Solar in the Pacific Northwest

[One Awesome Inch]

So I recently bought one of those waka waka solar lights. The spec seem ideal. 8 hours of "charge " gives 4/8/16/80 on high/med/reading/nightlite. It had some charge on it from the factory and after using it for no more than a couple hours I put on the dash of the van. I have read that even in rainy weather there still should be *some* charge. Doesnt seem that way with this unit. After a couple of days on the dash in rainy/cloudy/dark-ish weather the light automatically reverts to its lowest light setting even after putting it on its highest setting. This tells me its likely not getting charged properly.

So... this kinda makes me think that relying on solar in the rainy PNW is definitely not a good idea.

That said, I am going to buy the UST 30 Day lantern which is supossed to do 30 days nonstop at 29 lumens on 3 'D' batteries.

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Oh and 32 hours on 300 lumens.

 

[jimindenver]

The windshield is cutting a lot of light coming through, try charging it on the other side. Unfortunately most solar lanterns, fans and the like just don't have a large enough panel to do the job in good light, much less in cloudy weather.

Unfortunately solar isn't the answer for everyone. They do make panels that will collect the most out of the least amount of light but you need a lot of them and their foot print is much larger than regular panels. At some point a small inverter generator is a better investment than a panel.

With lighting I found it easier to get the inexpensive LED replacement bulbs off of ebay for a few bucks shipped each. One that will replace your average dome light will use 220 ma and we use them to light our trailer from end to end nightly. They have little impact on our battery. The smallest has 9 emitters using 50 Ma. the largest is the outside light with 120 emitters, it uses a whopping half a amp and throws light 30 strides out. It's needed because where we go, the things that go bump in the night have teeth and claws.

Before we had the LEDs, we used Harbor freight puck lights that can be had anywhere from free with a coupon to $3. The 3 AAA batteries last forever and with the magnet and hook, then can go just about anywhere. They have a 3 LED flashlight on the end and a 24 LED panel on the side. Four in our 25 ft trailer lit it up enough that we were not stumbling over our three black dogs.

 

[Bela's Mom]

This is the little lantern I have and I love, love, love it!
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_s...solar+lantern&sprefix=energizer+solar,aps,253