REVIEWS
My Solar Charging Set Up
Charging setup laid out before going hiking in Spain see above.
- Gopro Hero Black Edition
- Portapow AA charger
- Portapow Solar Panel 11W
- iPhone 5 Life Edge Rugged case
- Sansa Mp3 player
- Portapow battery / solar panel
I used the solar panel to charge up the back up battery
Advantages of the folding solar panel
- Good portability
- Rugged, surface doesn’t damage as easily
- Can be strapped to backpack
- 2 usb charging ports
Advantages of AA charger
- Can be used to charge batteries
- Can be used as a battery itself (provide power of 4 AAs to another device via USB)
It is good to have a back up energy source
Disadvantages of set up from experience in use
- Solar panel was quite heavy
- Solar panel didn’t charge well if moving along
- Back up battery / solar panel combo lost it’s charge capacity quickly (in about 1 year of use)
- A lot of cables to carry around
The Portapow gear is well made
Conclusion
- This setup is a bit old now (from 2014), now 2019
- In my experience, this setup was more than I needed
- In 2019, phones (and other gadgets) can often have quick charging so would be more efficient