# Are there any Solar Chargers that can charge an 18650?



## witness (Apr 1, 2012)

Hey y'all. Does anyone know of a charger that is capable of safely and effectively charging the 18650. It would be AWESOME to be able to have an indefinite source of light in the back country. This maybe:

*SolarFocus SolarMio Pro Charger*
*Weight:* 395g
A flexible, lightweight and durable solar panel combined with a high-capacity storage battery: just the set-up to keep your phone, GPS, MP3 players, Bluetooth® devices, or digital camera running while you’re off the grid. Included AC and car adapters let you pre-charge the storage battery. An hour of intense sunlight should keep a 3G iPhone® good for about 6 hours of talk time or 14 hours of audio playing time.

3.7V, 3000mAh rechargeable lithium polymer battery.	
Battery adaptor clip connects to most 3.6 or 3.7 lithium ion digital camera batteries	
Adaptors included for Nokia, Motorola, SOE, Samsung and LG phones.	
Solar power (max.): 5.04W.	
Solar output: 6V, 840mA (max.).	
Power bank output: 5V (2A max.).	
Power bank input: 5V; 1A or solar.	
Dimensions are 8.5 x 22 x 3.5cm when folded. 4.9 x 22 x 0.4cm when unfolded


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## TEEJ (Apr 1, 2012)

I have cotton pickers version from CPFM - it can do multiple 18650's while charging your iphone, etc.



Its portable and folds up like a note book....and has about every adpater/connection you'd need, plus, it can also use 18650's as reservoirs, if you use battery boxes, it will save the solar power connected to the boxes, and then use the boxes to provide power when there's no sun, etc.


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## witness (Apr 1, 2012)

TEEJ said:


> I have cotton pickers version from CPFM - it can do multiple 18650's while charging your iphone, etc.
> 
> 
> 
> Its portable and folds up like a note book....and has about every adpater/connection you'd need, plus, it can also use 18650's as reservoirs, if you use battery boxes, it will save the solar power connected to the boxes, and then use the boxes to provide power when there's no sun, etc.



Where does one find this? The only thing I found was a cotton picker usb charger.


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## witness (Apr 1, 2012)

Oops, found it. Thanx.


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## witness (Apr 1, 2012)

Has anyone tried Goal0 products?


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## yifu (Apr 2, 2012)

Cottonpicker's solar charger on cpfmp is one of the best and the large version (still tiny) delivers enough power to charge a 18650 is a couple of hours.


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## witness (Apr 2, 2012)

yifu said:


> Cottonpicker's solar charger on cpfmp is one of the best and the large version (still tiny) delivers enough power to charge a 18650 is a couple of hours.



When you say large version do you mean the double panel version or the large single panel?


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## Shadowww (Apr 2, 2012)

http://www.adafruit.com/products/390 - I'm using this (with this panel: http://www.adafruit.com/products/417 ) and it works great for me, charging rate claim of 500mA is pretty accurate I'd say.


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## witness (Apr 2, 2012)

*Is the Cottonpicker solar charger OK for 18650 batteries.*

Is the Cottonpicker solar charger ok for 3100mah 18650 batteries or should I should power a better charger like the Pila with the Cottonpicker?


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## witness (Apr 2, 2012)

Shadowww said:


> http://www.adafruit.com/products/390 - I'm using this (with this panel: http://www.adafruit.com/products/417 ) and it works great for me, charging rate claim of 500mA is pretty accurate I'd say.



So would that be better than the Cottonpicker or maybe a Cottonpicker powering a good charger like the Pila?


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## Quest4fire (Apr 2, 2012)

> So would that be better than the Cottonpicker or maybe a Cottonpicker powering a good charger like the Pila?



The Pila charger requires 6 Volts DC / 2-3 Amps to work properly.


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## TEEJ (Apr 2, 2012)

The cotton picker is able to charge 3100 mAh 18650s no problem.

As it uses the same algorithm as the Pila, there's no need to hook a charger to a charger.


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