Solar electric panels convert sunlight to electricity. They are placed in the sunlight, facing the sun as well as is possible and they make electricity as long as the sun shines on them. It is easy to build a portable solar panel charger. There are a number of integrated solar chargers on the market, but they tend to be pricey. Here is a way to make your own. We have one of these here at the center. It goes on trips and foraging expeditions. It provides enough charging capacity to charge camera and cell phone batteries. A larger panel would run much heavier gadgets. A fifty watt panel would run a laptop in the field for a couple of hours or more, depending on sun. Using these little panels, technology can be portable. Of course, at a home, they could run all the little things that use batteries.
The electronics in the portable gadgets use a lot less power than they used to. It isn't hard to set up a small solar system to run all the little things, plus lights.
This picture is of a variety of small solar panels. The larger one on the left is a one watt panel. It will charge rechargeable AA and AAA batteries. Simply plug it into the charger pictured on the right and aim it at the sun. This little charger will charge on house current or a 12 volt DC source. It charges NIMH batteries. A five watt panel would charge them much faster. It can be used from a car battery, also.
The two very small square cells in the bottom of the picture can each completely charge an AA nicad battery in a day. They were removed from some cheap solar garden lights. I am using them in some experiments with portable solar power chargers. The round silver item is a solar garden light. It throws a diffused light that is good for a night light. A days charge will keep it shining all night. The black square item is a solar flood light. This light will run all night with a days charge. It will be noticeably dimmer in the morning, but still going. It puts out enough light to do all but the most demanding tasks. The light is in the shape of a wide cone. Two of these will light up a twelve foot room. They will not be as bright as a large Cfl or incandescent, but they are entirely adequate for most needs. I am experimenting with wall sconces to put these in inside and will detail them as they develop.
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