Maybe not the best place to place a half shit post advocating for a bit of prepping… It is technically technology related though!
…Now that I think about it, this all comes off as kinda “sponsored product” like. Oops.
You can get these cheap USB solar panels off sites like AliExpress, TEMU, etc, for fairly cheap. The ones I got output in the ~500mW to 2W range. That’s enough to charge a small power bank over the course of a clear day, allowing you to keep your phone somewhat charged for the incoming rolling blackouts and stuff.
The most valuable equipment in a SHTF scenario is your phone!
A few months back TEMU had listings of packs of 2-3 of the small USB panels for… I think it was ~$10-$15 USD? It was a fairly good bargain tbh. For being bottom of the barrel “junk” with reject solar panel wafers, they’re good panels! Wired all four of mine in parallel so if I only plug one USB device in it’ll have more current. (To an extent. Photovoltaics have a LOT of electrical engineering going on behind the scenes! They don’t behave like batteries!)
TEMU is, however, an incredibly irritating e-commerce platform to use due to the whole platform being “gambling” focused, and the notifications are extremely scummy.
They also have some sort of bizarre issue in their customer database stack as someone’s “Jesus loves you” wrist band got my address slapped on their package instead of theirs. Feel bad for them tbh, missing packages SUCK!
No idea if the cheap panel bundle listings are still on there. It has been a few months after all!
AliExpress… Well, I enjoy how utilitarian their platform is. Second and third largest panels in the photo came off of there and they do the job.
Unless you’re putting it inside a car (so using it for its intended purpose) I don’t recommend Harbor Freight’s 7 watt panel. Mine is succumbing to water ingress and I don’t have it permanently installed. I take it back inside whenever it rains! Other then that and being overpriced it’s otherwise a nice panel. I have a soft spot for amorphous solar panels!
They’re cheap and “nasty”. And I really like cheap and nasty “junk”!
Infodump aside, China has useful solar panels for the under ~$20 USD for my “fellow Americans”. For everyone outside the United States… You could probably get the same stuff for about $5-$10 USD in the equivalent of your own currency? Even when “splurging” these things are hilariously cheap.
These things are “cheap insurance” and I do highly recommend people getting at least one of these. Even in countries that are fairly energy independent like the United States I can guarantee rolling blackouts/not being able to pay electric bills will come.
Also not having to plug the phone into the wall to charge it is really fun lol.
any specific links to check out?
I bought a power bank with built in solar panel. While I love inexpensive tech products, sometimes you get what you pay for. Not saying Chinese made products will fail since they’re at the forefront of some bleeding edge renewable tech, but you also don’t want too cheaply made to damage a battery or phone.
Also, look into Meshtastic or other LoRaWAN products that are free from cell towers or other centralized comms… A nearby to me cell tower has a ~200 gallon diesel tank for the generator but that’ll only last a couple days. Your own long range radio transmitter might help you get in or stay in touch with lived ones.
Those foldable solar panels from Ali are the best imo. Cell phones normally are icky about voltages and currents out of solar modules like these, in my experience power banks will charge a lot more reliably from these fellas. Got a foldable 10W panel which can reliably output 8W to my 20.000mAh power bank, and which can in turn charge my phone
Excellent point. Really should’ve put the whole “don’t charge your phone directly from the solar panels” bit.
I will say though: Folding solar panels are a bit more expensive.
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