- Use the power of the sun for the ultimate in Green power
- AA/AAA charging 8-20 hours
- Charges USB power pack for cell phones, bluetooth headsets and MP3 players
- Includes 2 AA precharged batteries
- Now includes Micro-USB
1. Use it as a solar-powered charger: to recharge two internal AA NiMH cells under direct sunlight
2. Use it as an USB-powered charger: to recharge internal AA cells from an USB port
3. Use is as an USB power source: to recharge cell phone or other gadgets from internal AA cells
Upon closer examinations, however, each function turns out to be poorly implemented:
1. The solar panel is quite small (4x7cm). Even under direct sunlight at noon time, with the panel perpendicular to the sun beam, the maximum charging current is just 100mA. In real life it will take about 3 sunny days to fully recharge a pair of 2100mAh cells. The case is not weather-resistant, so it should not be left in the open. But when I placed it under the windshield of my car, the charging current dropped by 50% because the glass is UV-filtered.
2. When powered from an USB port, the two internal AA cells are continuously being charged at about 125mA. The problem is there is no 'charging done' signal. The little green LED simply remains on forever, even when there are no batteries inserted. You have to unplug the USB cable after about 20 hours, to prevent over-charging of internal batteries.
3. When used as a USB power source, the 5V output it generates is limited to 300mA max., which is lower than the 500mA from a normal USB port. I have used it successfully to recharge my Philips GoGear Aria MP3 Player and my Motorola W755 cell phone. However, I'm unable to use it to recharge someone else's Kodak Easyshare camera, because the current requirement is too high.
In summary, the ULG Solar charger is still a reasonable value if you can use it as a cell-phone charger. But it is not practical as a solar charger during hiking trips, because the case is not weather-resistant. For smaller size and less weight, you could bring an extra set of Lithium AA Battery instead.
Buy UltraLast Green Solar 2 AA/USB Charger with 2 AA Everyday Precharged Batteries Now
Compact size. Very light weight. You can charge batteries using sun or usb power. You cannot charge usb devices using solar but you can with batteries.Would have been nice if the IN-OUT switch on the side was more descriptive, but the provided instructions were helpful. Would have been nice if it had included a small travel pouch for carrying around the adapters and manual.
From the instructions manual:
Charge Time
Type Size Cap Source Time
Ni-Mh AA 2100 mAh Sun 1-2 days
USB About 10-11 hrs
Other things from the manual:
"The UltraLast Green Sol Charger will not charge USB devices using Sun/Solar power"
No big deal since you can't really expect such a small panel to have sufficient power. I just charge the batteries first then charge my phone from the batteries.
"The LED will not change color or turn off to indicate charging has complete."
Annoying since you can't tell when it is fully charged.
I paid $25 (shipping and all) so it was an okay deal for the price. It will be handy for long car trips and what not.Just got this today and am charging the supplied two batteries using the USB cable. The instructions (and the description on amazon) claim there is a "supplied AC-USB Wall Adapter" but there wasn't one. It's hard to imagine how they can fit a wall adapter in the cardboard packaging anyway.
Biggest negative other than the lack of the adapter is that the LED does not indicate when charging has finished, especially after the ominous warning "Do not charge AA Ni-MH batteries for more than 24 hours via USB or Solar"
I will edit when I have had a chance to charge this in sunlight.
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Was pretty happy until I went to charge my iphone. As far as I can tell it does not have enough current to charge it :(
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