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Solar Charging

I'm going camping soon, and I need to be reachable 24/7, so I thought maybe a solar charger would work. Has anyone had any experience with these? How is the charge rate?
Any other cheap solutions? A charger that uses batteries would cost too much in batteries.

I tried a cheap eBay solar charger on my previous phone (HTC touch cruise). It was a charger with internal battery. So you could charge it during the day in sunlight and use it to charge your phone at night. At least... in theory. A full solar charge (about 1 week in the sun) gave my phone 10% extra juice I haven't tested it with my desire, but I expect it's even worse since the battery capacity is larger.
I'm not an expert, but I think the "mAh" capacity of the solar charger should be a lot higher (like double or more) than the device you're going to charge. For instance, if you connect it to a notebook (with battery capacities from 4000 mAh and up), the power will be succesfully transferred. But even then, I don't think you can fully charge your phone without draining the notebook battery completely. The Desire battery has 1400 mAh.
I would advise to look for better quality (and more expensive) alternatives. Like the solar chargers they use on campers to power a TV or fridge. Especially if you want to be reachable 24/7. If you want an emergency charger to give you enough power to make one phone call a day, a cheap solar charger will be sufficient though.

I'm a new user so I can't post link. But try googling "High Capacity Solar Charger and Battery w/ Flashlight (11200mAh)" and click on the 1st result. Bought that and am very happy with it. the charge rate is almost the same, if not the same, as the wall charger. it's got flashlight and mosquito repellent too.
theoretically it can charge the desire from zero to full 8 times before you need to charge it again. but you know it will be lower than that.
if you're looking for a cheaper solution then try googling "Solar Charger USB Hub" and click on the 4th result. but the charge rate will be substantially lower though. hope that helps.

I usually use the SOLIO solar cgarge, maybe a little expensive than the ebay but work very well, i use it about from 3 years and never had a problem.
I've testet him in very extrem condition.
You can see it on the solio web site, i have the classic version.

one of the best used by forces in iraq etc is the "solar monkey" make sure if tyou get one you choose the correct type for your device as different devices are more power hungry than others, i'd go for the top link the power traveller
links here
https://powertraveller.com/iwantsome/primatepower/powermonkey-explorer/
https://powertraveller.com/iwantsome/primatepower/solarmonkey/
https://powertraveller.com/iwantsome/primatepower/

Have a car charger and will be near your car when camping? Then just use that. Worked fine for me during a 5 day camping trip.

mouth said:
Have a car charger and will be near your car when camping? Then just use that. Worked fine for me during a 5 day camping trip.
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No. We're going backpacking. Tents and sleeping bags on our backs and sleeping in the outdoors. <3
Thanks for the links guys. I will check them out. I could attach the charger to my backpack with the cable going into phone which is in my pocket, so I can charge it while we're hiking. I'll look extremely geeky, but it'll work I hope.
I need to be reachable for work. I'm also bringing my laptop with me in case there is an emergency at work. Hurray for tethering!
It doesn't really do "camping in the wilderness" any justice though.

If you are in the UK i wouldn't waste your money on a solar charger...i'd spend the money on some nice waterproofs lol.

Got this here: Energy Trends ET 3000
Wondering why they don't have a language selection... http://www.energy-trends.eu But you can see it here:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ET-3000-Solar-Power-Cell-Phone-Device-Battery-Charger-/220641737521
Also described here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=7093929&postcount=13
But I assume that they don't deliver to the UK.

Portable Backup Power / Solar Power

Trying to find gadgets of the type "external portable power".
That is power sources that is light enough to carry in a backpack or pocket, and have a battery (or in my dreams a fuel cell...) that can be plugged into SGS mini usb port for "emergency" power.
Also of interest is solar powered solutions, maybe to charge said portable power device while relaxing at the beach.

I believe this is what you are looking for:
spider-foot. com/1900mah-extended-backup-battery-power-charger-for-cell-phones-with-micro-usb-charging-port-1900mic-p-759.html
Ive seen a solar + wind up one as well, but not sure how good that would work.

There are few micro usb backup battery packs. Some are sealed rechargeable batteries (like the one in above post) while others allows you to use standard AA size ones (these are good in an emergency).
But IMO better to have a spare battery. That way you don’t have to wait for the phone to charge, you get instant power. Since SGS s batteries are very small you can even carry one in your pocket.

Personally I'd prefer something that used AA/AAA batteries. That way I can carry LSD batteries, and I can use a proper conditioner/analyser/charger on them to keep them in decent condition. It also means the phone doesn't need to get turned off at any point - I find mine isn't great after a restart for quite a while. Finally very high quality batteries are not that expensive for AA/AAA and you know what you're getting, aftermarket mobile batteries can be a little bit risky and performance can vary.

I use a solution from Philips, it is called Power2Go. I use the SCE4430. Works great, only thing is that it does not support micro usb out of the box. But a standard micro usb cable does the trick. Used this also on a Nintendo DS.
http://www.philips.co.uk/c/universa...UNIVERSAL_POWER_SOLUTIONS_SU_GB_CONSUMER=true

[Q] Solar Charger
Hey guys,
First post here and it may end up costing me a bit soo..
Would it be possible to harvest one of these solar phone chargers you see on ebay and build it into the backplate of the phone?
I know it may not be powerful enough to charge your phone, but maybe we can extend the life when we just need those few extra hours.
So, really, does anyone know what we would need? I have little to know electronics experience so not sure what i'm looking for but i'm more than willing to actually do it if someone is able to explain what/how its done.

No, it's enough for you to charge a phone, even other more powerful device. But first of all you need a good solar cell.

i got one from DX it works fantastic!
4200mAh Portable Dual-Panel Solar Power Battery Pack for Cell Phones and USB Gadgets
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.40210
just leave it by any window, or light source and it turns it back into energy, then just plug your phone into the pack for recharge
you can easily recharge twice with a full charge
red light = charging
no light = off
green light = in use
comes with all the plugs for our phones
and a build in LED flashlight
it can also be charged via USB if you are in a hurry, and can't take advantage of the free light source recharge
i use it mostly for long outdooring like camping / picnics, and you know that even 3x1500 mAh will not last you for a day/week
you can get a full charge in just 1 day (from sun rise to sun down) even on a cloudy rainy sky

But what about physically attaching a panel to the back so I don't have to carry extra stuff? Is it possible? How would I wire it up?
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

that works, but you wont be able to use the phone for like a whole day meanwhile waiting for it to charge, and be drained almost instantly

Have a look here>>>http://tinyurl.com/y2nrvsv
I have ordered one of these will do a small review when it arrives>>>http://tinyurl.com/2fun3k6

I have this traditional solution for emergency charging: http://www.portablepowersupplies.co.uk/
They have Solar Charger, too.

that solar one from portable uk is okay, i only like the "bag" idea of it, but it's shy in power & recharge rate when competing againts the 4200 mAh beast from DX

mini/micro portable power pack
check this out
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320572770657&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT
I have one, it has to be charge via usb, but I do that while I am on my laptop, and the bonus is that it will charge anything that connects via a mini/micro connection,

Applecrusher said:
But what about physically attaching a panel to the back so I don't have to carry extra stuff? Is it possible? How would I wire it up?
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
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And leave the phone under the sun ?? A very bad idea, the heat will surely damage your phone.

PhoenixFx said:
And leave the phone under the sun ?? A very bad idea, the heat will surely damage your phone.
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Agreed
I don't think a little solar panel on the back of the phone will be capable of putting out that much power
I don't know about you but my phone spends most of its time inside my pocket so it is rarely out in the sun for the solar panel to work
Just carry a spare battery or get yourself the Samsung extended battery
mobilefun
.co.uk/genuine-samsung-galaxy-s-extended-battery-case-p25834.htm
It will extend your battery life without having to leave the phone lying in the sun

