Solar power or dynamo

[andyt414]

Hello everyone,
Some advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm planning a solo camping tour next year from St Malo to Nice and am pondering the best way to charge phone and GPS. I've been looking at various Shimano Dynamo systems and wonder if this would be the best option or if I should be using a solar charger. Any opinions please ?

 

[andym]

Campsites? (yes I know you're planning to go off-grid etc etc but you'll need to have a shower every now and then).

I'm toying with the idea of a dynamo myself, but don't rule out the less exciting simpler options - if only as a plan B.

I have a short (IIRC 2m) hook-up cable which means I can connect to the mains supply in campsites. I had it made by a guy on eBay

Otherwise you could get something like this:

You can get something similar and lighter from hardware shops in mainland Europe, but obviously it has euro two-pin sockets rather than a UK three-pin outlet. These fit inside the little cabinets with the electrical outlets.

And for good measure I have a power pack that I can use when hooking up to the electrical supply isn't a practical option. Weighs a tonne but very handy.

 

[andrew_s]

I'd use a dynamo, but then I have it for the bike lights already.
You've basically got a reliable 4 or 5 watts all the time you are riding, except for slow climbs.
You need a gadget to convert the dynamo output into USB. I use a B+M eWerk, but there are a fair few types available.
Some items don't like losing power and will stop charging when you stop until you poke the buttons to restart. If you've got something like this (find out by pulling the plug out of the wall whilst mains charging), you can get gadgets that include a small battery to tide you over short stops (USB-Werk, Luxos U front light, both B+M).

Solar is subject to the obvious drawback - clouds, but you've also got to consider how you'll use a solar panel. If it's on the back of the bike, will it be pointing anywhere near the sun, or will it be shaded by your body?; if you want to charge after setting up your tent, how high in the sky will the sun be, will it be shaded by nearby trees?. All this will mean that you'll want a fairly large area of solar cells if you aren't to be disappointed - something like 20 x 30 cm at a minimum, and preferably larger.

As for mains hookup at the campsite, bear in mind that this is usually charged for, and may be limited to the larger, more expensive pitches as well.
You could try not paying (or asking), but if it was me on the campsite and I found an illicit hook-up, I'd just take the cable and whatever was attached to it round to the campsite office and wait for the culprit to come looking.

 

[mmmmartin]

don't bother. you need to buy a hub dynamo or a solar panel, and then fix it up. just buy some AA batteries, I find Duracell last a couple of days in my Etrex HcX, st malo to nice is three weeks maximum so perhaps 18 days riding, you can buy 18 AA batteries for your GPS for about a tenner on eBay or even in France (where they are expensive) for about £20, that'll be a fraction of the price and palaver of charging batteries. If you wanted to you could buy two rechargeable AA batteries with a charging unit in a French supermarket for about a tenner all done and plug it into the shaving sockets in the campsite loos, if you wanted you could sit nearby and keep and eye out, but I never bother. same for the phone - often you can plug the phone into sockets in cafes.

 

[andym]

Campsites are generally pretty understanding and accommodating if you talk to them. They will often charge things up in the office (in fact they'd rather you did that than leave things charging in the bathrooms). Worst case if you have to pay a couple of euros for electricity it may grate a bit paying the same amount as a motorhome with air-conditioning and a fridge, but it's not the end of the world and probably cheaper than a dynamo plus e-werk. EDIT - and considerably cheaper than buying non-rechargeable batteries.

 

[andrew_s]

just buy some AA batteries, I find Duracell last a couple of days in my Etrex HcX,

I bet the OP got suckered into buying an Edge, and is stuck with a GPS that needs charging every day.
Besides which, AAs are no good in a phone

 

[StuAff]

I bet the OP got suckered into buying an Edge, and is stuck with a GPS that needs charging every day.
Besides which, AAs are no good in a phone

Well, actually, all he needs for either of those scenarios is a AA-powered USB charge pack, like one of these http://www.portablepowersupplies.co.uk/portapow-3x-aa-usb-rechargeable-battery/ . Have an older version, works very well with both my Edge 705 and phone.

 

[andym]

Here are some pictures of the adapter I was talking about in the previous post. It weighs 130g and cost me something like 5 euros in a hardware shop and gives me three sockets. Well worth the weight and cost - even if you only carry it as a backup. The sockets are two-pin, but the chances are your usb phone charger came with the bits to convert it to euro two-pin.

I got this in Italy, but you must be able to get something similar in France.

