Could anyone recommend..........

butterflylady131

Hi,
I'm looking to buy a solar charger for my netbook and my husband's soon to be Kindle Fire. I've had a look on some websites, but I'm a little confused by what they have on offer. If it makes any difference, where we live means that we don't get much in the way of direct sunlight!!

Can anyone help please?

zeupater

butterflylady131 wrote: »

Hi,
I'm looking to buy a solar charger for my netbook and my husband's soon to be Kindle Fire. I've had a look on some websites, but I'm a little confused by what they have on offer. If it makes any difference, where we live means that we don't get much in the way of direct sunlight!!

Can anyone help please?

Hi

What is the driving force for doing this ... necessity, mobility, moneysaving, eco-friendlyness or fun?

When we have an idea of the above, someone will be able to help.

HTH
Z

butterflylady131

Hi,
Thanks for replying. I guess my main reason is moneysaving, with a little bit of eco friendliness creeping in.
I dislike the fact that we pay electricity to charge the netbook and my husband's laptop, and I use the netbook mainly to make money, but I'm draining the money I make at the same time by using the electric to charge (IFYSWIM).
Also, I like to think that by using solar power to charge we are depriving some loaded CEO of his next holiday!:D
And it doesn't cost anything to use, doesn't hurt anything and is natural!

Does that help?

zeupater

butterflylady131 wrote: »

Hi,
Thanks for replying. I guess my main reason is moneysaving, with a little bit of eco friendliness creeping in.
I dislike the fact that we pay electricity to charge the netbook and my husband's laptop, and I use the netbook mainly to make money, but I'm draining the money I make at the same time by using the electric to charge (IFYSWIM).
Also, I like to think that by using solar power to charge we are depriving some loaded CEO of his next holiday!:D
And it doesn't cost anything to use, doesn't hurt anything and is natural!

Does that help?

Okay ....

If your netbook is using 10W, then the cost of electricity over a year if running 24x7x52 would be approx £10, so using for 8Hrs a day would be 3 years for £10 ..... something like a 12Wp panel costing around £50 would just about be able to recharge a 10W netbook on a completely sunny summers day, so you'd probably need somewhere in excess of 60Wp of panel(s) to provide energy for the majority of the year, but there will still be ~25% or more days when it will not ....

The cost will therefore likely be somewhere around £200, including a charge controller ... that's around 60years of netbook energy usage at 8Hrs/day .... and you'd still be paying something towards the CEO's next holiday !

Still interested ? .... :)

HTH
Z

butterflylady131

Thanks for replying. Actually now I've read your post, it's become a slightly different issue for me. At first, it was primarily about the cost issues, but now I realise it's about the environmental. The 60Wp does indeed sound a tad too expensive, but I like the idea of the 12Wp as a booster, rather than to fully charge all the time. The laptop and netbook (haven't got the Kindle yet), are only on 2-3 hours max on an evening, and not every evening, so I think the 12Wp sounds best for us.

Many thanks

Ectophile

Your biggest problem may be the sunlight. Solar panels produce much more electricity in good sunlight when compared with indirect light.

If you get a charger based on its theoretical output in full sun, you may find the results disappointing if the charger is in a North-facing window.

zeupater

Hi

Just looked ... Maplins do a 12V/12Wp panel .... it's £70 at the moment & usually ~£40/£50 in their sales. You'd also need a 12V DC to whatever the input DC voltage of your laptop is ... you can get 12V/switchable voltage units with multiple connector sets if the netbook and laptop have different voltages and connectors or buy a manufacturer specific 12V DC car charger ... I believe that the pv panel referenced has a blocking diode to prevent the battery discharging through the panel when it's not bright enough to provide charge ...

http://www.maplin.co.uk/solar-powered-12v-12w-battery-charger-217850?_$ja=kw:12w+solar+panel|cgn:Product%7c%7cSolar+and+wind%7c%7c12w+solar+panel%7c%7cN31cx|cgid:5108624789|tsid:45627|cn:Batteries+and+power%7c%7cProduct|cid:112183589|lid:3113424912|mt:Broad|nw:search|crid:17388038909&gclid=CNzUz4Xp7bQCFWbKtAodS2MAlg

Good luck

HTH
Z

butterflylady131

Oh, many thanks to you both. It's my day off tomorrow, and we have a Maplins near us, so I will take a look.

Cheers