Solar power supply recommendations wanted

I'm going to be going on some extended backpacking trips this summer,
trying to get in better shape, in practice, and ready to do the Pacific
Crest Trail next year.

I'm looking for recommendations for a solar charging setup for my
camera & GPS batteries, etc. Because they use different batteries, I'm
looking at probably having to get a generic 12v solar supply and using
the 12v chargers for each (yeah, I know... weight, weight, weight -
ugh).

My other alternative is to go with all AA batteries and use the holder
that goes in my camera's battery grip that holds 6 AAs instead of 2
proprietary Canon (NB2L) batteries, then buy a solar AA battry charger.
However, the difference of weight of 12 NiMh AAs (two sets) and one
charger over 4 NB2L (2 sets) and 2 different chargers might be pretty
minimal, plus the ability to be charging both AAs for the GPS and other
things and NB2L camera batteries at the same time might offset the
difference in the long run as well.

Can anyone give any real-world actual usage recommendations for such a
system in similar conditions (they'd have to be strapped on the
backpack(s) externally to charge during the hiking day), and pointers
to the products that are recommended?

--
You need only reflect that one of the best ways to get yourself a
reputation as a dangerous citizen these days is to go about repeating
the very phrases which our founding fathers used in the struggle for
independence.
-- Charles A. Beard

Ken Lucke wrote:
I'm going to be going on some extended backpacking trips this summer,
trying to get in better shape, in practice, and ready to do the Pacific
Crest Trail next year.

I'm looking for recommendations for a solar charging setup for my
camera & GPS batteries, etc. Because they use different batteries, I'm
looking at probably having to get a generic 12v solar supply and using
the 12v chargers for each (yeah, I know... weight, weight, weight -
ugh).

My other alternative is to go with all AA batteries and use the holder
that goes in my camera's battery grip that holds 6 AAs instead of 2
proprietary Canon (NB2L) batteries, then buy a solar AA battry charger.
However, the difference of weight of 12 NiMh AAs (two sets) and one
charger over 4 NB2L (2 sets) and 2 different chargers might be pretty
minimal, plus the ability to be charging both AAs for the GPS and other
things and NB2L camera batteries at the same time might offset the
difference in the long run as well.

Can anyone give any real-world actual usage recommendations for such a
system in similar conditions (they'd have to be strapped on the
backpack(s) externally to charge during the hiking day), and pointers
to the products that are recommended?

I don't know where you're located, but here north of the 49th, Canadian Tire
caries a number of solar-charging kits, including one that rolls up for storage
and can roll out across a backpack to charge while hiking.

Try starting he
http://canadiantire.ca/browse/subcat...=1170802732723

and specifically:
http://canadiantire.ca/browse/produc... 1170802764282

Ken Lucke wrote:

Can anyone give any real-world actual usage recommendations for such a
system in similar conditions (they'd have to be strapped on the
backpack(s) externally to charge during the hiking day), and pointers
to the products that are recommended?

Look carefully at the power output rating of your panels. Look at the
assumptions behind those ratings -- latitude and season mostly.
Consider how many hours you'll be able to expose the panels to sun each
day (at the very least, you lose optimum angle mounting a panel on top
of your pack, and often you walk in the shade).

Compare to the power requirements of charging the batteries you need.
Last time *I* conducted this exercise, it became clear this wasn't a
viable approach to powering cameras on a hike for me.

I don't know if this is still true, or true for your hike plans, and I'm
not an experienced hiker and not a solar panel expert, so *really*
don't take any of this as information. Take it as a strong suggestion
to really work through the math, though, to make sure you know what
you're getting.

David Dyer-Bennet wrote:
Ken Lucke wrote:

Can anyone give any real-world actual usage recommendations for such a
system in similar conditions (they'd have to be strapped on the
backpack(s) externally to charge during the hiking day), and pointers
to the products that are recommended?


Look carefully at the power output rating of your panels. Look at the
assumptions behind those ratings -- latitude and season mostly. Consider
how many hours you'll be able to expose the panels to sun each day (at
the very least, you lose optimum angle mounting a panel on top of your
pack, and often you walk in the shade).

Compare to the power requirements of charging the batteries you need.
Last time *I* conducted this exercise, it became clear this wasn't a
viable approach to powering cameras on a hike for me.