Solar charger for SGS and other mobiles.
Few days ago I was searching for the Solar charger for my SGS in India.In local stores I brought 2 solar chargers but these are the china made chargers with very low quality internal battery.
Then one of my friend suggest me the Amzer 3500 mAh Battery Backup Solar Charger and Solio Emergency Mono Solar Hybrid Charger.
I ordered the Amzer 3500 mAh Battery Backup Solar Charger and believe me, the charger is one of the essential accessory for every mobile phone.
Also this Charger is available in India, USA and UK regions.
For India, take a look at this, http://www.fommy.co.in/Amzer-3500-mAh-Battery-Backup-Solar-Charger-P83981.htm
For USA and UK, visit http://www.fommy.com/

the one i mentioned back in post #8 is way better and cheaper
and free shipping with tracking number
trusted site

actually i hv read all the backup power all u guys suggest but i found that these all are just rebranding some chinese low quality products and it cant survive for long and there r some potential hazard that may end up damaging our sgs...i hv tried solar charger and some portable backup power before, the solar charger dun hv a high efficiency to exchange solar energy to electrical energy...it takes me too long time to charge it and it can only recharge the battery once. for the backup power, the mAh thing is not accurate, u need to try it yourself n c how many cycles u can charge the stock battery in order to estimate the true backup power battery capacity

I love my PORTAPOW
Received it yesterday.
5000 mAH USB rechargeable battery in a piano black case.
Fantastic.
This means I can go out on an all-day hike with GPS on.(Yep, I'm that sad)
The phone battery would last 2- 2 1/2 hours max with GPS (and MyTracks or similar on) while hiking.
Really good build quality.
Really good price.
(PS I am in no way connected with the company etc...)
HTML:
http://www.portablepowersupplies.co.uk/portapowPremium.htm

[Q] portable charger or extended battery?

i am going on a travel abroad... will be using camera and camcorder a lot and wifi.... what do you recommend? a portable charger or extended battery? i want a cheap solution..preferably available from ebay
budget : not more than $30-34

extended battery

Battery will do better

I've just come back from holiday and had a portable charger. It was useful, but I often found that the battery would hardly last the day and there wouldnt be any place to charge it (you don't really want to be back in your hotel when you could be out sight seeing). Rather than trying to find a socket, I'd just get an extended battery. You can just swap it over and continue your fun rather than rooting around for power.

if i buy an extended battery i need to also buy a seperate battery charger so that i can charge the 2 batteries at the same time

it depnds how you'll spend your time.
but you can swap the battaries on the phone to charge them.
Normally charging the battary will last 1 hour.
again it depnds about the places you'll visit.

How many mAh are you planning on using per day? An extended battery will give you 3000mAh compared to the 1400mAh on the original battery. A decent portable charger will give you 5000mAh.
The only down side of using the portable charger is waiting for the battery to charge, most will do that at 500mAh so 3 hours to totally charge the normal desire battery from flat. However while the extended life battery has died the charger will still have about 1.5 charges left in it.
1 thing to point out unless you get a solar charger some portable charges will only charge from USB so make sure you have a way to charge that when out and about
I would get the potable charger (and remember to put it on charge when you have a spare min throughout the day) as when you replace your phone you cant really do much with the extended battery with your new phone, least the portable charger can be used over and over again.

i finally opted for a spare battery solution. I bought an oem battery for desire/nexus one. and i will buy a battery charger so that i can charge both batteries when i go to sleep so that they are both ready the next day

Get a portable charger instead. Taking the battery in and out can wear off the back lid easily.

Get a big battery, it's better than changing between batteries. As well you have to carry the portable charger when you travel. And you have to charge it, too.
So the extended battery should last one day (except you use GPS all time) and you can charge phone when you sleep.

I use a proporta turbocharger and I found it more usefull 'cause I can spare it with my friends with Desire HD, iPhone 4 and LG Optimus 7: with 2 of this we managed to stay all charged all day long and recharged both of them in hotel during the night.

For a trip is a Extended 3000mAh Li-Ion Battery a good solution. It comes with battery cover. Price about 25 $
For the daily use, its too big for me.

yeahman45 said:
i am going on a travel abroad... will be using camera and camcorder a lot and wifi.... what do you recommend? a portable charger or extended battery? i want a cheap solution..preferably available from ebay
budget : not more than $30-34
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Extended battery for sure.

can aosp/sense kernel recognize bigger extended battery? afaik, there is a problem when charging bigger extended battery.
in my personal opinion, the standard battery (htc original) is much better than other and my desire remain slim. and if i travel, i prefer to use big portable charger to charge the handset when is not used. and charge them both when i sleep.

