[r2thas]

Does anyone know of a good portable solar panel charger for the G3? Or know what to look for, specs wise, when buying a solar panel charger? I want to get one for a 4 day camping trip.

[Gekko]

Does anyone know of a good portable solar panel charger for the G3? Or know what to look for, specs wise, when buying a solar panel charger? I want to get one for a 4 day camping trip.

all of the reviews i have read about solar chargers are that they are not ready for prime time yet. if i was to go on a long trip away from an electrical outlet i would instead get a very high capacity, reliable external battery. from what i've read - small travel solar chargers are just not big enough to be effective and efficient at converting sunshine into a lot of battery charging power. and that even assumes you have a bright sunny sky available which might not always be the case. i would consider getting something like this -

Anker® Astro E7 Ultra-High Capacity 25600mAh 3-Port 4A Compact Portable Charger External Battery Power Bank with PowerIQ Technology for iPhone, iPad, Samsung and More (Black)

Amazon.com: Anker® Astro E7 Ultra-High Capacity 25600mAh 3-Port 4A Compact Portable Charger External Battery Power Bank with PowerIQ Technology for iPhone, iPad, Samsung and More (Black): Cell Phones & Accessories

good luck.

[xocomaox]

The Anker E7 might be a bit extreme for a four day trip. That would give you like 40 hours of SOT on a G3, which would leave almost no time to camp!

In all seriousness, though. Get a portable battery and you should do very well. 10,000 mah. And don't forget to use Airplane mode when you're not using the phone, if you're in a very low signal area.

[Rukbat]

If the panel supplies the same mAh rating as your phone's battery, and the phone can take the current (how much current it takes is set by the design of the phone), the battery would charge from 0 [which you should never allow - 40% is the lowest you should drop a lithium battery] to 100% in about 70 minutes.

As far as make, Anker is a good company. I've bought a few of their products and they're well made. (I'll probably be buying a couple of their batteries soon.)

Remember, the rating is for full sunlight at noon on June 21st. or at the equator. Further north or at other times and dates, you'll get less current, so buying a solar panel that's a bit overpowered for your need isn't a bad idea. A little overpowered. Maybe 4000mA or 5000mA. That way you'll still get a normal charge time this time of year at 4 in the afternoon. (Solar battery chargers are rated in mA, not mAh. mAh is capacity, and a solar charger doesn't have capacity, it has current availability.)

A power pack, OTOH, has capacity. A 25000 mAh power pack will charge a 2500mAh battery 6 times before it has to be recharged. (You shouldn't drop the power pack below 40% of its capacity either.) A solar charger can be used to charge phones all day long, as long as the sun is shining. By the time it "wears out", we'll be having "cellphones" implanted in our heads at birth. (Silicon exposed to light produces a flow of electrons. The same piece that's doing it in your charger has been doing it for any part of the 4.5 billion years it's been exposed to sunlight.)

[Gekko]

The Anker E7 might be a bit extreme for a four day trip. That would give you like 40 hours of SOT on a G3, which would leave almost no time to camp!

In all seriousness, though. Get a portable battery and you should do very well. 10,000 mah. And don't forget to use Airplane mode when you're not using the phone, if you're in a very low signal area.

i'm a big believer in future-proofing yourself. perhaps it's a 4 day trip today, but a 7+ day trip tomorrow. maybe a buddy or two needs a charge while on the trip? better to have too much juice than not enough. spend a few bucks more and future-proof your purchase.