Whether you need juice during a blackout or plan to spend days camping in the backcountry, there’s a solar-powered portable battery to get the job done. There are a few basics to keep in mind when choosing a device. The first is milliamp Hour (mAh), which is the total capacity of the battery. The higher the mAh, the more energy the battery stores––and the more times it can charge your phone or other devices. A watt-hour (Wh) is a unit of energy that measures the amount of power a device requires to function. For example, a 60 watt light bulb will use 60 Wh of energy for every hour it’s on. Devices with higher Wh require more mAh capacity.
Also remember that charging via solar power takes time, as much as 20 hours of direct sunlight in some cases, so while these chargers are ideal for remote locations, they probably won’t be your go-to method for everyday use. Smaller solar-powered batteries are often designed with panels attached. If you’re looking for a larger battery with a bit more juice, you’re probably going to have to buy a portable solar panel separately.
There are plenty of portable, sun-powered phone chargers to choose from, but BEARTWO’s commitment to both durability and portability is what makes this model stand out. It weighs less than a half a pound (7.4 ounces, to be exact), is waterproof, and coated in shockproof rubber, making it the perfect backup phone battery for multi-day backcountry hikes. The built-in solar panel means this is a two-in-one device and you won’t have to invest in a separate panel system. Its portability does come with a drawback: because the built-in solar panel is so compact, it takes around five hours to recharge fully. After that, it can completely charge an iPhone twice before running out of juice.
This is the most versatile charger on the list because it can handle an AC power plug while weighing in at just two pounds. The nearly 95Wh power bank has four different types of ports plus Qi wireless charging. It’s a great option if you’re looking for something that can handle camera batteries, GPS devices, power-hungry laptops, or lights when you’re off-the-grid. It comes with four two-sided cables, three of which fit into storage slots on either side of the charger (Apple, Micro USB, USB-C and USB-C to USB-C), which makes it less likely you’ll forget your charging cord. The Sherpa 100 takes around 10 hours of direct sunlight to fully charge using a 28W solar panel and when starting at 100 percent, the battery can charge a laptop twice and smartphone up to 10 times. Plus, it performs all the way down to 2 percent battery, unlike some similar batteries that call it quits once they reach 10 percent.
This station made the list for one key reason: it’s designed to power a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine, a device commonly used by people with sleep apnea. When paired with the ROCKPALS DC converter, this battery can power a CPAP (with the heater and humidifier turned off) for about three nights. It’s heavy, at more than seven pounds, it’s heavy, which makes it best suited for situations like car camping or providing reliable power during a blackout rather than hiking trips, but the extra weight does carry about three times the amount of power as the Goal Zero Sherpa. It’s compatible with any solar panel that supports MC4 style connectors, but also comes with a 12v cable for car charging. Bonus: it has built-in LED lights.
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from Popular Science | RSS https://www.popsci.com/best-off-grid-portable-batteries/
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