this post was submitted on 07 Oct 2024
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Solarpunk

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Hope this fits here.

It's not much in the grand scheme, but all of my everyday carry electronics are all solar charged.

Left to right: Cat S22 Flip smartphone, Bluetooth earbuds, rechargable pen light/laser pointer/black light/dog toy, and my Kobo e-reader.

They're mostly charged / topped up overnight from my 12W / 8000 mAh solar battery bank. I just throw it outside or in a window during the day and plug a USB hub into it to charge my devices overnight. My phone will usually go 2-3 days on a charge, but I've also got a 6W panel I stick in the window if it needs a little battery boost during the day. I also top off other things from the 6W panel, but those aren't exclusively solar like my EDC stuff.

Thought I was going to have to cheat a week or so ago. It was rainy and cloudy for nearly 2 weeks, and the solar battery bank was struggling to stay above 50%, but the clouds finally broke and my solar bank was able to fully recharge with a few hours of sunlight to spare.

Like I said, it's not much, but these have only ever been charged from solar**, and I think that's pretty cool.

** Except the bit of charge my phone and e-reader got from my laptop when I had it plugged into USB to flash firmware and add files.

My solar battery bank. (Not the best design with an integrated, non-removable battery, but has worked well enough)

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[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago) (1 children)

I have no idea what the blacklight mode is for, but it's a feature.
You can check if banknotes/driving licences* are counterfeit, and if you turn the lights off in your bathroom and then look at the toilet with the blacklight, you'll be more thorough when you clean it!

Just realised, you could use it in hotels as well :-(

  • We have a desk mounted one at work as part of security checks on driver's licences.
[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 13 hours ago

Thanks. That does sound way more useful then I was thinking.