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Keeping your phone charged on the go can be a hassle – hunting for an outlet isn't how anybody wants to spend their day. Whether you're traveling, camping, or simply walking around, a solar phone battery charger provides an easy and environmentally-friendly solution.
Find out what solar panels cost in your area in 2024You don't have to install solar panels on your roof or subscribe to a local community solar farm to benefit from renewable solar energy. Instead, you can start small (both for your wallet and in physical size) with a solar-powered phone charger.
Solar phone chargers use the same technology as regular solar panels but on a much smaller scale. The sun hits a small solar panel, which either charges a battery bank or directly plugs into and powers your phone, much like solar panels on your roof can power your home directly or charge a battery system.
One of the critical factors to consider if you're in the market for a solar phone charger is the size of the product. When we say "size" in this context, we mean how much power the charger produces in watts and stores if it has an attached battery. A charger between 10 and 15 watts of power is usually sufficient for charging one or maybe two phones. The wattage of a charger is the amount of solar electricity it can produce, so larger panels usually mean more wattage.
There are two main types of solar phone chargers to keep an eye out for:
Direct phone chargers do just that - they're usually a couple of small solar panels (often that fold up for easy transportation) that you can plug into. However, these chargers only work when the panels are in the sun, as there's no attached battery to store any generated electricity for later.
Panel/battery combo chargers are direct chargers with an added battery. This means that you can charge the battery separately from your phone. In other words, you can keep the panels out during the day when it's sunny and charge your phone at your convenience later in the day.
The beauty of a solar charger is that you don't need a wall outlet to juice up your phone. You'll probably want a device that's easy to move around and lay out in the sun. Many solar phone chargers can hang off of a backpack on the trail or sit on the dashboard of a car and fold up, making them perfect for on-the-go power.
Device compatibility is less of an issue, but you'll want to watch out for it just in case. Most chargers come with a USB port you can use with just about any phone, but it's worth double-checking to ensure you won't have any connection problems.
There are thousands of solar phone battery charging products out there. We looked at some of the more popular options to see how they stack against each other. Most solar phone chargers will get you where you need to go, and it's more about subtle aesthetic and functionality differences between chargers.