Most batteries with lots of ampere just have them as a tag... Check this site for information:
http://batteryboss.org/
I suggest you buy another original battery as from time any battery will lose capacity and this way you are flexible.
To charge you can buy a cable designed for charging the smartphone from your car e.g. HTC CC-C200 or the car dock from my signature.
Why you should use this: The data line is used for power and not for data and therefor the charger is recognized as a wall charger, not as usb cable. Thus recharge is lots faster (with 1000 mAh) than with any 3rd party charger/cable with 500 mAh although the charger itself could give you 1000 mAh (USB specifications!).

I'd go with an portable charger because you don't acutally need to restart your phone when plugin it in.

drabbster said:
I'd go with an portable charger because you don't acutally need to restart your phone when plugin it in.
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If one is in a sunny place would it not be better to use Solar Charger?

solar charging is super slow

bliblablub said:
Most batteries with lots of ampere just have them as a tag... Check this site for information:
http://batteryboss.org/
I suggest you buy another original battery as from time any battery will lose capacity and this way you are flexible.
To charge you can buy a cable designed for charging the smartphone from your car e.g. HTC CC-C200 or the car dock from my signature.
Why you should use this: The data line is used for power and not for data and therefor the charger is recognized as a wall charger, not as usb cable. Thus recharge is lots faster (with 1000 mAh) than with any 3rd party charger/cable with 500 mAh although the charger itself could give you 1000 mAh (USB specifications!).
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Click to collapse
Thank you very much for the info.
I use a car charger (not HTC) which gives 1000 mAh and even with the original cable that came with desire, charging is slow. If I get this right, it is fault of the cable, right?

xristosdino said:
Thank you very much for the info.
I use a car charger (not HTC) which gives 1000 mAh and even with the original cable that came with desire, charging is slow. If I get this right, it is fault of the cable, right?
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Click to collapse
I suppose, best is you try it yourself - maybe a mate got one. As you may know USB allows only 500 mAh, using that secial cables that don't comply with USB (as they only charge) the producer can avoid this restriction.

Solar Charger

Someone knows any Solar charger that really works with HTC Desire?
I look in www.dealextreme.com but I don't know how many "Amp" need the desire.

all solar chargers i've found so far had an 80mAh ouput.
a usb charger has an 500mAh output and charges slowly around 4-6 hours? (never tried to charge it full via usb).
a wall charger has up to 1000mAh and charges the phone in 1-2 hours.
so i guess it takes the solar charger virtually forever to charge your phone once

Yeah, generally you want a charger with high output (at least 500 mA) and a high capacity (at least the same as the desire battery, which is 1400 mAh). Once you're sure about those two factors, you're safe.
I'm using the powermonkey explorer: Link
Output: 700 mA
Capacity: 2200 mAh
On a sunny day, I'm able to reach the maximum charge in one day (10-12 hours sun). Note that the output from the solar panel to the powermonkey battery is a lot lower, more like 200 mA. And a full charge should, in theory, give your phone 1 and a half charge. In reality it's more like 1 charge, which is still fine.
It might be a bit more expensive, but it actually works.

veitograf said:
all solar chargers i've found so far had an 80mAh ouput.
a usb charger has an 500mAh output and charges slowly around 4-6 hours? (never tried to charge it full via usb).
a wall charger has up to 1000mAh and charges the phone in 1-2 hours.
so i guess it takes the solar charger virtually forever to charge your phone once
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Click to collapse
heh good point !

if you ever find a solar charger post it in this post where you've got it from would love to try this lol

http://uk.gizmodo.com/5584810/joos-...viewed-solar+powered-gadget-charging-for-real
Gizmodo reviewed this charger a while back. Quite tempted to buy it myself
http://www.solarjoos.com/

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/solar-...ncy-power-with-phone-adapters-led-light-42139
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/1000mah-solar-powered-battery-pack-with-cell-phone-adapters-42871
These two work with desire?
Which would you choose

