January 20th, 2009

Solio solar charger

My tropical hideout for this Christmas only has electricity from 6pm to 9pm, so I decided to get a Solio to charge my cell phone and digital camera. So far I’ve been very satisfied with this little gadget. You can charge it from a small wall charger or aim it to the sun for 10 hours or more to charge it’s 950 mA internal li-ion battery.

I also bought an ipod cable for it, even though I don’t have an iPod yet. The digital camera battery can be charged via an optional universal 12 V cigarette lighter adapter.

Q4 How long does it take to charge Solio?
In optimum conditions it will take at least ten hours of direct sunlight (longer in cloudy or weak sunlight conditions) to fully charge Solio, but this will give you enough power to charge an average cell phone more than once or give your iPod up to an additional 9 hours of playtime. Apporoximately 4 -6 hours of direct sunlight to your Solio will let you charge an average mobile phone about once depending on temperature conditions and intensity of sunlight, and the type of phone you have. Charging the solio from the mains power supply will takes 4.5 hours using the dedicated Solio travel adaptor (included).

Posted by api in Wonders of technology

3 Comments »

3 Responses to “Solio solar charger”

  1. confused says:

    I’m going away on holidays where there is no electricity at all and I’m considering buying the solio however, it would be for the sole purpose of charging a digital camera. Im wondering whether it would be practical to purchase the solio for this purpose or whether it would be a waste of time as digital cameras require a lot of power. How long does it take to charge an average camera with the solio? Would I be better off buying another product and if so, what would you suggest?

  2. api says:

    It depends on how long you will be away from any other source of electricity. I think that you can take about a 100-200 photos with a single fully charged battery. The way it works is that you first charge the battery on Solio and then you transfer that power to a digital camera battery charger or camera itself. In many less sunny locations it takes ages to charge up the Solio. It is worth noting that in many places where there is no electricity you may have to guard your valuable Solio for thieves while it’s charging itself.

    If you’ll be away from the mains electricity for a week or less, you might be better off with an extra battery or two. If it is longer than that, a Solio might be a good choice… especially if it is a very sunny place.

  3. Roel Solar Charger says:

    Whenever I go away I always take my solar charger with me. Works like a charm and this way I prevent my phone from running out of battery. I think that these portable solar chargers are a great way to charge your devices.

Leave a Reply

XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>