Pandora solar charging


Askarus

Askarus

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As I want to get "free" power I want to try some solar charger with the Pandora.

These one here look pretty decent.

They also were on kickstarter.

Does anyone know this seller?

Or does anyone know some good solar cells.

I like the ones I've found because they are pretty small if you fold them.

Also which one do you think are best?

5W, 7W or 10W?

I think the more the better as I don't have direct sunlight the whole day in my room.

(It's enough to charge my Solar Keyboard).

Is this a good Power Bank as an addition?

Seems like a good price for me.
 
So... You with solar you'll find typically the bigger the better. You want to find what is the most efficient for the size. You can trickle charge most anything if it is off. The Pandora though has the requirement to always be on when charging.

Without knowing your use case... It is kind of hard to give a suggestion. It is more efficient to directly charge the Pandora than to charge a power bank and then use the bank to charge the Pandora. You will lose a lot of energy that way. On the other hand if you want to offset Pandora usage in the evening with charging during the day... This may be your only option.

Or if you want to just have multiple backup ways to use your Pandora off the grid... Like you want to go camping and have full use of the Pandora... It's a good idea.

All told though... A decent power bank... A decent solar panel... Priced together... Would probably cover a solid 3-8 years worth of a bill to charge the Pandora.

Personally I would get the power bank if you want to extend your usage around town. A solar panel is cool... But are you really going to form the habit of carrying it around with you and getting optimal charging all day long? Especially if you have easy access to wall outlets to charge 95% of the time.
 
The Pandora only consumes 1 amp while charging and takes about 4.5 hours to fully charge. The 5W would technically be good enough, but since you rarely get perfectly conditions it would probably take much longer. The 10W is large enough that even at half strength you'd still get full charge conditions for the Pandora.

But really, do you want to leave it out in the sun, unused, for 4 hours?

You already mentioned this, but a smaller solar charger with a battery pack is probably a better solution than the large solar panel. Get the 5W and a battery pack, charge the pack during the day and the Pandora off the pack at night. On sunny days you might get 5 or 6 good hours of sunlight, thus overcharging the battery pack, but that's ok because it's a huge battery and more full is better, and on cloudy days you won't get very much but that's ok too because it's a huge battery that can charge the Pandora almost 3 times before they're both empty.

I am assuming that you're getting at least 5 hours of sunlight. Every once in a while you may need to top it up, either by plugging it in or by going outside and leaving it in a good spot for all day sun to charge.

Also keep in mind that solar panels like sun, electronics and batteries do not: while charging, for best performance keep the battery pack or Pandora shaded. You could probably get away with using the solar panel as a shade.
 
My usage would be more for fun than to be serious.

All I want is to play around a bit with solar technology.

Maybe charge my wireless mouse and such small stuff with it.

More fun and the feeling of independence than real need.

It's not for the hardcore wilderness trip.

First of all I wanted to see whether I can charge my devices at home for nothing :) .

I think a power bank should be best for me.

My final goal is still to tune a suitcase and build a mobile docking station into it (for Pyra).

I want the Pyra inside, a foldable keyboard and a 15" screen.

That screen has to be powered somehow.

For that I want 1 - 2 Power banks.

If I could get a solar panel that could give me some more battery life or charge the whole thing when I don't need it it would be nice.

So the Solar panel (maybe 2 of them) would not be the core thing but a nice addition I might want to use.
 
So for a fun project, I'd start with the 5W.  While going bigger will definitely help, I think it sounds like you have the right idea to start small.  It'll give you an idea for how much space a larger cell will take up, how much work you need to keep it in proper lighting conditions... etc.

Setup your battery to charge off solar.  This way you can move it around to optimal light conditions as you see fit.  You might even find it a good way to put the solar cells outside on a deck or velcro on the outside of the window.

The other nice thing about this approach is that you can be mobile with the pandora independently from your cell/battery.

At this point... the question you'll probably want to determine is how many USB cables do you need to charge/plug in devices (pandora, cell, etc...)  You can also get adapters to convert several usb jack styles to another...

For the Pyra/Suitcase mod... I'll be interested to see how you set that up.  Though I'm kind of more interested in a glass/headset vs a display myself.  Need to wait for the tech to come together a bit more though.
 
NearTao said:
Though I'm kind of more interested in a glass/headset vs a display myself. Need to wait for the tech to come together a bit more though.
Click to expand...
For the next 1-2 years those Glasses with beamer inside are the thing I'm most excited about.

I want the screed to use the Pyra with more than one people watching the screen.

Mobile gaming station??

For the solar charger:

I did found this one: http://www.amazon.de/Tragbares-Faltbares-Ladeger%C3%A4t-Dual-Port-USB-Lade-Devices/dp/B00HV891DG/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1398354723&sr=8-5&keywords=solar+ladeger%C3%A4t

(Sorry, German).

Seems like the specs are (maybe better) at least similar to the 10W one I did like before.

Also the size should be ok: 28 x 17,5 x 2,5 cm ; 680 g

The advantge is it's in Germany which is easier for me.

It's even cheaper than the 5W one (60€ vs 65$ +shiping + German Tax)

If you're interested in the suitcase here's what I have so far:

The Power Bank looks pretty good. 20000 mAh and nearly only 5 or 4 Star votes.

The Suitcase also seems to be good.

For now I use a Wooden one with leather. These things get damages really fast, especially the edges.

The big one is: 48,2 x 35,5 x 11,5 cm

With a bit of luck I'll be able to put a my full sized Keyboard inside (it's 45,5 cm wide).

The seller don't sells whether 48,2 is the inside or the outside size.

Same for the Powerbank.

The 20000mAh one is 11,3 cm height.

Would be good if I could place them vertically.

Oh, what I forgot to mention:

In the suitcase will also be 2 SSD drives 2,5" :) .