To use it effectively you need to use a solar charger with built-in battery.
E.g. I got an Energy Trends ET-3000:
http://www.energy-trends.eu/et-3000-solarladegeraet-iphone-handy.htm (maybe use google translate) 330mA solar power, 3000 mA battery, 1000 mAh can be loaded within 3 hours in direct sunlight
Can also be combined with this:
http://www.energy-trends.eu/et-2-solarladegeraet-rucksack.htm for hard survival tours ^^

Arctic C1 mobile
I found this charger: arctic.ac/en/p/power/batteries/44/arctic-c1-mobile.html?c=2224 which I quite like, but
the question is: would the 5.5v output "fry" my HTC?
I tried a 3rd party usb power adaptor, which outputs 5.3v as opposed to the genuine HTC adaptor (5.1v) and the phone can't be used while it's charging.
Literally the phone becomes so unresponsive, that it's impossible even just to slide the keylock! The minute I put the phone back onto the genuine HTC usb adaptor, everything works fine and I can use the phone while it's charging.
So here is the second question: has anyone experienced this?

bliblablub said:
To use it effectively you need to use a solar charger with built-in battery.
E.g. I got an Energy Trends ET-3000:
http://www.energy-trends.eu/et-3000-solarladegeraet-iphone-handy.htm (maybe use google translate) 330mA solar power, 3000 mA battery, 1000 mAh can be loaded within 3 hours in direct sunlight
Can also be combined with this:
http://www.energy-trends.eu/et-2-solarladegeraet-rucksack.htm for hard survival tours ^^
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this one looks excelente,like germany tanke.

i dont think thats a good gadget. the usb charger does not load the desire complete full and the accu is really fast empty.... so i dont wanna buy such a gadget.

Could be so interesting for long travels

Looks interesting, if someone could share his experiences about it!
I would be gratefull

nava88 said:
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/solar-...ncy-power-with-phone-adapters-led-light-42139
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/1000mah-solar-powered-battery-pack-with-cell-phone-adapters-42871
These two work with desire?
Which would you choose
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
works?? Have you bought anything? Thanks

Charger problem?

I bought a HTC Sensation from a guy and he didn't give me the genuine charger. The phone charged very slowly(6 from 1% to 100%). Since than I have tried many chargers(not genuine) and with nearly the same result. I than installed battery monitor widget. I see that while the phone is idle with the screen off it charges maximum 350mA. If i play 3D games in the meanwhile my battery goes down.
My question is how much mA does your battery charge when idle? How long does it take to fully charge? Is there any charger that I can buy from ebay or amazon that you have tried?
Sorry for the long question.Thx in advance

elvisypi said:
I bought a HTC Sensation from a guy and he didn't give me the genuine charger. The phone charged very slowly(6 from 1% to 100%). Since than I have tried many chargers(not genuine) and with nearly the same result. I than installed battery monitor widget. I see that while the phone is idle with the screen off it charges maximum 350mA. If i play 3D games in the meanwhile my battery goes down.
My question is how much mA does your battery charge when idle? How long does it take to fully charge? Is there any charger that I can buy from ebay or amazon that you have tried?
Sorry for the long question.Thx in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
350mAh is very low for a maximum. How much mAh a charger uses to charge the battery depends on the battery level itself. If I'm down to say, 20%, my charger will charge at a rate of around 900-980 mAh. As the battery gets closer to full, say 90%, charging will taper off, and I might see about 200mAh.
Any charger rated at 5v - 1000mA (1A) will be what your after. I got an Australian certified charger off eBay for $10 and it does a great job.
My phone from say, 20%, on average will take around 1.5-2hrs to charge to 100%
Here's one very similar to what I bought. I had to buy one because my phone was purchased from Singapore, so obviously it didn't have the right adapter for Australia.
URL: http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=400208891755
Sent from my CM9 Stable Sensation using XDA Premium

I bought that anker battery that everyone keeps talking about and I have to say it works great although my phone takes a little longer to charge now (I'd say between 2.5 - 3 hours for a full charge). I'm currently tackling a new issue though, since I installed stable CM9 (a week or so ago) the battery will last most of the day but not the whole day where as CM7 would make the battery last a whole 24 hours. So around 30% less time with new rom!
I used to work in a phone shop and found that most USB micro chargers will be ok (from HTC, samsung and blackberry phones) and at home I either use the official HTC charger or a blackberry one.