solar power for ipaq 2210

Archived from groups: comp.sys.handhelds (More info?)

johnson.. <merifreekinxmas@yahoo.ca> wrote:
> Hello
> I am looking for a solar panel to recharge or possibly run an
> ipaq 2210/2215. I got my eye on this one
> http://www.icpsolar.com/ssfamille.php3?id_rubrique=14
>
> The problem I am having is fiquring out the volts, watts and amp.
>
> The charger that came with the pda says the output is 5volts but most
> pv units are 6volts and up. Will this harm my pda?

Possibly.
>
> The charger output is also 2 amps (2000 milli amps???) so would
> charging the pda at a much lower amperage 290 for example harm the
> pda?

Possibly.
>
> Or it as simple as finding a pv panel that has the right wattage? In
> my case 10 watts.
>
> Thanks a bunch for any help you folks can give.

Volts is analogous to pressure, amps to flow.

The maximum flow of electrons from a solar cell depends on how much it's
illuminated, and how much the rest of the circuit constricts that flow
(resistance).
The maximum voltage depends on the design of the cells (typically 0.6V
for each solar cell).

Like pipes, circuits can be damaged by high pressure/voltage.

Like water, the more flow (current) you have, for a given source, the
lower the pressure (voltage) you get.

The other problem is that a "2A" solar cell will often produce far less
current than that, due to poor weather, ...

More description of what you want to do with it would be handy.

Archived from groups: comp.sys.handhelds (More info?)

johnson.. <merifreekinxmas@yahoo.ca> wrote:
>
> "Ian Stirling" <root@mauve.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:4103d5cb$0$44458$ed2619ec@ptn-nntp-reader02.plus.net...
>> johnson.. <merifreekinxmas@yahoo.ca> wrote:
>> > Hello
>> > I am looking for a solar panel to recharge or possibly run an
>> > ipaq 2210/2215. I got my eye on this one
>> > http://www.icpsolar.com/ssfamille.php3?id_rubrique=14
>> >
>> > The problem I am having is fiquring out the volts, watts and amp.
>> >
>> > The charger that came with the pda says the output is 5volts but most
>> > pv units are 6volts and up. Will this harm my pda?
>>
>> Possibly.
>> >
>> > The charger output is also 2 amps (2000 milli amps???) so would
>> > charging the pda at a much lower amperage 290 for example harm the
>> > pda?
>>
>> Possibly.
>> >
>> > Or it as simple as finding a pv panel that has the right wattage? In
>> > my case 10 watts.
>> >
>> > Thanks a bunch for any help you folks can give.
>>
>> Volts is analogous to pressure, amps to flow.
>>
>> The maximum flow of electrons from a solar cell depends on how much it's
>> illuminated, and how much the rest of the circuit constricts that flow
>> (resistance).
>> The maximum voltage depends on the design of the cells (typically 0.6V
>> for each solar cell).
>>
>> Like pipes, circuits can be damaged by high pressure/voltage.
>>
>> Like water, the more flow (current) you have, for a given source, the
>> lower the pressure (voltage) you get.
>>
>> The other problem is that a "2A" solar cell will often produce far less
>> current than that, due to poor weather, ...
>>
>> More description of what you want to do with it would be handy.
>>
> Hi Ian
>
> Basically I'm gonna go camping and want to charge the battery of the pda
> while doing stuff in the day and use the pda at night while laying in bed. I
> will be travelling by bicycle and most likely not have access to ac outlets,
> car cig lighters etc.

Ok...
How long will you be away from AC?
The battery in most PDAs is typically around 3.6V, 1300mAh, and store
some 4.6Wh.

A 12V 3.2Ah lead-acid battery will weigh around a kilo, and store enough
energy for some 7 charges, or perhaps a week or so if you run the PDA
battery down every night.

4 alkaline D cells will store enough energy to charge it about 25 times, and
weigh around 600g, and cost rather little.

Alternatively, to get enough power to charge the battery (4.6Wh), over
say 8 hours of riding, you need about half a watt.
In practice, this is probably a 5W power solar panel.

However, unfortunately, the solar panel won't quite match the requirements
of the power input of hte Ipaq.

Do you have a bicicle lamp/generator?
How do you keep those charged?