Let's see how the price drops for these 1TB SSDs in the next months.

If it's below 200€ I high get them.

Anyways, what do you think.

What can I buy now and what's better to wait?

I don't know about any battery revolution coming in the next months.

Might it be better to wait for the Solar cell? Any new technology coming?

I will for sure do some post when the whole thing is ready.

But without the Pyra I can't set up the final connectors.

Also it's my last year in University and I still have not that much time to do the fun stuff.
 
Nothing big coming that I know of - everything will gradually get cheaper and better.  SSDs probably the quickest to change, but you're already planning to hold fire on that so that's fair enough.  Batteries probably the least, as that's mature tech.  Photovoltaics probably somewhere in the middle I reckon.  Sounds like a decent plan to me though.

I wonder how you're planning to mount stuff to the case though.  Probably hard to say before you've seen it I guess.
 
Shenmue said:
That Anker 20000mAh one is nice
Click to expand...
Yeah, I ordered that one 2 weeks ago... but it's coming to me by a circuitous route so will only get it end of next month.


Have been wanting to get a beefy solar panel as well... but thinking about it, it will probably just gather dust. My lifestyle for the next year or so I can't see myself having much opportunity to use it.
 
FaeMinx said:
Yeah, I ordered that one 2 weeks ago... but it's coming to me by a circuitous route so will only get it end of next month.
Click to expand...
WTF??

FaeMinx said:
Have been wanting to get a beefy solar panel as well... but thinking about it, it will probably just gather dust. My lifestyle for the next year or so I can't see myself having much opportunity to use it.
Click to expand...
Might be the same here.

That's why I go for the other stuff first.

Anyways 60€ is ok for an adult's toy ;) .
 
Well that particular battery isn't available in my country yet, and the smaller one which I was considering, the E5 has an absolutely ridiculous price if I were to buy it here.

So I ordered from Amazon UK, and had it sent to a residence there where a friend of the family is staying. She will be back in South Africa end of next month, where my mother can pick it up from her in Cape Town and either post it to me or keep it till I see her next. We do trade festivals together, so the likelihood of seeing her within a couple of weeks of getting it is likely.
 
FaeMinx said:
Well that particular battery isn't available in my country yet, and the smaller one which I was considering, the E5 has an absolutely ridiculous price if I were to buy it here.


So I ordered from Amazon UK, and had it sent to a residence there where a friend of the family is staying. She will be back in South Africa end of next month, where my mother can pick it up from her in Cape Town and either post it to me or keep it till I see her next. We do trade festivals together, so the likelihood of seeing her within a couple of weeks of getting it is likely.
Click to expand...

I see.

I thought it was the shipping that will take over a month.

BTW: I forgot to mention I also want a Blueray/DVD drive in my suitcase.
 
At some point I'm going to buy a desktop replacement laptop... I.e. a power hungry beast.

So what I want to get is some kind of *massive* battery I can keep in my car... something that is capable of powering the laptop for 3 - 5 days.

I don't know if such a thing exists....

And then what I would want to do is have a solar panel covering the whole top of my car to charge the thing...

... or a portable wind turbine I can mount on the roof or secure in an elevated position.

I'd probably want both.

... then I can 'go wild' for a week or weeks at a time... :)
 
NearTao said:
Why not rip content down so you avoid optical media? Or are you planning on ripping media while at the library and/or redbox?
Click to expand...
I want the whole thing to use as Laptop replacement.

And read Discs on the go.

FaeMinx said:
At some point I'm going to buy a desktop replacement laptop... I.e. a power hungry beast.


So what I want to get is some kind of *massive* battery I can keep in my car... something that is capable of powering the laptop for 3 - 5 days.


I don't know if such a thing exists....


And then what I would want to do is have a solar panel covering the whole top of my car to charge the thing...


... or a portable wind turbine I can mount on the roof or secure in an elevated position.


I'd probably want both.


... then I can 'go wild' for a week or weeks at a time... :)
Click to expand...
Have the right Device for you.

Will send you the link in the evening.
 
Askarus said:
@FaeMinx:


Here's the Link:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rMp2udPIWk


follow the Link in the description of the Video to get to the store.
Click to expand...
I checked out the video... and basically the most 'extreme' option is the Goal Zero Extreme 350 Adventure Kit


Which costs about 600 dollars and still only powered a laptop (and monitor) for a measly 3 hours.... so it doesn't get me excited.


I guess I'll have to wait until there is a breakthrough in battery technology in order to power a gaming laptop for 3 to 5 days. :/
 
I misunderstood you then.

I thought you want something like that to power for some hours and you can recharge.

Can't think of anything that lasts for some days without recharging.

(Except you buy a Pyra and some battery pack)
 
A car battery is typically 6 cells of 2V in series to get 12V. They have a typical capacity of 40Ah. So if you would put them in 2x3 you should get 4V, 120Ah. That is about 30 Pandora batteries worth of juice.

So theoretically, you should get about 300 hours (12.5 days) of continuous Pandora use out of a car battery. You can just use a car charger, there's probably some overhead with that but it's a lot easier and safer than rewiring a car battery to your Pandora. I guess you could put solar panels on the roof of your car to keep the battery charged, but as long as you drive around a bit, it's not really needed.
 
I already have a 'jump starter kit' permanently in my car. It's essentially a second car battery in a convenient case with jumper cables, a flashlight, a dial, 12v out all built in.

I bought a usb car lighter adapter in case I have to use this 'emergency' battery to charge my phone, tablet, pandora, or even a laptop for a short time... but ideally I want to leave it fully charged in case something goes wrong with my car battery.

... I still want another insanely huge battery in my car for luxury living in the wild, but apparently such a battery doesn't exist yet...
 

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