Solar Cell Phone Charger – How it Works, Best Solar Phone Charger

Solar Cell Phone Charger converts Solar energy to Electricity to charge cell phone batteries. This post will discuss about Solar Cell Phone Charger, how it works, best Solar phone chargers, size of Solar Panel needed for charging phone efficiently.

What is Solar Cell Phone Charger

As the name summarizes, it is a charger that functions using Solar power. These chargers make use of Solar Panels or Photo-Voltaic cells that converts Solar energy to electricity.

Fig. 1 – Introduction to Solar Cell Phone Charger

It is an innovative invention that can be used for the replacement of electric chargers. It is portable, uses sustainable energy resources, environment-friendly and economical. Solar Batteries or mobile chargers have an USB Power Socket with up to 2.1 A of output current. You can plug in your device’s USB cable to start charging your phone using solar energy.

Fig. 2 – Foldable Wallet Solar Mobile Charger

What Size Solar Panel do I Need to Charge a Phone

Solar Cell Phone Chargers are available in different types, sizes, and shapes. Usually, the size of the panel determines the capacity of the charger. What size Solar Panel you need to buy is directly proportional to the device which you plug in to charge. Pick up the Solar Panel which will be compatible with your device.

How Long it Takes to Charge a Phone with Solar Phone Charger

There are two factors that determine the charging time:

• Intensity of sunlight
• Capacity of the Solar Cell Phone Charger

When given a situation where there is bright sunlight and a decent capacity charger having  5-watt Solar Panel, it would take around 4-5 hours to charge a cell phone fully.

How does Solar Cell Phone Charger work

The components required to build a simple Solar Cell Phone Charger are:

• Solar Panel
• Charge Controller
• Battery
• Voltage Regulator
• Universal Charging Port

Fig. 3 – Block Diagram of Solar Cell Phone Charger

Solar Panel

Solar Panel is the parallel arrangement of solar cells. Solar Cells are the photovoltaic cells that absorb solar radiation. When the light rays hit upon the panel, the free electrons start moving and initiate the current production process. To read more about how the Solar Cell works, click on the link which will provide you complete information on Solar Cell.

Charge Controller

It manages the power going into the battery from the solar array.

Battery

It stores the energy received from Solar Panel.

Voltage Regulator

The voltage from the solar panel is not stable and varies drastically according to the intensity of the sun rays and the degree of incidence over the solar panel. Hence to regulate the voltage, Voltage Regulator circuit is used.

It helps in regulating the voltage and current coming from the Solar Panels going to the battery. This circuit is used in between the Solar Panel output and the battery input. Voltage Regulator makes sure that the voltage never exceeds the safe value required by the battery for charging.

Universal Charging Port

Universal Charging Port is connected to the Voltage Regulation circuit to plug-in the device (Cell Phone) to be charged. USB cable is used to transfer the charge from the Cell Phone Charger to Mobile Phone.

Is there a Solar-Powered Cell Phone

The answer may surprise many, yes there are Solar Powered Cell Phones. Samsung is the first brand that launched Solar-Powered Cell Phone into the market in the year 2009. Later many other brands like Xiaomi and Micromax also launched Solar Cell Phones.

Fig. 4 –  Solar Powered Cell Phone

In Solar Powered Cell Phones, the solar panel is embedded on the back of the phone. When this is kept facing the sunlight, it absorbs and converts Solar energy to electrical energy. Since the surface area of the back of the phone is less, it limits the quantity of solar panel insertion. This directly results in the charging capacity.

Best Solar Phone Charger

In recent days, Solar Cell Phone Chargers are making sound in the market due to their adaptability and user-friendly nature. But sometimes it may get overwhelmed to choose the best and suitable charger among the numerous. So here we have listed some of the best solar cell phone chargers in the market to make your purchase easy.

Before looking into the list here are some key points that need your attention before purchasing one.

• Efficiency of your device
• Adaptability of charger
• Power output of the charger

Apart from all these, easy-to-use indicators like level of battery, durability, affordability are some of the other factors to keep in the picture while purchasing a Solar Charger.

Best chargers include:

• BigBlue 28W Solar Charger
• BioLite Solar Panel 5+
• Feeke KR-T01 Solar power bank

BigBlue 28W USV Solar Phone Charger

This is one of the most loved and highly rated Solar Phone Chargers. The device folds open to 4 layers, weighs around 550 grams. So it fits into any backpack and is apt to carry along when traveling. It provides three USB ports for charging. The only con this charger possesses is, it does not have any battery backup, which in turn doesn’t support the direct charging category.

BioLite Solar Panel 5+

This solar panel is well designed to place it on any terrain or you can even hang it on the tree to get maximum sunlight. This is compatible with many phones, tablets, and also cameras. This provides the battery backup facility wherein you can charge and use it at any time. It is a lightweight device weighing less than 250 grams which makes it travel-friendly. The only con we can find in this is; it has only one USB output port.

Fig. 5 – Image of BioLite Solar Panel

Feeke KR-T01 Solar Power Bank

This is one of the bestselling, top-rated Solar Power Banks on the internet. This has got the additional provision of wireless charging (only for QI phones). This supports both Micro input and Type-C plugins. It is sturdy, lightweight, easy to carry, waterproof, dustproof. To sum up, it is one of the efficient Solar Cell Phone Chargers.

Though we have mentioned only three chargers, there are plenty of options available in the market to choose from. You can choose your preferred charger according to your requirement.

Do Solar Phone Chargers really Work

The popularity of Solar Cell Phone Chargers is less compared to solar water heaters and light. So it is likely to hear questions like ‘do solar phone chargers really work’?

Yes, the Solar Cell Phone Charger works efficiently as any other charger. In fact, Some countries have implemented public Solar Cell phone charging booths. So clearly, solar Phone chargers are a streamlined device that performs its purpose very well.

Fig. 6 – Solar Powered Charging Booth

Advantages of Solar Phone Charger

The advantages are:

• Solar energy is renewable energy.
• The source of energy is free and environment friendly.
• Maintenance is less.
• They are cheaper.

Disadvantages of Solar Phone Charger

The disadvantages are:

• Charging is quite slow.
• It needs light to get charged, some models do not work on overcast days.

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