See searching for solar power part #1

My search for solar power continues, this is part 2 of hopefully a bunch of articles about my switching over to solar power. Last week I mentioned my interest in a Solio solar powered charger and today I bought one. I will post my results in a couple weeks once I am able to fully charge it a few times and test how many things I can charge with it. Of course today was raining and the sun was hiding so I took a few pictures in my kitchen.

As you can see, the Solio solar powered charger comes complete with a wide assortment of attachments for most of the small devices that it can charge. It also comes with a wall charger for any cheaters that want to charge it at home. The unit itself is very rugged and while I am not going to drop it, I am sure that it would survive a fall. The thought of me being able to use the sun to charge my phones, GPS, and my Palm Pilot is exciting! This solar charger will have a place on all of my camping and sailing trips.

As you can see, the Solio solar powered charger fits in the palm of you hand. While you could walk around with a solar powered charger in your pocket, I might suggest leaving it out in the sun so it can charge. If you are looking for a portable solar panel you can use this link for a discount: Take 10% of at Solio.com today! Use coupon code: EcoGift10

Part #1 of several.

A few years ago I met a couple sailors who powered their boat’s batteries with a few small solar panels. I was amazed at the fact they they never needed to plug their boat into shore power or bring their batteries home to charge them. They ran a few lights, a couple fans and a small water heater off of their solar charged batteries. The whole idea of a wind powered boat that does not consume gas unless they are leaving their dock and the fact that they used solar power really impressed me. When I asked them the cost of the panels they grinned and mumbled something about stealing them from other boats. At this point I knew that I was going to search for solar power but I would do so at a store and not by acting like a pirate.

My first solar powered item was a “solar shower”, basically thick black plastic bag that attracts the sun and heats the water. We spent $10.00 each for three of these solar showers and use them when we go camping on our sailboat. The bags have a time and temperature chart so you can predict how long it will take to heat your shower water. On more then one occasion we learned that the water can get hot enough to burn you if you leave it out in the sun for to long. So far these bags have lasted for about 4 years without any signs of wear. You can purchase these at any camping or outdoors store, I purchased mine at Dick’s Sporting Goods.

I started searching for solar power last week so I can actually use it to charge and run electrical items. It seems like the Solio charger (see above ad) is the hottest item on the internet now. You can plug your cell phones or other small items into it and charge your toys for free! The company claims that the charger will store the charge in an internal battery and the charge is good for about a year. Once the Solio reaches a full charge it can charge an average cell phone twice before you need to recharge it. Along with cell phones it will charge most other small electronic products like ipods, gps’ and cameras. The Solio solar charger earns a high spot on my wish list and hopefully I will buy one in the next couple of weeks. A few stores are starting to carry the Solio solar charger but you can save money buying directly from them with a coupon: Take 10% of at Solio.com today! Use coupon code: EcoGift10

I am also looking into larger solar panels for my home however the investment can range from $500-$5000 depending on the brand name and the amount of watts. I found a nice 4 panel solar system on Amazon that consist of 4 panels at 15 watts each for a total of 60 watts. After doing a little research I found that the same wattage can be achieved with only one panel but the cost increases quite a bit. Today I found a website that promotes green solar power and he has some good information on state and federal rebates for solar power. If I can get solar power and money back then I want to make sure that I pay attention to the details and small print. If you are looking for solar power, you might want to check out these rebates at The Off Grid Home.

Stay tuned for part two as I explore solar power for my home.

For the second part of this please see: Searching for solar power part two