I don't know if this is still true, or true for your hike plans, and I'm
not an experienced hiker and not a solar panel expert, so *really*
don't take any of this as information. Take it as a strong suggestion
to really work through the math, though, to make sure you know what
you're getting.

This is true - it's probably also a good time to think about power-saving
strategies for ALL your gear. Use optical viewfinder(s) whenever possible, turn
off LCD previews or set them for bare-minimum time, shorten the cameras'
auto-off times, avoid on-camera flash at all costs, for starters....

In article 4payh.907721$R63.330227@pd7urf1no, Matt Ion
wrote:

David Dyer-Bennet wrote:
Ken Lucke wrote:

Can anyone give any real-world actual usage recommendations for such a
system in similar conditions (they'd have to be strapped on the
backpack(s) externally to charge during the hiking day), and pointers
to the products that are recommended?


Look carefully at the power output rating of your panels. Look at the
assumptions behind those ratings -- latitude and season mostly. Consider
how many hours you'll be able to expose the panels to sun each day (at
the very least, you lose optimum angle mounting a panel on top of your
pack, and often you walk in the shade).

Compare to the power requirements of charging the batteries you need.
Last time *I* conducted this exercise, it became clear this wasn't a
viable approach to powering cameras on a hike for me.

I don't know if this is still true, or true for your hike plans, and I'm
not an experienced hiker and not a solar panel expert, so *really*
don't take any of this as information. Take it as a strong suggestion
to really work through the math, though, to make sure you know what
you're getting.

This is true - it's probably also a good time to think about power-saving
strategies for ALL your gear. Use optical viewfinder(s) whenever possible,
turn
off LCD previews or set them for bare-minimum time, shorten the cameras'
auto-off times, avoid on-camera flash at all costs, for starters....

All good suggestions (both from you and David) that I was already going
to include in the daily routine.

I know I can go a typical 18 hour full-on day with the GPS, and that I
won't need it /on/ most of the time (I'm actually quite adept at
map-reading, orienteering, and course plotting), it's just for backup
and to plot special points I find along the way for later return (say,
a spot I think will look good in fall colors, etc). So I'mk thinking
that I probably have 2-3 days use out of a set of batteries there.

The camera will normally last me a whole day shooting on one [double]
set of batteries, even when I leave it on, and let it shut itself down
[which is probably a bad habit for me, but I'm so used to doing it that
way that it's hard to change just being used to pressing the shutter
button and being ready to fire], so with power consumption economy
measures, plus the less frequent use it will get than when I am
actually out at a pre-planned shoot, it will also probably go for 2-3
days between battery changes.

I was already thinking that it will be a two-day charge cycle for the
batteries under most circumstances, considering light/shade issues,
time, etc. I'm just looking for someone who's actually using some sort
of system at this point to know what does and does not work.

Thanks for the confirmatory input, though - and I'm still looking for
someone actually doing this.... anyone?

--
You need only reflect that one of the best ways to get yourself a
reputation as a dangerous citizen these days is to go about repeating
the very phrases which our founding fathers used in the struggle for
independence.
-- Charles A. Beard

Matt Ion wrote:
Ken Lucke wrote:
...
backpack(s) externally to charge during the hiking day), and pointers
to the products that are recommended?

I don't know where you're located, but here north of the 49th, Canadian
Tire caries a number of solar-charging kits, including one that rolls up
for storage and can roll out across a backpack to charge while hiking.

Try starting he
http://canadiantire.ca/browse/subcat...=1170802732723

and specifically:
http://canadiantire.ca/browse/produc... 1170802764282

Can you give us a Canadian postal code? The web site doesn't let me in
without that.

In article , Paul
Furman wrote:

Matt Ion wrote:
Ken Lucke wrote:
...
backpack(s) externally to charge during the hiking day), and pointers
to the products that are recommended?

I don't know where you're located, but here north of the 49th, Canadian
Tire caries a number of solar-charging kits, including one that rolls up
for storage and can roll out across a backpack to charge while hiking.

Try starting he

http://canadiantire.ca/browse/subcat...C%3Efolder_id=
1408474396672503&PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=8455244432814 38&bmUID=1170802732723

and specifically:

http://canadiantire.ca/browse/produc...prd_id=8455244
43281438&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=1408474396672503&bm UID=1170802764282

Can you give us a Canadian postal code? The web site doesn't let me in
without that.

