Soaking up the sun

Part of me is still amazed by the fact that what seems like a simple panel, left sitting in the sun, can store enough power to charge an iPod or a phone.

There’s something almost supernatural about using this kind of free energy, a feeling I really like.

A little while ago we decided to look for the ultimate personal solar charger: a unit that would do it all and do it in style.

Our research took us to Freeloader, arguably the forerunner in personal solar technology. Their solar chargers are well known in the outdoor/adventure community and their new Freeloader Pro is regarded as the top expression of the art of personal solar technology. We decided to put it to the test…

First impressions: The Freeloader Pro is very portable; the shell is well designed and folded up takes no more room than a first generation mobile phone or PDA. I packed it along with the all-important camera battery charger, the AA battery charger (an optional extra) and finally the right connections for my iPhone. Now to find some sun.

Field test: This test was carried out in the middle of July in Europe so it probably won’t compare to what you’d expect on a typical winter’s day in England. Following the instructions, I allowed the charger its first full charge via USB then used it to power-up my camera battery, which it did very well.

The next charge was going to be fully solar. On a remote beach in France I set the panels for the first proper solar test (a little red double LED shows you the correct charging status) and sat the unit on my towel whilst I went about the typical tourist thing.

I gave the unit a whole six hours of charge in direct sunlight, after which I checked the battery status: two out of four bars on the light ‘halo’ (a neat charge indicator). Not a huge amount but I felt like it would be enough to power my iPhone.

At the end of a busy beach day I connected it all up and, hey presto! the phone lit up and in a few minutes I was able to charge the phone from half battery to full, for free! Very exciting for a solar newbie.

For the next four days the solar charger was charged in a similar way, never really ever getting close to full charge, and it powered my iPhone (notoriously power hungry), my camera once and a portable USB speaker that was always fully charged in a matter of minutes.

Pros: Looks and feels like a well-designed, quality product.

Cons: The price is a little on the high side when you compare it to the Freeloader. Also, the AA/AAA battery charger as an optional extra seemed a bit much and didn’t provide enough juice to keep the GPS unit running.

Conclusion: For my type of usage it turned out to be a nifty little gadget and well worth the investment. Works extremely well as a backup charger and will give you that extra safety net when you are in a remote location.

Available from: www.solartechnology.co.uk for £69.99

Tech Specs:

• 200mA premium quality crystalline solar cells

• 1600mAh environmentally friendly Li-ion battery – typical battery life is two years

• Freeloader’s solar panels can charge its internal battery in as little as eight hours or three hours when using the supplied USB charging cable

• Supplied with a Master Cable for connecting to a device or CamCaddy and for charging Freeloader Pro from a computers USB

• Supplied with ten adaptors to fit the following:

1. iPod, iPhone, iPhone 3g, iPhone 3gs iTouch, Nano etc
2. Nokia phones using both standard and mini adaptors (two supplied)
3. All current Samsung phones (two supplied)
4. All current LG phones
5. All current Sony Ericsson phones
6. Nintendo DS Lite/DSi
7. Mini USB adaptor for Motorola phones, Blackberry and most smartphones, Garmin /
8. SatMap and most GPS, Bluetooth headsets, PDAs
9. 4mm tip for Sony PSP, Archos and most MP4 players, two way radios, portable DVD players, e-books, digital cameras and PDAs

• Impact resistant, rust free aluminium body

• Freeloader holds its battery charge for up to three months

• Supplied with detailed user manual

Size: 150 x 63 x 20mm

Weight: 174g

CamCaddy (Included with FreeloaderPro)

• Max operating voltage – 9.5v

• Max battery depth – 67mm

Size: 130 x 71 x 30mm

Weight: 68g