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I'm only half kidding. I'm a bit of a prepper and I have lots of powerbanks and devices that charge from USB but besides idling my truck I really had no other way to charge any of them in case of a long-term power outage which seemed a bit of an oversight on my part.
Not like this solves the issue. 30 watts (under ideal conditions) isn't much but it's a start.
Also be careful storing powerbanks at full charge, charge them at 80% or ideally around half for maximum longevity
Also don't charge devices directly from solar power because voltage changes drastically due to sun movement and clouds. Better load a power bank and use that to charge the other devices as power banks are much more resilient to changing voltages.
Unless your power bank has a built in charge controller, this should also include your power bank. At its core, a power bank is nothing more than a big ass lithium ion (or maybe potassium ion, if it's newer) battery, just like the one in any other device.
Potassium ion?
You're saying I can ditch the lemons and power my potato with bananas?
You're better off using the bananas as nuclear fuel. I hear they're radioactive
Indeed. They're all the rage in China right now (I AM NOT A TANKIE). Some are predicting they're the "next generation" of battery technology.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium-ion_battery
Errr I am pretty sure those are currently only in use in prototyping and research, did you mean a different battery technology?
Yeah, I think I meant Sodium-ion
That makes more sense. I'm still skeptical. Sodium ion is being sold as safer than lithium ion, but I just read a paper that shows its still worse than LFP. time will tell
current sodium ion tech is great for stationary use and for cold climates. beyond that, lithium ion will be more useful
i think you mean sodium ion?
It also saves a lot of money to do this. I've found it takes almost as much power to go from 80 to 100 as it does to go from 0 to 80.
It doesn't. It takes longer to charge to 100, but the efficiency is basically the same. The amp draw drops after 80%. If you are using a engine to charge, you would lose efficiency because of the extra time, but using solar wouldn't have this issue.