# Solar charger for BlackBerry



## nomchang (Mar 23, 2009)

Hello-
We are looking to bring home a new (to us) boat from MA to NJ. I was wondering if anyone knew of an inexpensive solar charger that could be used to power a BlackBerry while we are at sea. Ideally it would be a portable unit where I could plug the wall charger or USB cable into it and charge the phone's battery. Anyone with experience with such a thing? We wont have time to set up a proper solar system before delivering the boat, and I don't believe the boat is set up for 12V power.

Thanks


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

Try this:


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

Or better yet, try this, much less expensive.


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## wind_magic (Jun 6, 2006)

I use a 6.5 watt flexible folding panel for charging. It has grommets for hanging it on your backpack while you are hiking and has a standard 12 volt cigarette lighter type plug (or others, it has adapters). On a sunny day it has enough power to charge a lot of things at the same time.










Mine didn't come with the girl.

Source: Sunlinq 6.5 watt folding solar panel

I did not pay nearly 85$us for mine but I don't remember where I bought mine.


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## hellosailor (Apr 11, 2006)

Bring your usual charger, buy an inexpensive 110V inverter that uses battery clips (large alligator clips) to connect to a battery. If you can't find one packaged that way, you can get the clips at Radio Shack or auto parts stores.

Hook up your inverter to the boat's 12v battery, it will have at least one if it is ready to go to sea at all.

Simple done deal.

Or, check out some of the portable cell phone chargers, look for one that uses 2xAA cells or similar and has multiple charger tips with one for Blackberry. You'll get one full charge, maybe two, from two AA cells or whatever similar it takes, so a handful of those will get you home most simply. Those chargers run $15-25.

Or, can't you just get a second battery for the Blackberry, charge it up at home and take it along? And just power up for ten minutes a half dozen times a day?


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## nomchang (Mar 23, 2009)

hellosailor said:


> Bring your usual charger, buy an inexpensive 110V inverter that uses battery clips (large alligator clips) to connect to a battery. If you can't find one packaged that way, you can get the clips at Radio Shack or auto parts stores.
> 
> Hook up your inverter to the boat's 12v battery, it will have at least one if it is ready to go to sea at all.


Thanks hellosailor--I'm clearly not an expert on electrical matters...do you mean something like this?

http://www.adaptelec.com/powerbrigh...ac-power-inverter-900-watt-capacity-p-68.html

thanks!


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## hellosailor (Apr 11, 2006)

More like http://www.adaptelec.com/powerbrigh...6.html?zenid=24da716f0e534d632ebfa01c8ab4954f
the 200-watt $29.99 version is probably 400% larger than you need. Anything rated 100 watts, even 75-80 watts, is going to be more than your Blackberry charger needs. Prices tend to be about the same for 75-150 watt units, poewr drain to your battery is of course less with the smaller units, but I'd suggest something like a 100-watt unit as being "enough" to be very portable and able to power any one electronic gizmo--like one laptop, on dvd player, or a mess of cell phone chargers all at once.

Your local auto parts store will carry them. Sam's, WalMart, Costco...all those places usually carry them as well. Whichever you buy--take a look at the fuse it uses, and box a little pack of spares to tape onto it, since you can easily blow the fuse if you overload it. And we all know how easy it is to get the right fuse for anything, offshore.<G>


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## hellosailor (Apr 11, 2006)

More like http://www.adaptelec.com/powerbrigh...6.html?zenid=24da716f0e534d632ebfa01c8ab4954f
the 200-watt $29.99 version is probably 400% larger than you need. Anything rated 100 watts, even 75-80 watts, is going to be more than your Blackberry charger needs. Prices tend to be about the same for 75-150 watt units, poewr drain to your battery is of course less with the smaller units, but I'd suggest something like a 100-watt unit as being "enough" to be very portable and able to power any one electronic gizmo--like one laptop, on dvd player, or a mess of cell phone chargers all at once. Should be about the size of a paperback book, more or less.

Your local auto parts store will carry them. Sam's, WalMart, Costco...all those places usually carry them as well. Whichever you buy--take a look at the fuse it uses, and box a little pack of spares to tape onto it, since you can easily blow the fuse if you overload it. And we all know how easy it is to get the right fuse for anything, offshore.<G>


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