Solar Cell Phone Charger Review

Did you know that you can charge your cell phone with a mini solar charger? I’ve had this charger for about six weeks and I want to share some of the pros and cons of this particular charger.

I love the concept of having a solar charger. It’s hard to tell from the photo, but the charger is about the size of a cell phone and it connects to your phone with a cable.

Direct Sunlight

When I first tried it out, it was a little frustrating because it was cloudy here (in the midwest) for awhile. I was trying to charge it through the window and it wasn’t getting me anything. But, I’ve found that on sunny days, if I have it outside on my deck in direct sunlight, it does give my phone a charge. It varies day by day how much the charge increases. Some days it might increase from 40% to 65%. Some days it might go from 40% to 42% and some days it doesn’t increase at all, especially if it was an overcast day.

It does better when it’s angled towards the sun. So I’ve been putting mine in a bowl and tilting it in the direction of the sun. If I’m home and I think about it, I move it mid afternoon so it’s angled again after the sun moves. Then, I bring it inside once the sun is mostly down and charge my phone with it. I have an iPhone, but I’m thinking it’s probably compatible with many other phones too.

Flashlight

It also has a flashlight built in, which works even when the device doesn’t have enough juice to increase the charge on a phone. I had trouble figuring out how to turn the flashlight on at first. You have to hold the on/off switch down for a few seconds. The on/off switch blends in to the side of the charger.

Trial and Error

One other thing I want to mention is that the instructions for this product were not helpful. The directions were written in a tiny font and hard to follow. I learned most of what I know by trying different things with the device. I found that if I connect the cord to the charger, then connect it to the phone, it seems to charge better. Again, lots of trial and error.

You definitely have to play around with it and have patience trying different methods. But, I sort of enjoy experimenting with different ways to get it to charge more. So, if that would frustrate you, I would avoid buying this particular charger. But, if you want to experiment with your own little solar panel, I recommend giving it a try. It might be good for camping without electricity, as long as you had enough sun, etc.

I love that I’m not having to charge my phone in the wall outlet as much. But, I wouldn’t recommend counting on this to be your sole means of charging. For me, it just cuts down on charging in the wall, but I still have to do that sometimes. I love having a better environmental impact, even if it’s saving just a little bit of electricity.

Let me know if you have any questions.

~Carrie

P.S. One word of advice- make sure to not leave it out in the rain. Mine isn’t working now after it was submerged in rain water. Hopefully it starts working again after drying out. I did see some on amazon now that are advertised as “rain proof”, but I don’t think the one I got was.

Linked With: