FSP showcases solar-powered battery-pack

Misc

Published: Monday 9th March, 2009 | Author: Paul Dutton
Companies: FSP Group (All FSP Group content)

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Blank Rechargeable batteries that offer USB power are nothing new to the market, and FSP already has a few 'Power Banks' in the range.

At CeBIT 2009, the next iteration of the series was on show, replete with solar panel for environmentally-friendly charging.

The Power Bank, not much larger than a BlackBerry Curve, packs in a decent 4,100mAh through a built-in Lithium-Polymer battery.

It'll take a while to charge off the panel, rated at 5V at 30mA - not enough for continuous USB usage - but there's also a DC inlet for mains charging.

The capacity's good and it's not too large, and the solar panel will work if you live in a sunny climate - just leave it on your dashboard and let it charge all day.

No word on pricing or availability, but it's something I would have if priced at, say, below £40. What about you?

Click for more CeBIT '09 coverage

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Re: News - Akasa showcases solar-powered battery-pack

Posted by 3dcandy - Mon 9th Mar 2009, 1:12pm

Great idea, problem is that PV panels tend to have efficiency level of about 15%. That means to charge the battery in this case will take 2 days in UK sunshine. I have built a fair few solar projects, and whilst prices are dropping, they need to drop farther to help make it really worthwhile. I would be using it via the car, leave it on the dashboard whilst sunny, and plugged into the usb if it charges that way whilst driving, you could probably keep a decent charge like that!Quote

Re: News - Akasa showcases solar-powered battery-pack

Posted by amdavies - Mon 9th Mar 2009, 6:09pm

A while back I thought about combining a solar PV panel with a storage battery and one of those magnetic induction charge pad thingies. With solar charging though, you'd be best off using a deep cycle battery, which makes the unit a bit cumbersome.
You could put the PV panel somewhere facing south, ideally, then run leads to the battery/charge pad unit.Quote