[Paddlewise] Solar Battery Chargers

"Are any of you using solar battery chargers on extended trips?"

I used a small solar nicad charger successfully on a 30-day kayak trip in
1996. Except for an eight-day spell of cloudy weather, I kept enough sets
of AA nicads charged for two flashlights, my Nikon N90S camera and its
flash unit, and a Garmin 38 GPS. 

The small charger I have will do a set of two AAs, Cs, or Ds in two to
eight hours, depending upon sun intensity. It is not a waterproof unit, and
there are probably better ones out there, but I haven't had time to
research the alternatives. There isn't much of this type of stuff available
through the outdoor industry, probably because of the throwaway mentality. 

On that trip, I also had a 12-volt solar panel for a gel-type bilge pump
battery, which I have used for years. But a diode or something must have
gone bad, because it discharged the battery completely.

In summary, I think the concept is great if you can find the components and
rig something up.

-Andy Knapp
Minneapolis
+5F, a warm spell, no paddling on the Mississippi, but bicycling is great-
no arriving at work all sweaty.
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