Very few people know about alternative ways of charging their mobile phones and other electronic gadgets. However, it is possible to charge these gadgets without having to rely on electricity. For instance, unknown to many, solar cell phone chargers are available in the market.

But how do solar cell phone chargers work, exactly, and how efficient are these environmentally-friendly products?

The design or appearance of these chargers often varies depending on the brand or model, but they are generally lightweight; a few of them are even small enough to fit inside your pocket. These charger has a small solar panels that stores energy.

A few models have panels that look like windmills, although most have more ergonomic designs for easy—and even chic—handling. Some models even allow you to simply stick the panels on a window to generate energy from the sunlight. Others can be placed around your arm or even a bicycle.

Obviously, this means you can bring the charger anywhere. Many mobile phone owners who have this charger keep it as an alternative means to charge a phone in case of a power outage or when there is no possible source of electricity within their vicinity.

This kind of technology is no longer new. The photons are converted into electric current by the solar panels or cells, which agitate the light particles and turn them into electrons.

Many of these solar-powered chargers are compatible to most of the mobile phone units available today, although the actual number of compatible phones will still depend from brand to brand. Nonetheless, most chargers can handle practically all major brands, from Nokia to Motorola, from Samsung to iPhones.

The charging time varies, although in average, an hour charging time using the solar-powered charger can provide as much as 30 minutes of talk time using your mobile. This is pretty efficient and sufficient, considering you are using a free power source.

Portable mobile phone chargers using batteries provide the same amount of power (sometimes, even less)—but you will have to get AA batteries as your power source. Needless to say, the solar-powered mobile phone charger is a cheaper, more environment-friendly way of charging your phone.

One of the most popular solar chargers is Solio. It offers solar-powered chargers that work not only for phones but also for music players (iPods and others that have USB outlets) and PDAs. Most of the Solio chargers are handy and light (their chargers weight around five ounces, give or take a few).

As stated above, the manufacturer of Solio claims to take 10 hours of sunlight to fully charge the Solio. Consider that most of it depends on the intensity of sunlight and the right positioning. An average time of 45 minutes of Sun can give enough power to make nearly a 20-minute cell phone call. Takes about 5-7 hours of direct sunlight to keep the iPod topped up.
To calculate the average charging time:

1° Take Amp/hour rating of the battery and Divide by the charger rating (in amperes) (*) and then add about 10% for the extra time to top off the battery,
(*) “Watt = Ampere x Volts” “Ampere= Watt/Volts” “Volt= Watt/Ampere”

(Example): To Calculate how much time You’ll need to charge the battery with a 15 Watt solar charger You’ll need:
1. Calculate the Ampere per hour of the charger: 15 Watts /12 Volts = 1,25 Amperes
2. Calculate the division: 50 amp hours / 1,25 amperes = 40 Hours of direct sunlight
3. Add 10%: 4 hours

Enrico Forte is the editor of the blog “12 Volt Solar Panels”. It’s a free online resource to help people get detailed info on Solar Cell Phone Chargers , reviews from the hottest manufacturers and interviews with industry experts.

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