Power Up!!

In today's world, everything needs power. As the world advances, more portable gadget we owned and more power juice we need. From our "Can't leave home without it" mobile phone or ipod, laptop, GPS and so on.

I had been asking myself, what if I am out there biking for months, out of the city and there are no power source to power my gadget. No electricity or what so ever. So I did a research a year back and found the only way to get electricity is from the Sun. Now how are we going to do it???!!

There are many resources of Solar Power but the main concern is portable power. Light enough to carry on the bike or backpack. So far there are few gadget out there that fit the bill. Recently I had just lost one of this Solar unit, The Solio which I bough it a year back. This is a great gadget if you use it just to juice up your ipod, mobile phone or GPS. However if you are carrying UMPC (Ultra Mobile PC) then this unit can't do a thing.

I had to find another solution. I need more power, not a 5V Solio charger. I needed a charger to juice up these gadgets, UMPC, Digit Camera, Mobile Phone, PSP and GPS when I am outdoor or traveling.

"Wow... that is a whole lot unnecessary gadgets you are carrying" you might say. Let me explain why the UMPC, I need it because all the information example my Garmin Maps, location information which I downloaded from the Internet and storage for my digital photos. So here is my reason for UMPC. But why the PSP?? Well... is my entertainment unit, music, games or movies when I am on or waiting for the train, bus or plane. Just to prevent my UMPC from power drain from the entertainment. Now there is a mobile phone that is cable of the GPS, mobile phone and Camera. Honestly is great to have all in one but I prefer a dedicated unit. I am still considering the possibilities.. maybe the Sony Ericsson Cyber phone C905 but it really lacks of the GPS capability.

So.. how am I going to juice up all these gadget?? I need a bigger power bank. Earlier I was thinking of a small 12V Lead Acid battery but I will have a problem when boarding a flight. Not until I found these unique portable battery, The Tekkeon 3450. There is a great review on this battery by pocketable.net. By chance while walking in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, I came across a similar battery called "Mr Battery". Everything was identical to the Tekkeon 3450 except for the label. Without any hesitation, I immediately paid for the battery. This battery is capable of producing 19V which is good enough to power most laptop. And for those who is thinking of getting a second battery for your laptop, this is definitely a good choice to consider.

I started to experiment with the battery. The battery is able to charge gadget from 5V to 19V. It is capable of producing 5hr plus for my Kohjinsha UMPC. As the battery comes with a USB port, I was able to charge my mobile phone, PSP....er what about my portable lighting, GPS which uses AAA and AA batteries and the camera??? Further research I came across 2 more gadgets that can full fill my needs. The Sanyo Eneloop USB battery charger and the Universal camera battery charger which comes with a Auto or Wall charger. What I like about the Universal camera battery charger is that you can use it anywhere with a wall plug ranging from AC 90 to 250V or and Auto charging of 12-24V. They come with various exchangeable battery plates but you will have to buy it separately. So my power bank solution for all my gadget is solved.

Now the solar question. How am I going to charge my "Mr battery". There is this blog by Steve Paine from Germany. He had used a 25W Sunlinq Foldable Solar Panel during his tour experiment. I am considering a 12W instead. The price for these Solar panels are not cheap, so for now I will sit and surf more info on portable solar panel. As the technology processes and in the near future, definitely a more efficient and smaller solar panel will be in the market.