Experience with Solar Battery Chargers?

[City Rat]

I was at REI getting a few odds and ends that I needed to complete my kit for a climbing trip. Thanks to you guys I gave Goal Zero a good hard look and decided on the Nomad 7 plus, on sale, lashed up with a Flip 20 battery stick/pack. The whole setup is very weight thrifty. In using the panels a couple of things I noted. First if the panels have direct sun you are good and it will charge the battery pack/stick pretty quickly, but if there is any cloud cover charging efficiency drops quickly, charging time goes up. The charging rate was almost imperceptible once cloud cover got thick. So my thinking behind the battery pack, let the panels charge the battery pack as best they can in camp and that way if I need to charge my GPS in the rain, I still can from the battery pack. You can also charge that battery pack via usb port or charger. So my plan is to charge the battery pack, and gadgets, fully in base camp and then use the panels to top off the battery pack out on the trail.

I am still trying to figure out a way to secure the panels to the top of my back pack. This model has cut outs at the corners and is made to be lashed to the top of a backpack and trickle charge the batery pack while you push up the trail. If anyone has tried to lash panels to the top of their packs I'd love to hear about or see pics of their setups. Thanks.

[taliv]

i have that same guide 10 kit with nomad 7 or whatever and use the cheap mini key-chain quality carabiners at walmart that are like 2 for $1 and hook them through the molle on top of my pack so that it get sun while i'm hiking. charging from the batteries works well because you can buy a couple packs of high quality rechargeables (eneloop) and keep a lot of juice handy.

[Canonshooter]

Without storage, you can only effectively charge on clear or lightly-overcast days. Additionally, your device must remain tethered to the charger.

If "backpack portability" is not a primary concern and you're a DIY type, consider something like this;

https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread...70#post2377470

This "solar charging station" has served me extremely well for charging Li-ion batteries, USB devices, etc. as well as running 12V lighting during power outages. While not backpack portable, it is certainly portable enough to easily carry in a car or on a quad.