A solar charger is a charger that employs solar energy to supply electricity to devices or batteries. They are generally

portable Portable may refer to: General * Portable building, a manufactured structure that is built off site and moved in upon completion of site and utility work * Portable classroom, a temporary building installed on the grounds of a school to provide ...

. Solar chargers can charge

lead acid Lead is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metals, heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale of mineral hardness#Intermediate ...

or Ni-Cd battery banks up to 48 V and hundreds of ampere hours (up to 4000 Ah) capacity. Such type of solar charger setups generally use an intelligent

charge controller A charge controller, charge regulator or battery regulator limits the rate at which electric current is added to or drawn from electric batteries to protect against electrical overload, overcharging, and may protect against overvoltage.

. A series of

solar cells A solar cell, or photovoltaic cell, is an electronic device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect, which is a physical and chemical phenomenon.

are installed in a stationary location (ie: rooftops of homes, base-station locations on the ground etc.) and can be connected to a battery bank to store energy for off-peak usage. They can also be used in addition to mains-supply chargers for energy saving during the daytime. Most portable chargers can obtain energy from the sun only. Examples of solar chargers in popular use include: *Small portable models designed to charge a range of different

mobile phone A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whi ...

s, cell phones, iPods or other portable audio equipment. *Fold out models designed to sit on the dashboard of an automobile and plug into the cigar/12v lighter socket to keep the battery topped up while the vehicle is not in use. *Flashlights/torches, often combined with a secondary means of charging, such as a kinetic (hand crank generator) charging system. *Public solar chargers permanently installed in public places, such as parks, squares and streets, which anyone can use for free.

Voltage regulator

A solar panel can produce a range of charging voltages depending upon sunlight intensity, so a

voltage regulator A voltage regulator is a system designed to automatically maintain a constant voltage. A voltage regulator may use a simple feed-forward design or may include negative feedback. It may use an electromechanical mechanism, or electronic components ...

must be included in the charging circuit so as to not over-charge (

overvoltage When the voltage in a circuit or part of it is raised above its upper design limit, this is known as overvoltage. The conditions may be hazardous. Depending on its duration, the overvoltage event can be transient—a voltage spike—or perm ...

) a device such as a 12 volt car battery.

Solar chargers on the market

Portable solar chargers are used to charge cell phones and other small electronic devices on the go. Chargers on the market today use various types of solar panels, ranging from

thin film A thin film is a layer of material ranging from fractions of a nanometer ( monolayer) to several micrometers in thickness. The controlled synthesis of materials as thin films (a process referred to as deposition) is a fundamental step in many ...

panels with efficiencies from 7-15% (amorphous silicon around 7%, CIGS closer to 15%), to the slightly more efficient

monocrystalline In materials science, a single crystal (or single-crystal solid or monocrystalline solid) is a material in which the crystal lattice of the entire sample is continuous and unbroken to the edges of the sample, with no grain boundaries.RIWD. "Re ...

panels which offer efficiencies up to 18%. The other type of portable solar chargers are those with wheels which enable them to be transported from one place to another and be used by a lot of people. They are semi-public, considering the fact that are used publicly but not permanently installed. The solar charger industry has been plagued by companies mass-producing low efficiency solar chargers that don't meet the consumer's expectations. This in turn has made it hard for new solar charger companies to gain the trust of consumers. Solar companies are starting to offer high-efficiency solar chargers. Portable solar power is being utilized in developing countries to power lighting as opposed to utilizing kerosene lamps which are responsible for respiratory infections, lung and throat cancers, serious eye infections, cataracts as well as low birth weights. Solar power provides an opportunity for rural areas to "leapfrog" traditional grid infrastructure and move directly to distributed energy solutions. Some solar chargers also have an on-board battery which is charged by the solar panel when not charging anything else. This allows the user to be able to use the solar energy stored in the battery to charge their electronic devices at night or when indoors. Solar chargers can also be rollable or flexible and are manufactured using

PV technology. Rollable solar chargers may include Li-ion batteries. Currently, foldable solar panels are coming down in price to the point that almost anyone can deploy one while at the beach, biking, hiking, or at any outdoor location and charge their cellphone, tablet, computer etc. Some companies such as GoSun have incorporated a solar charger into a table so that can have more than one function.

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References

{{Reflist Battery chargers Energy harvesting Solar-powered devices Photovoltaics

Voltage regulator

Solar chargers on the market

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See also

References