Well, actually, all he needs for either of those scenarios is a AA-powered USB charge pack, like one of these http://www.portablepowersupplies.co.uk/portapow-3x-aa-usb-rechargeable-battery/ . Have an older version, works very well with both my Edge 705 and phone.

I don't know about that particular device, but IME AA batteries are useless for charging as lots of the energy is wasted as heat, and the voltage drops sharply so that in practice you can only use about half the charge.

I use this:

It carries a huge amount of charge - but the price is that it weighs a ton and takes ages to recharge. There may be newer models that weigh less and are quicker to recharge.

 

[StuAff]

I don't know about that particular device, but IME AA batteries are useless for charging as lots of the energy is wasted as heat, and the voltage drops sharply so that in practice you can only use about half the charge.

Not all AA USB chargers are created equal. Mine has never got too hot in use & could charge an Edge 705 from flat twice with the 2700MaH rechargeables I normally use. Enough power output to power the Edge and charge it at the same time. A 600 would not be a problem even following a course the whole way.

 

[steveindenmark]

I can usually find an electric socket in a cafe, shop or pub for half an hour.

 

[psmiffy]

Otherwise you could get something like this:

Ditto - what I use - in Europe it was not until I started using it that I found out that many sites (even a lot of the cheaper ones) electricity was in the price - when was I previously asked the question "do you want electricity?" on many occasions it was not so much to be charged for it - but to put me somewhere where there was not a hook up - with a yes answer not omly have I often found it to be inclusive but on several occasions they have even gone as far as loaning me an extremely long hook up so that from a pitch away from a box I could hook up - on the occasions that Ive been charged for electricity it was pretty nominal and in total it still has not cost me more than a third of what it cost me for a useless solar panel that I trialled with a pda 20 years ago - I find it pretty easy to do my charging twice a week - camera, netbook, phone without having to hang around cafes or worse toilet blocks

UK is different - presumably because continental hook ups nominally* contain all the nessesary RCDs - in the UK they tend to insist that you have a RCD box - I have one for car camping but it is several kilogrammes heavier than I would be prepared to carry on a bike

* I say nominally because looking at some of the boxes Ive used I wouldn't rely on that - I never leave anything plugged in when its damp or overnight

 

[Davidc]

I have a battery pack similar to post #8 which will recharge a Samsung phone 3 times and I'm told by she who borrowed it last year a Garmin Edge 3 times. It was about £15 on Amazon. I also have a USB charger which takes 4 AA batteries, also from Amazon but £4 ish, It will recharge the phone 1 1/2 times using decent alkaline batteries.

It's likely to be a lot cheaper using those than buying a dynamo specially for the job.

 

[Brains]

I've done a lot of camping (measured in years, not months) and a lot of cycle touring.

From experience:
Not Solar. For reasons outlined above, it's more trouble than it's worth.

You can go with a dynamo charger, some of the German ones work quite well, if I was off to somewhere beyond Europe's borders, or seriously wanted to be self sufficient, that would be the obvious option.

However if you are camping in Europe, even if that camping includes wild and stealth camping, I would simply take a suitable back up power pack of which there are many to choose from available on line, of if your device(s) take AAA's or AA's just take one set of spare batteries.

Once you start looking, you will find plugs that you can use to recharge all over the place, in cafes, pubs and restaurants, on trains, in public buildings like stations, libraries, and offices, and of course on campsites, If the place has electricity, then there will be somewhere you can find a recharge point.

I always take a simple English 3 way block plug, put a Euro adapter on it, and put in a couple of USB plugs, which means I can change a phone, a camera and a GPS all in one go

 

[Brains]

Simples!

You can change three items simultaneously with this home made device
One three way block, a euro adapter, and in this case a blackberry and apple USB chargers, total outlay about £5!
and it's small enough to fit in a pocket

 

[andym]

I agree with the point about looking around for sockets. At least for eking out the power - so if you are going for a meal or a drink then it makes sense to find the table next to a scocket.

If you have more than one USB device then I'd suggest getting something like this:

I also use one of the outlets to recharge AA batteries (using a powerchimp) and you can get usb-powered chargers to camera batteries.

These days a lot of chargers come with adapters that mean you can easily switch from UK to euro two-pin (at least if you remember where you put them) and save on adapters. For Apple chargers you can get the bit separately - although it's probably only worth it if you want to use an Apple laptop - otherwise an after-market charger with more than one outlet is probably a better idea.