SOLBAT2 Solar Charger

[Mateles]

This looks like a nice, little, solar powered charger for $30. I looked around at specs for other stand-alone Droid chargers and I *think* it should work. Can anyone back that up?

Product page (Scorche)
Gizmodo review

Battery Capacity:1500mA
Output: 5V; 500mA

 

[qoncept]

+1, I'm looking for something like this but I'm skeptical they'd actually be useful.

 

[abc]

The manual says it takes 4-5 days to charge from the sun. That's probably under best conditions like direct sun light (no windows). So you probably have to live in place where there's sun 24/7 and keep moving the solar panel so that it constantly faces the sun to charge it in 4-5 days.

You're probably better off just getting a regular external battery pack like this one.
Review: Energizer Xpal XP2000

I have one and it works with my Motorola Droid.

 

[Mateles]

The manual says it takes 4-5 days to charge from the sun. That's probably under best conditions like direct sun light (no windows). So you probably have to live in place where there's sun 24/7 and keep moving the solar panel so that it constantly faces the sun to charge it in 4-5 days.

You're probably better off just getting a regular external battery pack like this one.
Review: Energizer Xpal XP2000

I have one and it works with my Motorola Droid.

The SOLBAT2 can also charge via USB in about 5h according to the site. Looks like you get more charge out of the Xpal though.

2000 mAh (Xpal)
1500 mAh (Solbat2)
1400 mAh (battery capacity, according to Google search)

 

[Storms illusion]

So no one has bought this product yet? I mean I'm fine if it only takes 5h...It just isnt worth the time for 5days..

Someone send a review!!

 

[ucpro]

the solar charger may be worth it as long as u can still charge via usb. i looked on amazon and it says the energizer is rechargable up to 500 times. so does that mean it'll die out afterwards then u gotta buy a new one??

 

[b00mb00mchuck]

Remember to refer to motorola guidelines about only charging your droid with a motorola charger... I've been looking into this for awhile now and here's what I've learned...

The motorola charger that comes with your droid is rated at 850mA... this allows enough power to run the phone and gives the battery a nice strong charge... if the charger you're looking at is rated well below the 850mA mark.. your playing with fire.

Rechargeable batteries are rated for "how many charges" they can handle before they start losing the ability to charge... if the droid battery is supposed to last a year before replacement.. then you are working with a battery that will charge roughly 350 times before it starts dying out... that 350 number is based on the good strong charge from the stock charger... some of these cheap chargers are rated at 350mA or less and they take many hours to fully charge the droid.. and when they're finished charging the battery is very hot from fighting to keep the phone on and charge at the same time...

A normal charge with the stock charger should take 2hours...
The cheap ones can take 6hours or more...
That's like three charges...
So expect to start seeing your battery crap out after 4 months or so if you use the 6hour charger every night...

I toasted a droid battery using the usb port on my Sony PS3 as the main source of charging for three months... the PS3 has nowhere near enough juice to be charging a droid regularly...

So anyways.. my point is... you're not gonna kill your phone but you might end up buying more batteries if you don't pay attention to the "mA" rating on your charging device...

I also had the energizer portable... I had the 8000 and it worked great ... till I read the owners manual and it said "in and out charging at the same time"... this means you can charge the energizer while the energizer is charging the droid and wake up in the morning with 9400mAh of juice to go right??... bullcrap ... don't in and out charge with the energizer.... burned out that poor 8000 in a month and a half... dammit

 

[smokiedabong]

I had a similar product and it's totally useless . I only used mine for the first few days in my car , after that I went back to a car charger , is quicker , more convenient , you don't have to position it in the sun and every car has a plug for it . It may be useful in a outdoor activity but I never had to use it . Maybe I'll find it useful when my car battery will die in the middle of the desert

 

[will.anaya]

The manual says it takes 4-5 days to charge from the sun. That's probably under best conditions like direct sun light (no windows). So you probably have to live in place where there's sun 24/7 and keep moving the solar panel so that it constantly faces the sun to charge it in 4-5 days.

You're probably better off just getting a regular external battery pack like this one.
Review: Energizer Xpal XP2000

I have one and it works with my Motorola Droid.

abc, i too have this product but it fails to work on my droid.

when i plug it in the "charging 5%" notification on the screen just flashes as if it is turning off and on. and not charging

my energizer is fully charged according to the led reading but it just wont charge my droid

 

[tropicaffair]

I also bought the Xpal 2000 and had the same unsuccessful charging experience with my Droid. It works great for charging my GF's Razr. I went on the included tipsforfree link that came with the Xpal paperwork and ultimately found the specific connector for the Droaid. It is cable part no. WB18 and was free, with $8.95 shipping. It works as advertised and now I won't have to return the Xpal 2000.

Russ

 

[Storms illusion]

So would something like this work? It is rated at 2000 mAh but i dont think it has a connector for the droid, nor a USB.

 

[Storms illusion]

While i'm on the subject, the iSUN company has a solar pack that CONNECTS to a rechargeable battery pack (about 5 inches thick) and from my understanding it can actually produce the amount needed through (up to 10 batteries) the charged batteries.

I'm getting aggravated because i just want a damn solar charger that works for the items i need it to.

 

[takeshi]

Output: 5V; 500mA

Mentioned earlier but you might want to find something that puts out more mA for charging devices.

 

[Storms illusion]

Sorry i meant to add a link to the product.

iSun power


And i mentioned it was rated at 2200 mAh. Thats far past the 500 mentioned.