The benefits of solar-powered chargers
Imagine you’re camping or trekking up on the hills, and you get stranded. But you’ve forgotten to recharge your iPhone. Or even if you’ve fully recharged it, at the end of the day or the next your phone’s batteries will be drained if you’re continuously using it. You have your power bank too that will keep you going if you’re still outdoors for a day or two (or three days), but what if it’s running out of power too? Of course, finding an electric outlet in the thick of the forest is obviously out of the question.
The sun is shining bright once you walk out of the thick forest and into the wide, open meadows, or the riverside. The sky is clear, the sun is brightly shining. You rummage into your bag and you fish out your solar-powered battery charger. You plug your charger’s USB cable into your phone, PSP, or camera, and then flip your charger’s solar panel to face skyward. This is probably a good moment to sit back and relax, go read a book, or go fishing. Or even while waving your phone high up in the air and trying to catch a signal.
Had we been in the same situation about a decade back, we would have been really lost and out of luck. These days, many companies are manufacturing solar-powered batteries and battery chargers that range from car to AA batteries. Now there are a lot of solar-powered chargers to fuel the batteries of our cell phones, smartphones, game consoles, cameras and MP3 players as well as laptops and tablets. The good thing about solar chargers is that you’ll get unlimited power to re-charge your gadgets, especially if your place has plenty of sunshine. Most of the solar-powered battery chargers are portable.
The power of the sun discovered and utilized
Although mankind has been aware that the sun has been providing heat and light to Earth for billions of years, it’s only recently that we have figured out how to make use of the sun’s power.
It was in 1954, where researchers at Bell Laboratories created the photovoltaic cell, which later evolved into solar cells that transform the heat of the sun into a usable source of energy. Many people, especially those who are concerned with the environment or simply want to cut back the costs incurred from using traditional sources of energy, have slowly adopted and welcomed the use of solar energy to give light to their homes (at night) and power their appliances. There are even solar powered water heaters for showers and swimming pools.
The arrival of solar energy in the mobile era
Now, more and more people are using mobile phones and gadgets in the outdoors. This causes a demand for portable chargers for these devices, and so more and more companies are manufacturing portable solar chargers. Fitted with solar panels, these portable sun-powered chargers have become the preferred choice especially for those who love to go outdoors, or have outdoor/field occupations such as mountain rangers.
The examples of these solar chargers in popular use today include:
1. Small portable chargers that are created and designed to recharge different ranges of mobile phones, smartphones, iPods or any other MP3 player or portable audio gadgets.
2. Solar chargers that feature fold-out models, designed to place on your car’s dashboard.
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3. Solar torches, many of which come with a secondary means of gathering energy such as kinetic energy.
4. Public solar chargers that are installed at public places and venues such as parks, squares, and streets where people can re-charge their gadgets for absolutely no charge.
5. Solar panels that are fitted to your bag or backpack.
The sun is one of the wonderful benefits of living on earth, so why not make the most of it? Aside from doing our part in caring for our environment, we can also get a free and unlimited source of energy to fuel our devices and electronics.
Originally posted on MentalItch
