Solarcell tricklecharge on X40?

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seneca · #1 Post by **seneca** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 1:54 pm

I've seen backpacks with solarcells that power pdas, mobiles, ipods and such, but can it be made to tricklecharge a laptop?

I know my X40 needs the inputvoltage of 16V 3.5A, but can it be tricklecharged with less? For instance, if I get ahold of a 12v 0.8A solarcell, will it charge the lappy? Or is it so small it would be useless?

And secondly, is there any danger using less or over spec input voltage? I know there is an internal voltage regulator, but I don't know how good/effective it is.

vincentfox · #2 Post by **vincentfox** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 2:12 pm

There's a litte more to it than just buying panels and wiring them up. I googled and quickly found items like the Brunton Solaris 25. Looks like the less-expensive ones just give you a 12-volt cigarette-lighter style plug and let you use your own 12-V auto-adapter with it. You do need something to do additional voltage regulation IMHO, just wiring directly couldn't be good. Enough panel to be useful isn't going to be cheap. Handheld size might take weeks.

seneca · #3 Post by **seneca** » Wed Feb 01, 2006 9:55 am

yeah, I suspected as much... :/
But for me to use my autoadapter, don't I need higher input amperage?

Solarcell tricklecharge on X40?

Solarcell tricklecharge on X40?

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