I would consider one with a battery.

My budget maxes out around $150

1/21/2012 11:24:45 AM

http://brentroad.com/message_topic.aspx?topic=602673

1/21/2012 11:37:31 AM

^ Kind of helpful, but not really. The Bolt one takes a full day to charge, which seems like a long time to me. The other one, GoalZero, is huge. Not what I'm looking for.

1/22/2012 10:15:27 AM

You might get more/better help posting in that thread & section.

1/22/2012 2:33:27 PM

Thanks for the thread move. I never read TT, so I kinda forgot it existed

On further inspection, the GoalZero unit might be worth the extra size I wasn't originally excited about. Seems to have the best reviews and claims to charge the optional battery pack in a short amount of time.

ncsuapex - did you purchase the GoalZero? Are you happy with it?

[Edited on January 23, 2012 at 1:17 PM. Reason : ]

1/23/2012 1:16:49 PM

Quote :

"I would think you'll definitely want one with a battery pack. Solar chargers are all but a joke in terms of power generation unless you're plumping out cash for some high grade silicon. You'll notice stuff on eBay takes 2 days of full sunlight to charge it's internal 1500mAh internal battery. So roughly your cell phone, and it needs 2 days of nominal output."

haha, seems I haven't changed much. There are some new players around though; Brunton Solaris has some nice panels. A 12 watt foldable should charge an iPhone at the same rate as your wall charger (iPhones should need about 5 watts; which you'll get in good/non perfect from a 12 watt panel.) ... But they cost about $400.

1/23/2012 2:36:17 PM

^^ ended up not buying anything. Never could get a straight answer on what to get.

1/26/2012 6:16:57 PM

I ended up purchasing the Goal Zero Nomad 7 and the accompanying battery pack. The direct panels-to-phone test I did earlier was promising - 15% to 33% in about 30 to 45 minutes (I forgot to note the time I put it out). I'm charging the battery pack now... I'm curious to see if I will have any issues charging my phone with it.

1/28/2012 3:07:54 PM

Any further review? I'm thinking about ordering the Nomad 7 with the guide plus.

2/1/2012 7:43:33 PM

http://www.wired.com/reviews/2012/01/reviews_roundup_solarchargers/?pid=2122&viewall=true

This month's wired tested four of them.

2/1/2012 8:41:06 PM

I wish they would have reviewed the nomad 7 instead of the 3.5


Also found this. Going to research similiar products.

http://www.hammacher.com/Product/Default.aspx?sku=81167&promo=Electronics-iPod-Accessories&catid=96

[Edited on February 1, 2012 at 8:51 PM. Reason : .]

2/1/2012 8:49:37 PM

I've been testing the Nomad 7 all week in preparation for a trip next week. Here's what I've found:

1. The battery pack reliably charges in full sun in about 3 hours, sometimes less.
2. With a fully charged battery pack, I can charge my iPhone 4S from around 25% to 100%, but if I begin with a phone charge of 10% or so, it does not have enough juice to charge to 100% (maxes out around 65-70%)
3. When the battery pack will no longer charge the iPhone, I can still get a little juice out of it to charge a less demanding device (dumb phone or iPod).

I have not spent much time testing the direct panel-to-phone charging time, but I'll test that during my trip and report back.

All in all, I am happy with the purchase. I would like something smaller and less expensive, but I don't regret buying the combo of the Nomad 7 and battery pack.

2/2/2012 12:16:48 AM