 Application Notes:
Solar Charging Systems For Digital Cameras
The AA battery cameras
This note is provided as a guide to those who want to solar power a digital camera that uses AA batteries. Not difficult, but it does require specific equipment, and a battery management plan.
Articles in this series cover camera that use AA batteries, USB charging, 3.6V / 3.7V Lithium, 7.2V / 7.4V Lithium batteries in dSLR cameras & video camcorders.
Many consumer digital cameras utilize AA or AAA size batteries for their power. In these cases, charging the camera is a very simple matter of using a solar panel & DC battery charger combination. Plug the charger into the panel and you're ready to charge. The chargers we recommend will take whatever power is available from the panel, and will charge the batteries with it. The charger contains circuitry that protects the batteries from overcharging & other issues.
Go to our charger page and find an AA charger that meets your needs. All the models we carry (with the exception of 2) offer DC input, meaning you can plug them into your car dashboard, or a 12V solar panel (some are USB). If you don't find what you need, send us an email.
Now that you have the DC AA battery charger for your camera there are two scenarios for using it:
1.
charge the batteries directly from a solar panel
- or-
2.
use solar panel & solar power storage battery combo
Option 1 : Solar Direct
In a DC-direct configuration, we connect the solar panel directly to your new DC AA battery charger. This is the simplest, and least expensive method, since all you need is an appropriate solar panel to provide the power your AA's will need.
Here's what the basic AA battery charger configuration looks like...
NOTE: Some "Quick" chargers will not work properly from a solar panel because they are designed to be looking for more power than the panel is able to provide. Manufacturers don't tell you what minimum power they require, so we test all the chargers we carry.
What solar panels are best for your AA charger?
In our experience, most
low-consumption DC AA battery chargers will usually operate well from a 5W, 6W, 6.5W, or 7W solar panel. If you would like to charge other equipment each day, or would like to be able to charge your battery faster, then consider the next size up in solar panel size (ie 10W, 12W, 14W). These are usually the best way to go in terms of performance when using a solar-direct system.
Option 2 : Solar Panel with Solar Storage
You might have noticed that in the solar direct option, you can only charge during daylight hours, and even then you are at the mercy of the sun. The way to improve the situation is to add a solar power stoage battery between the solar panel & your new DC camera charger. Doing this allows the solar panel to provide charge to it all day at whatever rate it can, while you have access to the storage battery's reserve any time you need it. This also means you can usually get away with a smaller solar panel too.
What do these solar power storage batteries look like?
Here are the most popular models that we use with the smaller solar panels... Solio Mono, Zap 7, Brunton Inspire, Novuscell 24.
For a look at all the models we carry, visit the Battery Pack page.
Here are a few recommended solutions...
PowerFilm Solar AA charger
The panel with the battery charger built right in
Solaris Solar-USB with Mini USB Battery Charger
Keeping small & light, with USB for your other toys
Solio Classic with Mini USB Battery Charger
Charge AA/AAA batteries, plus a host of other devices. The Solio's on-board power storage makes this work long after dark.
PowerFilm 5Watt Folding Solar or PowerFilm 10Watt Folding Solar
with 12V Mini Charger
The small & light solution in a 12V solar panel configuration. Use a larger solar panel if you want faster charging - the charger will protect the batteries. Any solar panel providing a 12V socket will work. Use the PowerFilm Rollable versions for kayaking & marine use.
NOTES...
The speed with which the panel charges the batteries will depend on both the power rating of the panel, and the capacity of the batteries. You could expect a 5W/300mA panel to charge a set of four 2500mAHr batteries in as little as 2.5 hours depending on solar intensity. During the summer this means that you could charge as many as 8 batteries each day.
NiMh (Nickel Metal Hydride) batteries are the recommended choice not only for their excellent performance in digital cameras, but also for their rechargeable characteristics & resonably eco-friendly chemistry. The alternative NiCd batteries, although much improved in recent years, contain toxic Cadmium, and therefore should be avoided whenever possible.
There are also new 'low-self-discharge' NiMh batteries that hold their charge far better than standard NiMh batteries. We carry the Imedion models from Maha PowerEx.
Common Question...
"Can I use an AC inverter with a solar panel so that I can use the battery charger I use at home?"
The answer is yes, but not directly. An inverter cannot be plugged directly into a solar panel because it is a passive power source, unable to provide the power an inverter needs.
You would need to provide a battery pack like the Outpost Power 12 between the solar panel & the inverter. A solar panel by itself cannot drive an AC inverter, not to mention that a 6 Watt panel cannot create the power needed by even the smallest 75 Watt inverter. The battery pack in between will allow the inverter to draw all the power it needs, while also storing all the power provided by the panel.
Articles in this series cover camera that use AA batteries, USB charging, 3.6V / 3.7V Lithium, 7.2V / 7.4V Lithium batteries in dSLR cameras & video camcorders.
Visit our POWER Packages Page for more help in designing your system
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