any one using any portable solar panels? i need enough power to recharge some battery packs. just curious which portable units people have used with success
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Re: portable solar power
Wed, May 14, 2008 - 2:56 AMWhile I am not doing this myself, some info on the size and type of battery packs would be helpful to answering your question. -
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Re: portable solar power
Fri, May 16, 2008 - 9:12 AM12v. basically something i rigged up, a dvd battery pack. and a 48v phantom power box -
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Re: portable solar power
Fri, May 16, 2008 - 9:14 AMlithium ion battery pack, -
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Re: portable solar power
Sat, May 17, 2008 - 3:44 PMOkay. LIthium Ion is a little tricky and should not be attempted without a smart charger. The batteries themselves are a tad touchy about internal temperature. Trust me, you do *not* want them to overheat :-) -
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Re: portable solar power
Sun, May 18, 2008 - 8:13 AMi have one of these and i like it
www.xantrex.com/web/id/245...product.asp
XPower Powerpack Solar
Clean, Green Portable Power
The XPower™ Powerpack Solar is the first portable power pack that incorporates solar power in a compact, portable power source. It’s completely self-renewing, which means the detachable 5-watt solar panel has the ability to recharge the power pack’s 10 amp-hour battery.
The 5-watt solar panel captures, stores and converts the sun’s renewable energy, replenishes the XPower Powerpack Solar’s battery, and extends the runtime of many devices by up to 25 percent. -
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Re: portable solar power
Tue, May 20, 2008 - 7:37 AMthis looks good, but is a bit heavy at 17lbs. but could work well
thanks -
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Re: portable solar power
Tue, May 20, 2008 - 10:42 AMthats a good one for the price. most lap top solar cells are way to expensive.
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Re: portable solar power
Mon, June 30, 2008 - 6:03 AMWould this work for continuous use? My SO uses a Bi-Pap machine for his sleep apnea, and we'd like a reliable, sustainable power source because (a) we'd like to be able to go camping, and (b) we're planning to move to an area where there are frequent power outages in winter. So we need something that he can use on a nightly basis. -
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Re: portable solar power
Mon, June 30, 2008 - 4:59 PMhi roxiana, alas to say that while I do not know your power requirements I am going to assume this is way too small for what you need, I typically use a portable dvd player with its own battery pack in conjunction with this power pack so I can watch more than the 3 hours the dvd player lasts for without the pack. I use the cigarrett lighter plug that came with it hooked to the battery pack. I also use it via usb to charge my creative zen mp3/wmv player. I bought it to charge them while sailing my home to the islands (i live on my sailboat) -
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Re: portable solar power
Mon, June 30, 2008 - 4:59 PMforgot to add you cannot use it while charging in the sun. I use it when the sun goes down -
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Re: portable solar power
Mon, June 30, 2008 - 5:52 PMSince my SO needs to use this at night to sleep, there would be not problem with not being able to use it while it's charging. But he would need to be able to draw a lot of power overnight, so maybe I'll need to look into other options. -
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Re: portable solar power
Mon, June 30, 2008 - 6:13 PMyou can get alot more clearer idea if you can find out the power that the device uses, you need to know how many volts/amps/watts to figure out how much power it draws.
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Re: portable solar power
Tue, July 1, 2008 - 8:54 AMmy SO needs to use this at night to sleep, there would be not problem with not being able to use it while it's charging. But he would need to be able to draw a lot of power overnight, so maybe I'll need to look into other options''''.........
sorry to say, but most medical equipment has the added cost of HAVING to run on pure sine wave power.
so you are talking $500- 1000 just for the inverter. 4-6 batteries, 300-600 watts of solar panels, ie. the whole roof of an rv. at a cost of 2-4k.
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Re: portable solar power
Wed, July 2, 2008 - 4:56 PMYeah, that might be a bit out of our price range. We're just hoping for something that would give us a bit more flexibility, but don't like the idea of having to run a generator all night.
My SO currently lives and works at a campground/ retreat center. We're planning to move in the fall and get our own place, but he'd still like to be able to go there for events, weekends, etc.
There was a guy there last week who had a rechargeable battery, which he plugged into an outlet in the office. It was about the size of a car battery, and he used it for his BiPap machine, which is similar to the one by SO uses. He said this system will run his machine all night -- most of the time. So I know there are battery units that will work with this. It's more an issue of being able to charge it every night without having an outside power source.
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Re: portable solar power
Tue, July 1, 2008 - 5:43 AMMy idea of portable solar power is something you can run some power tools in the wilderness with for a few hours a day. Like a table saw, router etc. About 1500 watts running load with a peak motor start that is higher of course. In that range there is not a lot out there na dyou have to be creative in the DIY to put something together for this.