Use the one it gives as an example if you put in an incorrect one: "M4P
1V8" :^)

--
You need only reflect that one of the best ways to get yourself a
reputation as a dangerous citizen these days is to go about repeating
the very phrases which our founding fathers used in the struggle for
independence.
-- Charles A. Beard

On Wed, 07 Feb 2007 10:37:15 -0800, Ken Lucke wrote:

I can't see how one charger (or even two) plus a double set of
replacements would weigh more than the dozens of batteries I might need
as replacements for a intra-drop point interval, though, which is why
I'm trying to do this way. Remember that even though I might use them
up, I've still got to pack the dead ones out to the next garbage drop
point as well. The method I am going to use has already been
determined - I'm trying now to work out the best /implementation/ of
that method.

The charger may not be particularly heavy, but the solar panels
that would be needed to supply sufficient current might be. You
can't rely on peak output unless the panels are stationary in a
location that's pretty much guaranteed to have bright sunlight most
of the time. A solar panel mounted on a moving, swaying backpack
that can't be precisely aimed at the sun will produce a much lower
average current. Also, you need to estimate the number of AA cells
that will be charged each day, and based on the number that will be
charged simultaneously, you can easily figure out the current that
the charger will require. This may be much higher than even fairly
large solar panels can provide. You probably will also want to use
an old style "dumb" charger, since the varying voltage/current
supplied by a solar panel may cause a "smart" charger to frequently
restart. Smart chargers usually charge quickly, and can require
*many* amps to operate, so a "dumb" charger that charges at not much
more than a trickle charge rate may be a good match for large solar
panels. C.Crane (ccrane.com) sells a small solar powered battery
charger that's probably much too limited to be useful, but they also
sell a fairly large solar panel that could probably charge all of
your AA batteries in less than a day, if you could keep it supplied
with enough sunlight. But that may not be easy to do.

I don't know how efficient your camera is, but some DSLRs can take
thousands of shots per charge. Using a battery grip that holds two
battery packs would naturally allow twice the number of shots. Do
you know how many shots you'd be able to take using 6 AA cells, for
both alkaline and NiMH? I assume that most or all of the shots
won't use flash, so you may be able to take many thousands of shots
before needing to swap batteries. If so, how many days of shooting
do you think this would be good for? One day? Two days? A week?
If close to a week, the number of batteries you'd need for a couple
of months of shooting may not weigh much more than a charger, a
solar panel and a couple sets of rechargeable batteries. It may
even weigh less.

Ken Lucke wrote:

In article , Paul
Furman wrote:


Matt Ion wrote:

Ken Lucke wrote:
...

backpack(s) externally to charge during the hiking day), and pointers
to the products that are recommended?

I don't know where you're located, but here north of the 49th, Canadian
Tire caries a number of solar-charging kits, including one that rolls up
for storage and can roll out across a backpack to charge while hiking.

Try starting he

http://canadiantire.ca/browse/subcat...C%3Efolder_id=
1408474396672503&PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=8455244432 81438&bmUID=1170802732723

and specifically:

http://canadiantire.ca/browse/produc...prd_id=8455244
43281438&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=1408474396672503 &bmUID=1170802764282

Can you give us a Canadian postal code? The web site doesn't let me in
without that.


Use the one it gives as an example if you put in an incorrect one: "M4P
1V8" :^)


Thanks... (case sensitive too) and here's the link again unbroken:
http://canadiantire.ca/browse/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=84552444328 1438&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=1408474396672503&bmUID= 1170802764282

Ken Lucke wrote:

The camera will normally last me a whole day shooting on one [double]
set of batteries, even when I leave it on, and let it shut itself down
[which is probably a bad habit for me, but I'm so used to doing it that
way that it's hard to change just being used to pressing the shutter
button and being ready to fire],

This brings to mind another way to save a bit of energy (if you don't
mind the inconvenience) shorten the shutoff timer. You can probably
adjust it to something like 30 seconds, one minute, five minutes,
etc. Setting it to the shortest time that doesn't drive you crazy
(i.e. not have to constantly turning it back on while shooting) could
save a bit more battery power.

Austin