solar chargers – Suntactics, Poweradd

I can tell you that my Suntactics sCharger-5 is a real solar charger. If you want a battery the Poweradd Apollo (if that's the one you're referring to) would be a better choice. Looks to me it's not much of a solar charger. "Its solar panel is small but high quality–however, it still takes about 50 hours to recharge in sunlight."

True, it does take a long time to recharge the poweradd, but with comparable weight and the added battery function that can hold enough power for a few phone charges it seems like a toss up in practicality. However, the price differences huge.

How long do your panels take to provide a full phone charge?

I've considered how long of a trip you'd have to take before it makes sense to take a solar panel vs a larger battery, and it seems the pay off wouldn't come for at least two weeks, and maybe several more.

But that comparison is based on larger solar panels (7W and up). While a small panel like this will never keep your battery fully charged, it might be worth the extra weight over a similar capacity battery.

For example, the Anker Astro E3 is also rated at 10,000mAh and weighs 8.1 oz, 1.3 oz lighter. But if the solar panel allows you to get at least an extra 30% over the course of your trip, it ends up an ounce lighter than the 13,000 mAh Astro E4.

Here in the Southeast, where I'm often surrounded by trees, I suspect a solar panel won't do much good. But hanging a solar battery pack like the Poweradd on your backpack during a summer hike in the west, where meadows are more common and forests frequently less dense and hikes taking you above the tree line, a solar panel may make sense.

I may pick one up for an August Sawtooth trip I have planned.

"How long do your panels take to provide a full phone charge?"

My iPhone 4s will recharge from nearly depleted to 100% in about two hours of good sun.

Most trips for me a solar panel doesn't make sense, a battery is a better choice. But for long trips with good sun and infrequent wall plugs that solar panel has worked great. I think there are reasons solar panels are unpopular on the AT and popular on the CDT.

This quote from the sCharger-5 manufacturer sounds right to me "Easily capture ~1000mA of pure power from the sun, which is the exact amount of what’s needed to charge most smartphones at wall outlet speed."

"I've considered how long of a trip you'd have to take before it makes sense to take a solar panel vs a larger battery, and it seems the pay off wouldn't come for at least two weeks, and maybe several more."

For me that isn't even close to true. My iPhone is a tool I'm using a lot. I use it as a camera, GPS, map, for journal updates and much more. I don't like having to sweat power usage. I'll drain a full battery a day, so that would be 14 full recharges in two weeks. With a battery you might get four full recharges.

My comparison involved a solar panel like Anker's 8W solar charger, which is their lightest at 13.8 ounce plus a small battery, with the idea being that you can charge the external battery during the day and your phone at night. Combined with a 4500 mAh battery, this weighs 17.7 ounces.

Compare that to Anker's largest capacity battery, 25,600 mAh and 15.8 ounces. Amazon says that gives 10 iPhone 6 recharges. I've found that using my phone as a GPS and recording waypoints (but not continuously tracking my route, which drains the battery quickly). I can get a day and a half of battery life. This is with the phone in airplane mode most of the time, expect when setting waypoints or checking my position, but frequently using the camera.

So, ten charges works out to 15 days for me. But that will vary with usage, of course. My conclusion is also influenced by my geography (southeast) and work schedule (mostly weekend trips with a couple of 1-week long trips), but those with more sun on their hikes and more flexible schedules would reach different conclusions, as would those who have higher phone usage.

I also hadn't considered the Suntatics charger, having been unaware of it until now. It's significantly lighter (and more expensive) that solar chargers from Anker and others, so that changed the equation. I think I'd still want to pair it with a small battery, though.

Are you sure you need such a big battery?
We had a recent thread going in the MYOG section about some solar panel mods where we got 13-watt panels down to 7oz.
With panels like that, your phone will charge really quickly in direct sun and you may not even need any external storage battery if you expect 1-2 hours of sunlight every day or two. Otherwise, add a small ~3000MAH external pack for just a couple ounces, to get you through several days when needed.
I don't understand all the focus on huge battery packs combined with small panels. In my view, the opposite is a much better system. You may as well have no panel at all with most of those combinations.

I'm also currently working on a new panel design using Powerfilm OEM panels that should get me 10 real watts of panel for around ~3oz. And those are amorphous panels, which, while expensive and take a lot of surface area, continue to work well in overcast conditions or when passing through partial shade. Unlike the small monocrystaline panels, which are very efficient for their surface area, but heavy and stop working in anything other than direct sun.

This charger on Amazon sounds interesting, though perhaps too good to be true.

It has two panels, giving up to 3W, along with 10,000 mAh battery. The part that sounds too good to be true is the weight: 208 g or 7.3 ounces, making it lighter than the Poweradd and the Anker.

Edit: It may indeed be too good to be true. Though the Amazon reviews are overall good, pay attention to the one star reviews which are, of course, critical and which make a case that the five star reviews may be fraudulent.

The Solpro Helios Smart may be worth looking at.