Going Solar: first steps

A couple of weeks ago I bought a FreeLoader solar battery which is expressly designed to recharge your little tech gadgets. This week, I added a supercharger to it (that’s the large green thing). The whole kit itself costs about £50. It’s not terribly sunny here but the freeloader battery charges in about 8 hours … Continue reading “Going Solar: first steps”

A couple of weeks ago I bought a FreeLoader solar battery which is expressly designed to recharge your little tech gadgets. This week, I added a supercharger to it (that’s the large green thing). The whole kit itself costs about £50.

It’s not terribly sunny here but the freeloader battery charges in about 8 hours by itself and in about 3 hours with the supercharger. This battery will then (in turn) provide about a half-charge to a Nokia N800 or iPhone 3G.


Having the unit in direct sunshine charges it quicker, having it behind glass in my living room (which is sheltered) makes it recharge much slower. You can also fast-charge it over USB which you would think defeats the purpose but this is about being able to get your gadgets power when you need it.

I think this kit will be very useful during the next few weeks and after that I’ll be looking at a bigger project. Like powering the TV at home.

Oh, it also comes in pink.