Best Solar Chargers

If you travel often, you want to be able to keep your portable electronics charged up. You’ll certainly want to keep your phone charged up, since it keeps you in touch with the outside world, as well as serve as your GPS. Then there will be other convenience items that aren’t so vital, such as your tablet or MP3 player. You might not always have access to a battery charger, and there’s a limit to how much you can charge up in your car. There are solar chargers that are designed just for this purpose: they consist of one or more solar panels that you spread out in bright sunlight. They’ll charge up your GPS, cellular phone, or tablet, even while you’re hiking. And some can be charged up when you have access to sunlight, and then used to charge your portable electronics at night. You’ll see other features that might come in handy, such as providing you with an LED flashlight as well.

We’ve composed this buyer’s guide to help you make the right decision when selecting a solar charger for your cellular phone. It'll help you:

• Choose the right type of solar charger,

• See useful tips about that particular type of solar charger,

• Read reviews of some of the best portable solar chargers, and what customers are saying,

• Select the right brand of a solar charger, and

• Compare prices and find the best deals.

• Solar panel charger: This will charge up your portable device using a series of solar panels, instead of having to resort to wall current. But they won’t store the charge in a battery unit. One example is the Nekteck 20-Watt solar charger.

Nekteck 20-Watt Solar Charger

• Power Bank: These can be charged by means of a solar cell, or by means of a micro-USB. An example is the ZTECH Compact High-Speed 5000 mAh Portable Solar Power Bank.

Ztech Solar Power Bank

• Lightweight and portable: Since you might be carrying a solar charger in a backpack, the best solar phone chargers will be both lightweight and compact. The NekTeck Solar Charger weighs only 18 ounces, and is 6.3” x 11.1” x 1.06”. The Tisa Co Dual USB Portable Solar Battery Charger is even lighter, weighing only 8.8 ounces.

• Importance of voltage regulator: Some solar panels will give more voltage if the sunlight is more intense. The best solar phone chargers will have a voltage regulator so that the solar panels will not risk overcharging your portable device.

• Solar module efficiency: The efficiency of solar panels tells you how much of the sunlight absorbed is converted into electricity. The Nekteck Solar Charger has a power conversion rate of 21%-24%, which is considered excellent for a consumer product.

• Devices that you can recharge: These solar chargers can charge up an iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, MP3 player, and even speakers. They will be able to recharge anything which takes a 5 V USB connection. Some also have a 30-pin connector for an iPad as well. However, they will not be able to recharge a laptop (that’s because a laptop requires at least 90 Watts of power, while these chargers provide around 20 Watts).

• Charge up more than one device at a time: Many solar chargers have two USB ports, to allow you to charge two devices at a time.

• Maximize angle to sun: When you want to use the solar recharger, you should try to place the solar panels at the optimal angle to take in as much sunlight as possible. Some can be placed at a variety of angles and will work even if there are clouds. There are solar chargers which have a suction cup to attach them to a window, that can be clipped onto your knapsack, or stood up with a kickstand.  

Different Configurations of Solar Chargers

• LED capacity indicator: Some solar chargers, such as the ZTech, have an LED emergency light that you can use at nighttime. It also has a battery indicator, to let you know how much power is required to fully charge up your devices.

• Units of power: The power of an electric circuit is measured in watts. It is given by the (Voltage of the circuit) x (Current going through the circuit). You’ll see the power of solar panels used to charge batteries expressed in milliampere-hours, or mAh for short. The milliampere-hour is an amount of current produced in an hour of time.  To convert this to watt-hours, or the amount of power produced per hour, you multiply this number by the number of volts that the solar panel produces. A typical solar USB power bank will produce 4000 mAh of current per hour, at 5 Volts--perfect for your USB devices. So we get a figure of 4000 x 5 = 20 Watt-hours. The higher this number, the more devices that you’ll be able to charge up.

• How long will it charge up your portable device: You’ll surely want to know how long will the solar charger take to charge up your phone. The Jetsun solar power bank takes 8-10 hours to charge up in sunlight and will charge up your Smartphone in around 2 hours. That means that you can safely rely on it to charge up 2 Smartphones and a tablet to boot!

• Durability: The best solar chargers will be in a rugged case, so that they won’t be damaged when you travel with them. The Sunvolt power bank is in a sturdy, ABS silicone shell case. Many are also dustproof, water resistant, and shockproof. Some, such as the Aukey solar charger, has PET-laminated, scratch-resistant solar panels.

Nekteck is a maker of mobile phone accessories founded in 2012. Their products include mobile chargers, USB cables, portable power banks, Bluetooth speakers, wireless doorbells, massages, and more.

Touch-of-Eco was founded with the aim of making solar-powered devices for everyday use, which are also cost-effective and use sustainable designs and materials. They make solar-powered products for lighting, both indoors and for the outdoors, or for camping, as well as power supplies that run on solar energy.