Heya,

I do some ramble and as we got a poor battery i was curious about solar charger.

Would love fix solar charger on bag and get cable to N900, then i can recharge it while walking.

Anyone tryed one ?


Ty

I highly recommend the PowerFilm solar panel w/ USB-out. This is where I ordered mine:

http://www.hodgesmarine.com/ProductD...SB-AA&click=19

You also probably need the 2-headed Seido cable to get the N900 to charge off of a "dumb" USB power source:

http://www.cyberguys.com/product-det...roductid=35678


Sam

Note: The PowerFilm solar charger:

1) Is compact, lightweight & folding with soft/bendable solar panels (ideal for travel and throwing in a bag).

2) Trickle-charges from the panel to 2 AA Sanyo Eneloop batteries internally, which then discharge at 5V to the USB port. -- This means you can decouple sun collection from device charging, store up whatever sunlight happens to be available at the time, and use it later when you need it.


I also just noticed that there's a new model out w/ 6 folding panels instead of 4, and takes 2-4 AA batteries instead of just 2. Looks like roughly double the double charging capacity for about the same weight as the old model. I think I'm going to get one :

http://www.amazon.com/AA-Battery-Sol...ef=pd_sim_sg_5

Never mind -- the 4 battery model does not have USB out.

I have a Solio "flower" charger and I'm happy with it. Charges other things and looks funky.

Could you elaborate on this? How many hours of sun takes to keep the n900 going? Do you need some adapter? Thanks

I have this:
http://www.solio.com/charger/solio-charger-classic.html

I believe I had to order the mini nokia plug due to it's newness at the time (also bought the Gameboy adapter).

The solio has a battery. You run off the battery. However; so long as there is direct sunlight you can essentially run off the sun (even with a low battery in the solio) so even if the battery is low the solio is useful.

time to charge is always dependent upon sunlight. I can get 3/4 charge in a few hours in the summer (particularly around the summer solstice).

I have a 1800 mAH battery in my 800 so it can suck down most of the battery (if not all) when I charge from the battery but I'm not in the habit of running my battery down. Since the 900 has a smaller cap. battery you'll have power to spare if the Solio has to fully charge the battery.

Nothing to see with solar, but i found something interesting.

http://www.yogenstore.com/

Someone tryed it already ?

i just ordered a juice bar solar and usb charger from thinkgeek.com, the use is not only for n900 but for all devices that uses miniusb, microusb, 3.5 headphone jack, even iphone usb for charging.

you can either charge the device wired or from a power source, of solar.

I've been doing some experimenting.
Most of the "dumb" charges work with N900, after some modifications, namely soldering D- and D+ pins together inside the charger.

For example, I have got both these working with N900 and with standard USBA-microUSB cable:

1)

Dynamo Hand-Crank USB Cell Phone Emergency Charger

Opening needs just unscrewing two screws, very easy.
See pics before the fix:
http://www.dealextreme.com/forums/De...hreadid.436269
And after soldering the USB D+ and D- together -fix:
http://www.dealextreme.com/customerp...66f285c9ca.jpg
and 2)

Solar Powered 2600mAh Rechargeable Battery Pack with Cellphone Adapters

The text in the box where the solar charger comes in.
http://www1.dealextreme.com/producti...ku_30047_9.jpg

Opening this demands unscrewing two screws and then _carefully_ detaching the solar panel, which is glued with two side soft but pretty stiff stickers. See pics:
NOTE! The battery inside is really just 2400 mAh, not 2600 mAh.
http://www.dealextreme.com/customerp...e122e9a7e1.jpg
http://www.dealextreme.com/customerp...7aaf0d080b.jpg (D- and D+ pins soldered together)

3)
With both, after the DIY fix, I've just used this normal rectactable USB-data cable:
Retractable USB to Micro 5P Data/Charging Cable (60CM-Length)

Very handy, all of them. The USB cable can be used both as a data cable and charging cable both with PC and with these fixed emergency chargers.

4)
Also, I got this Ultra-Mini USB Power Adapter/Charger - EU Plug (110~240V AC) working with the same trick, soldering D- and D+ USB pins together inside the device.
http://www.dealextreme.com/customerp...a3cfcf2ebc.jpg
However, I do not recommend at all to try this one. After opening the charger I got scared how simple design it was and is suppose to be connected to ~230V. However, it did work after the fix again just with that normal USB-cable. To open this, just the end plate has to be taken out carefully with a screwdriver and then with pliers carefully pulling the circuit board out of the case.

All of those, after the fix, I have first tested with digital multi meter and with an old Nokia 6220 phone, then with Nokia CA-146C adapter with N900, and only after those straight with the USBA-microUSB cable.

You can brick (as bricking, make a brick out of something, see "alchemy") your devices by doing something wrong!