Solar Charging an iPad 4?

[lhamilton]

Hi,

After the recent series of blizzards caused so many power outages, I've been wondering about solar charging my iPad 4 in an emergency. Is there any product that works? I've looked at the GoalZero Portable Solar system with the Nomad 7 solar panel and the Guide 10+ battery pack. But from what I can tell from various reviewers it may not work in a useful manner for an iPad (one reviewer on Amazon.com essentially said that he believed he'd need to live at a sunny beach to get a decent charge and that, even then, it wouldn't handle a tablet.).

Has anybody had any luck with the GoalZero or any other solar charger on an iPad 3 or 4? Thanks.

Linda

 

[buerkletucson]

Hi,

After the recent series of blizzards caused so many power outages, I've been wondering about solar charging my iPad 4 in an emergency. Is there any product that works? I've looked at the GoalZero Portable Solar system with the Nomad 7 solar panel and the Guide 10+ battery pack. But from what I can tell from various reviewers it may not work in a useful manner for an iPad (one reviewer on Amazon.com essentially said that he believed he'd need to live at a sunny beach to get a decent charge and that, even then, it wouldn't handle a tablet.).

Has anybody had any luck with the GoalZero or any other solar charger on an iPad 3 or 4? Thanks.

Linda

The standard iPad charger is 12 watts.............
The Goalzero is rated at a max of 7 watts................and I bet this is not even close to what you normally get on average. Probably more like 4-5 watts.

It would probably work but would take significantly longer to charge.

 

[scifan57]

I think you'd need two iPads, one to use and on on charge, because the solar charger won't supply enough power to operate the iPad while it's being charged.

 

[Somerled]

On the older iPads (1 and 2) this would have been enough. It will charge, however, you wont be able to use it. It would be more of a trickle charge. I have a smaller solar charger which i use for my iPhone, and have used it in an emergency to get my iPad 3 up enough for a quick use, but that was it. Expect it to take most of the day to charge up to about 50%.

 

[AQ_OC]

Why not buy some UPS devices and some portable batteries to keep at the ready? The UPS devices have a large battery inside and can charge an iPad easily. Also, I have a 12000 mAh portable battery that can provide 5V @ 2A, which would likely charge an iPad once, if that. It will charge an iPad mini more than twice and an iPHone several times. I have several UPSs around. If the power goes out I would unplug the computers from them so as to keep the energy stored inside for when needed.

Solar is nice too, but not for a power hungry thing like an iPad 3 or 4.

 

[JT2002TJ]

Get a generator. I had to get one after Hurricane Sandy left me without power for 14 days. I got the generator 3 days into it.

 

[lhamilton]

Thanks for all the answers! I think I like the generator idea the best.

Linda

 

[rurocking]

I have a 12,000mAh battery pack which will charge my iPad 4 up to 4 times and will allow to be charged up by anything. Then using a small solar panel I keep the battery charges up. My battery pack cost me $23.00 and the Solar panel 7 watts cost me $49.95 with that combination I stayed at the cottage for 3 weeks without ever plugin into an outlet.

 

[lhamilton]

Wow! That sounds good. What model of battery pack and solar panel did you use? Did you have any problem connecting them all? I gather that you used the solar panel to charge the battery pack and then used the battery pack to charge the iPad. How long did it take to charge the battery pack and did you need full sun? How long did it take to charge the iPad?

Thanks.

Linda

 

[kingjust35]

I just purchased the Mophie Juice Pack Power Station Duo. It charge both my Ipad 4 and Iphone 5 simultaneously, and believe me it is totally worth it. I have no regrets about buying it

Sent from my iPhone using iPF

 

[rurocking]

Wow! That sounds good. What model of battery pack and solar panel did you use? Did you have any problem connecting them all? I gather that you used the solar panel to charge the battery pack and then used the battery pack to charge the iPad. How long did it take to charge the battery pack and did you need full sun? How long did it take to charge the iPad?

Thanks.

Linda

Here is the Solar charger I use and here is the battery pack. You do not need sun you need very bright light. At the cottage we have a skylight which is ideal for me to place the panel when charging the battery pack. 8 hours of charging per day was more then enough to keep me going for the 3 weeks we were at the cottage. With the battery pack the charging time of the iPad is the same as connected to the wall charger. It also kept an iPhone charged during the same period.

 

[AQ_OC]

Here is the Solar charger I use and here is the battery pack. You do not need sun you need very bright light. At the cottage we have a skylight which is ideal for me to place the panel when charging the battery pack. 8 hours of charging per day was more then enough to keep me going for the 3 weeks we were at the cottage. With the battery pack the charging time of the iPad is the same as connected to the wall charger. It also kept an iPhone charged during the same period.

No way that battery pack will charge your iPad 4 from empty to full four times! In fact, it won't charge it from empty to full even once when you factor in the losses. If you don't let the iPad 4 drain much, then you can recharge it several times, but don't let it get anywhere near empty.

The solar charger is neat, though. I might get one of those...

 

[lhamilton]

But would it charge it from 50 percent to a 100 percent? That would be worth it ....

 

[lhamilton]

So, after looking at the options, I ended up buying a car-charger for the iPad. I figure that most of the time that I've lost house power in the past, the car has still been running and could be used to recharge as we drive (I know that recharging without running the car risks causing the car battery to zero out.)

 

[AQ_OC]

But would it charge it from 50 percent to a 100 percent? That would be worth it ....

Probably.....