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Gear Index
10 Things To Know About Solar Power
What you need to know before you buy
Solar panels are all the rage these days. Everyone is going green. If they are not putting solar panels on their roof, they are using a pocket solar charger for their iPod.
Maybe you're starting to think that you might want to take a solar panel with you on your next wilderness expedition to solar charge some of your essential (and maybe a few non-essential) electronics. Your GPS batteries, the headlight batteries, keep the satellite phone running, solar power your digital camera battery, the media storage device, and (most importantly) your iPod.
Well, if this sounds like you, or even only slightly like you, then this series of articles will prove essential reading for you. It is a guide, a training tutorial of sorts. In this series, we'll review the essential information about portable solar power so that you can make wise decisions about the equipment you will want to carry. Solar panels are great and provide a fantastic service in remote applications, but there are a few important facts you should know before getting into it. Things like...
- How much power does a panel produce in cloudy conditions?
- Are they OK in rain?
- Can I store the power?
- How do I connect to my electronics?
- How do I plug my AC adaptor into a solar panel?
To understand how solar panels & solar chargers can be used to power your gear, you must think in terms of power production & power consumption. Your solar panel produces a certain amount of power over the course of the entire day, and your batteries & equipment will consume a certain amount of power each day. The goal is to balance the two, so that you have the amount of power you need while carrying the minimum amount of equipment.
Let's get started...
Next...
Part 1: The Balance of Power
Solar tutorial intro
Part 1: The Balance of Power
Part 2: Power & Portability
Part 3: DC not AC
Part 4: Clouding the Isuue
Part 5: Covering all the Angles
Part 6: Batteries not Included
Part 7: Amps & Volts
Part 8: Making Connections
Part 9: Weatherproof, but...
Part 10: System Design ABC's
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