Gadgets galore these days – most using the ubiquitous USB connection for charging. I myself have 3 or 4 high capacity batteries to bail me out when either of my iPhones (1 for work – 1 personal) or iPad is in need of a charge and I am nowhere near an outlet. Seems only logical to leverage the ever-falling prices of solar panels to utilize solar power to charge these devices.
This is the SunJack 14W Solar Panel with built-in 7 watt charger. It also includes a charging cable and an 8000mAh battery, all protected in a neat folio styled package. The battery features fast charge using Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0, supported by many Android phones.
Included with the device is the solar charger, battery pack, a fast charge cable, a carabiner and manual.
Technical Specifications
Solar panels: 14 watts of high efficiency mono-crystalline
Max output voltage/current: One 5V/1.5A USB port
Battery: 8,000mAh lithium-polymer battery ~ 5 hours
Unit Size folded: 9″ x 6.5″ x 1.75″ (23cm x 16.5cm x 4.5cm) – similar to an iPad.
Unit Size unfolded: 9″ x 31″ x 1″ (23cm x 79cm x 2.5cm)
Unit Weight: 1.75 / 0.8 (lbs/kg)
The device arrives in nice packaging …
The cables, carabiners and battery are contained in a zippered pouch
The package unfolds to reveal 4 mono-crystalline panels
The charger has 2 USB ports for either charging the included battery or other batteries or ostensibly powering small devices.
When charging the battery provides visual indicators of state of charge – each LED represents 20% charge.
Of course it’s required that you zip up the pouch and turn the panel over for full power charging. This puts the battery and charger under the panel and out of direct sunlight. Mine did not get overly hot while charging in direct Sunlight.
The supplied sample arrived with around 40% battery charge – it took around an hour to bring it to 100%. SunJack claims that a full charge (from empty) is attained after 5 hours of direct sunlight
This little package retails for $139 direct from SunJack.com