Portable Solar

[novarage1]

Does anyone know an easy tutorial on how to have a "good portable solar panel charger" or is that still out of reach. Something that can charge a decent laptop without much effort, I don't know shit about watt's or amps but a lot of these portable solar panels look like shit. It would just be nice to save money. Wouldn't be using it for gaming of course, but if something like that is possible that would be awesome too.

[harryk]

Solar irradiance is approximately 1000W/m² at best; it's highly dependent on location, time of day, weather and more. The BEST solar cells currently achieve about 46% efficiency. Unfortunately the typical cost-effective solar panels used in consumer products is only about 15%. Thus a 1m² solar panel will produce ~150W of power in optimal conditions. 

 

A typical laptop charger outputs at least 50W. Thus you would need at least 0.33m² of solar panel to power a laptop in optimal conditions. You'd probably want to double or triple that to make a reliable solar charger that will work in less than ideal conditions. Want more power? Just add more solar panel area.