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Charging from the sun or additional charge of a handheld computer or a mobile phone in extreme conditions

Many citizens do not think their existence outside the city, frequently even at holiday they don't go anywhere under beams of the sun on a seacoast, but in cities of other countries. I don't undertake to judge what moves them, perhaps, the desire to look how goes life in those cities, to compare with their life, but the fact remains the fact. On the other hand, there is a small group of the citizens, which together with warming gets marching backpacks, maps and start to think out a route of their travel. Various desires move them, but the result, as a rule, is the same, all of them leave dusty and hot cities for a few weeks. For such people intends the charger based on the solar battery, it is irreplaceable in deaf places where it is required to recharge a handheld computer or accumulators. There are a lot of similar devices, we've got Violetta Solargear.

This solar battery can be named universal, as in the mainframe you can recharge up to 2 accumulators (АА or ААА, there is an adapter as a unit). Using a special adapter you receive USB socket, in which you can connect a cable for additional charge of any device, for example, the same handheld computer or phone.

When ordering a solar battery you have an opportunity to choose various types of cables, under your mark of a handheld computer or a cellular phone. To me, as for user of Sony Clie, such a cable was necessary. In result with the device I received what I had ordered. For the time being, it happened to forget about the device, it sheltered alone in the trunk and lived there, about 2 weeks. The next trip of weekend to the country house showed that there was no electricity in the house; the past snowfall had brought down transmission lines in our village. The only way to warm the house was the stove, the laptop on which it could be so desirable to work almost all day long, died through a pair of hours. According to active neighbors and constantly living in the village till the evening the light was not promise to appear, that made passing the night in the house the ungrateful occupation. Already at 2 o'clock in the afternoon it became boring and melancholy, the fresh air, for which have conceived these departures, did not please in absence of the electricity. It is curious, that all of us did not notice, as far as we became adhered to the socket for last years, but this is the case.

And here under fanfares it would be necessary to write, that I have remembered about the solar battery, light has appeared at once, and in general it became good to live. Nothing of that kind, Russian people do not search for easy ways. Family council decided to wait for the light in the house, and only then return back in city. All arguments of reason in my person were swept aside, so we had to stay. Your obedient servant whiled away the evening, playing on the handheld computer, thank God, it sufficed on a pair of hours, and then the battery has told "farewell", so I had to go sleeping. There was no light in the morning, from idleness I climbed into the trunk and found the battery there. Here it was useful.

For four hours it succeeded to charge a handheld computer entirely, two batteries which were in complete set unit, flatly refused to work in player. After their warming in the house, I fixed them in the compartment and put the solar battery on the window, it began to charge accumulators. The weak winter sun did not sufficed for a long time, grew dark. It was possible to recharge these accumulators only in Moscow, on the windowsill.

As a whole, the impression about the device has developed enough well, as an emergency way of additional charge of accumulators it approaches on all 100%. And accumulators can be of various types (АА, ААА, built - in a handheld computer or a cellular phone). On the Russian weather the efficiency of the solar battery is obviously lower, than somewhere in the sands of Sahara, but, nevertheless, for midday to recharge this or that device is real. In marching conditions this time there will be enough, a minus is in the design, it is executed from plastic, there are no protective covers in the complete set, it is necessary to think out how to transport the battery.

During the trip on CeBIT I also took this charger along, and even in cloudy German weather it has allowed to recharge a handheld computer. In the presence of a house and the socket in it, such kind of additional charge looked foppery, my colleague has told me just so. But what you will not go for the sake of experiment.

Certainly, additional charge from the sun is very much niche decision, claimed by units. If your life proceeds only in town, and during the rest the electricity is always near at hand, to think about solar battery is senseless. It's quite another matter if the electricity for whatever reasons is not always accessible. Cost of the battery is high enough, it reaches 85 dollars (without cable, base unit), plus you have to pay about 30 dollars for a cable. In Russia the standard set, as a rule, includes the solar battery, a cable on your choice, 4 standard accumulators such as АА, the USB-adapter, and all this pleasure costs 110 dollars. Well, and as far as such battery charger is necessary for you, to decide is precisely to you.

Published — 7 April 2003

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