Backpackers, campers, kayakers, sailors and RVers enjoy this powerful green solar power charger solution. Reuse batteries over and over rather than discard them. Charge your USB GPS, Cell phone, or camera.

Ultra compact and ultra lightweight (6.6 ounces with Batteries), the Powerfilm AA and USB Foldable Solar Charger is ideal for use in the field. Super fast charging, maxium surface area, flexible durable panels, and light weight. The charger provides portable power for recharging AA rechargeable batteries or electronic devices via a USB port.

Originally designed for the Military, this is one tough unit.

Once unfolded, this charger automatically begins charging. Status lights confirm if the batteries are charging or fully charged. The specialized charging circuitry provides highly effective battery charging.

Recharge 2 AA rechargeable Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH or NiCad compatible) batteries to provide power for any device that uses AA batteries.

You can also connect directly to your GPS, iPod, Cell phone or other device via the built in USB port.

This unit can also power USB devices from fully charged batteries in the base. Charge all day, then in the dark tent plug in your USB device and it is charged from the full batteries in the base.

Benefits:

* Provides a lightweight (6.6 ounces with batteries), ready source of power.
* Reduces need for extra batteries, lighter pack weight (Charger adds less weight than carrying 4 extra batteries)
* Supports long stays in remote locations with quick solar electric power generation.
* Provides power for emergency needs. (1.5 Watt in maximum Sun)
* Tops off batteries to produce maximum run time.
* Highly effective battery charging with intelligent charging circuitry (Charging lights confirm if batteries are charging or fully charged).

Performance:

* Full Sun Output: 400 mA at 3.6 Volts into a pair of batteries. (Power performance may vary +/- 10% due to temperature variation, spectral variation, and related effects).
* 2 AA 2000MAh Batteries (included) : From full discharged to Full charge in about 5 hours of full sun. From 50% discharge to Full change inThen Fold up and batteries retain charge.
* Lightweight, rugged flexible solar film panels directly integrated with canvas like fabric.
* Rugged construction with 6 grommets for easy, secure attachment to outside of backpack (charge while you walk). Can also use grommets to attach to table, tent or ground.

More Info:

* Dimensions Folded: 3.5" x 5.5" x 1.2"
* Dimensions Unfolded: 24" x 5.5"
* Displacement: 0.0126 cubic feet
* 1 year warranty
* Patent Pending
* Qty 2 1900maH Batteries included
* CAUTION: Never charge Alkaline batteries, they could leak and become dangerous. Use only NiMH or NiCad type.

Tips, Tricks, and Technical Info:

For best performance, battery pairs that were used together and have the same level of charge should be recharged together. The batteries are recharged the most efficiently and gently if the two batteries in each holder are matched. The goal in matching batteries is to select batteries which will finish charging at the same time. This is accomplished the most easily by recharging completely discharged batteries of the same capacity.

The sophisticated circuitry of this charger will permit mismatched pairs of batteries to be recharged, but this may increase the time necessary to recharge.

Matching criteria in the order of importance are:

* State of charge (How full is the battery?)
* Capacity (How many mAh are listed on the case?)
* Age (How old and worn is this battery?)
* Make (Who made this battery?)

The more of these criteria match, the sooner the batteries will be done charging. Additionally, the battery lifetime is extended.

The charging time depends mainly on how full the batteries are, their capacity, sunlight intensity (clouds or blue sky), and angle of sun's rays relative to the panels..

In full sunlight this charger will charge 400mAh into a pair of batteries in one hour. To find the time needed to charge a pair of batteries divide the capacity listed on the side of the battery by 400mAH. This gives the time needed to charge an empty pair of batteries. If the batteries are only partially discharged, charging them will take less time. For example half full batteries will take half as long. If two sets of batteries are charged, the total time required is the sum of the individual times.

Examples:

One pair (2) of discharged/empty 2000mAh AA size batteries: 2000mA/400mAh = 5 hours (note that it is rare that a battery is completely empty, and 2000 mA is a fairly high capacity AA battery)

One pair (2) of 1600mAh AA size batteries, half full, needing 800mA. to be full 800mA/400mAh= 2 hours

Questions and Answers:

Can I leave batteries in the charger over night?
Yes. The charger will not discharge your batteries. Once it gets bright enough in the morning the charger will start to charge the batteries.

My charger got wet. Is it ruined?
No, most likely not. If the charger got damp with morning dew, wipe off the excess moisture, then simply allow it to dry. If the charger got submerged, remove all batteries, wash off any salt or mud, then wipe excess moisture off and allow the charger to dry. Additionally clean any corrosion of the contacts in the battery holders. If the charger was submerged for a long time (hours) with batteries in it, circuit components and battery holder contacts may be heavily corroded due to electric currents. This may make the charger unusable.

I have an odd number of batteries. Can I charge a single battery and use a nail in the other holder?
No. The battery charger would trickle charge such a combination, and it would take over ten times as long as a regular set of batteries to charge. Always charge batteries in pairs.

The batteries are hot! What should I do?
If the batteries feel uncomfortable to touch, remove the charger from the sun. Once you feel comfortable touching the batteries remove them from the charger. If only one battery in a pair is hot, then it is full. The other battery in the pair is not full yet. A slight increase in battery temperature during charging is normal.

There are batteries in the holder, but the charger status light says the holder is empty:
Try to roll and wiggle the batteries to make sure you have good contact. Check the polarity of the batteries. Wait five seconds – it takes the unit up to five seconds to recognize a pair of batteries. Try a different pair of batteries. One of the batteries may be bad.

Why is the charger trickle charging my batteries?
The batteries were deep discharged. The intelligent charger logic is attempting to recover the batteries. Once the batteries have recovered, the charger will automatically switch to regular charging.

The sun is not out !
The charger will charge batteries on an overcast day, but more slowly. As long as the charging lights are blinking slowly the batteries are being charged.

Special Note for Motorola Droid Users: Some of our staffers own them. Droids with less than 90% battery power try to 'outsmart' the USB standards to get faster charge times. They try to intelligently query the device for 500MAh, then 600, then 700 (which works on some PC USB ports). During this query the Droid goes through a rapid sucession of Charging/Discharging status changes. This much like "running in place" - alot of work and getting nowhere - the result is Droids do not get an effective charge. Powerfilm is working on this and may have a fix in future versions.

The only current solution is to get another version of charger. We have successfully gotten Motorola Droid to take charge from:

1.) The Powerfilm 5 Watt Solar Panel in concert with the Motorola 12V Car Adapter
2.) The USB Port on the Hand Crank Eton Grundig FRS160 Emergency Radio

Both are sold in the sidebar above.

Technology behind the product:

Roll-to-roll manufacturing significantly reduces manufacturing costs. Powerfilm was the first and remains the only company in the world that manufactures and sells monolithically-integrated solar panels on plastic using a true roll-to-roll manufacturing process.

Polymer Substrate - Flexible yet durable polyimide substrate results in enhanced flexibility, paper thinness, and lighter weight. The substrate is as thin as 1 mil(0.025mm) thick.

Thin Film Amorphous Silicon - Amorphous silicon is the absorber layer in the solar panels. The amount of silicon used in PowerFilm solar panels is as low as 1% of the amount used in traditional solar panels. PowerFilm has a strong environmental profile and is cadmium free.

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