Solar Charger for Travel?

ktmrider · 10-30-2011

So, I am heading to Nepal for three weeks and am thinking of a digital only kit but am concerned about keeping the batteries charged. Kathmandu has problems with rolling brownouts for up to 10 hours at a time and if I head out on a trek, electricity is even less reliable.

So, does anyone know of a solar charger which does a good job on camera batteries? I have both a Leica Digilux 5 and Fuji X100. Other solution is to just take the X100 and throw in a film camera, either a M2 or R6.2.

Thanks in advance.

greyelm · 10-30-2011

Third party batteries for the X100 are reasonably priced so so you could buy a few extras that you keep charged when the oportunities arise. But having a film backup is very sensible.

Matus · 10-30-2011

I browsed on solar charges less than a year ago and did not really find something that would charge a smartphone battery (camera batteries are very comparable in capacity) in a reasonable time - most products on the market are more toys than really useful devices. Given the efficiency of the todays solar panels (between 8% and 18 % - about 100 - 200 W power at full sun per square meter) the device that would charge such a battery in one afternoon on the sun would still need and area larger than pocketable to get the job done (and requiring a sunny day and optimal position).

And - most of the devices available first charge their own battery which you can use than to charge your camera batteries. It can indeed be done, but I am not sure how practical this solution is.

Colin Corneau · 10-30-2011

Might be best to get an external battery that can charge up your camera's battieries/phone/whatever...and have that charge during the day. Even if there's a blackout for a half day or day, it could tide you over til the power comes back on.

I also looked into solar chargers and didn't find anything feasible.

ktmrider · 10-30-2011

Thanks for the info. I suspect I will take the X100 and DLux5 as I have extra batteries for both. If I was to carry as much film as the SD cards and batteries can record, I would need a porter just for the film.