Solar panels
Jeremy Hammond
Jeremy.Hammond at mpi.nl
Wed Feb 9 12:39:27 UTC 2011
Hi all,
Your looking for
http://www.hypershop.com/HyperMac-External-Battery-for-MacBook-iPad-iPhone-
USB-s/91.htm which includes external power solutions.
If you just want to charge your MBP then this
http://www.hypershop.com/HyperMac-Pure-DC-Car-Charger-for-MacBook-p/mbp-car
.htm is what you want.
They have just changed their line up but it seems as if a new version to
charge the MBP from auto power is coming in March.
Having said that, MBPs are not the most energy efficient beasts in the
world. A PC is better suited to low-power situations.
Jeremy
-------------------------------
Jeremy Hammond
Syntax, Typology and Information Structure Group
Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics
P: +31-24-3521171
E: Jeremy.Hammond at mpi.nl
W: http://www.mpi.nl/people/hammond-jeremy
On 9/02/11 1:18 PM, "Post, Mark" <mark.post at jcu.edu.au> wrote:
>Hi All -
>
>Just briefly, further to the issue of running MacBook Pros off of
>external power sources, as far as I'm aware there are two options as far
>as cables go: one, a magsafe car lighter adaptor, which you have to buy
>from Apple so it's expensive, and the other a direct magsafe-to-battery
>cable (if you're using a li-ion), which I believe is made by third
>parties and is cheaper. As far as I'm aware, *neither* option will let
>you *charge* the MacBook battery, it will just allow you to *run* it.
>Obviously, this is not very good if you're trying to accumulate a backup
>charge and can't afford many li-ions (or just wish that the MacBook's
>internal battery, which is otherwise very good, was more than useless
>weight in this situation!). I was told that the second type of cable
>would somehow bypass this Apple design quirk, but I can't see evidence
>that this is the case. If anyone knows any different, I would very much
>appreciate hearing about it.
>
>Cheers from Pasighat,
>
>Mark
>
>Mark W. Post, PhD
>Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in Anthropological Linguistics
>James Cook University
>Cairns QLD 4878 Australia
>
>TEL (AU): +61-7-4042-1881
>TEL (IN): +91-89746-64180
>
>http://jamescook.academia.edu/markwpost
>
>***I am on fieldwork in Arunachal Pradesh until late April 2011 and can
>(hopefully) be reached on +91-897664180. Keep trying.***
>________________________________________
>From: r-n-l-d at unimelb.edu.au [r-n-l-d at unimelb.edu.au] On Behalf Of
>Frances Kofod [fkofod at bigpond.net.au]
>Sent: Wednesday, February 09, 2011 7:43 AM
>To: Margaret Carew
>Cc: r-n-l-d
>Subject: Re: Solar panels
>
>Hi Margaret,
>I don't have solar due to the the cost but do have a Toyota Hilux and
>a Belkin AC/DC inverter that runs from the cigarette lighter. It is
>good for charging small things like the camera battery and my mobile
>phone but not good enough to charge the computer. The computer will go
>if the engine is running. This is good for a short time eg downloading
>Flash cards if all are full but is a pain for any longer.
>I hope to hear if you are successful and which solar panel you get.
>Cheers
>Frances
>
>On 09/02/2011, at 9:39 AM, Margaret Carew wrote:
>
>> Hi
>>
>> I'm currently preparing for a trip where I plan to be self-
>> sufficient with power, running a WAECO fridge, macbook pro (or
>> perhaps an alternative, depending on power usage) and lights. The
>> one thing I'll have that isn't in the previous lists of requirements
>> is a diesel engine (in my Toyota). I plan to have two batteries, one
>> set up to trickle charge from a solar panel. I'll be driving pretty
>> often, which will charge the batteries also. Will run the appliances
>> from the back up battery and keep the other battery to start the car
>> with.
>>
>> WOuld be interested in hearing from anyone who's successfully run a
>> set up like this (solar boosted Toyota Hilux) - any traps or pitfalls?
>>
>> Cheers, Marg Carew
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: r-n-l-d at unimelb.edu.au on behalf of Frances Kofod
>> Sent: Fri 28/01/2011 09:26
>> To: Post, Mark
>> Cc: Xavier Barker; Aidan Wilson; r-n-l-d
>> Subject: Re: Solar panels
>>
>> Hi All,
>> I investigated what I would need to use my MacBook Pro if I went
>> camping in the bush. Someone directed me to
>>www.multipoweredproducts.com.au
>>
>> They have lots of good things on the site including the Solar Gorilla
>> and were very helpful when I spoke with them Unfortunately I cannot
>> afford the recommended setup at present. I would still like to do it
>> some time.
>>
>> I have pasted below the recommendations for the MacBook Pro.
>>
>> Good luck all
>>
>> Frances
>>
>>> From: "Multi-Powered Products" <sharon at multipoweredproducts.com.au>
>>> Date: 12 July 2010 10:39:19 AM
>>> To: <fkofod at bigpond.net.au>, "'John Devitt'"
>>><info at multipoweredproducts.com.au
>>>>
>>> Subject: RE: Someone submitted the form from your 'Contact us' page
>>>
>>> Hi Frances
>>>
>>> Further to our conversation this morning, just trying to sum up.....
>>>
>>> Regarding the Gorilla Combo, the Power Gorilla would be great
>>> however if you are relying on solar, it should be noted that the
>>> Solar Gorilla only draws about 10w of power, so it would take quite
>>> a long time to charge the Power Gorilla up. We would be happy to
>>> provide a Magsafe connector for your Mac Book Pro free of charge
>>> should you choose this option.
>>>
>>> The other option we spoke about was a combination of the Tekkeon
>>> Battery and one of the large Global Solar panels. Typically laptops
>>> use around 50 - 60w of power so it makes sense to use a more
>>> powerful panel, we recommend a minimum of 30w.
>>>
>>> You would need the following:
>>>
>>> Tekkeon Battery $265
>>> Global Solar P3 30w Panel $799 OR a Global Solar P3 62W Panel
>>> $1450.00
>>> Charge Controller $99
>>> Mac Book adapter $14.95
>>>
>>> Please let us know if you still have questions after reading the
>>> information above.
>>>
>>> Kind regards
>>>
>>> Sharon
>>>
>>>
>>> Multi-Powered Products
>>> (A Division of John Devitt & Associates Pty Ltd)
>>> P.O. Box 550
>>> Balgowlah
>>> Sydney, NSW 2093
>>> Australia.
>>> Tel: 1300 883335 (within Australia)
>>> Tel: 61 (0)2 6495 9927
>>> Fax: 61 (0)2 6495 9922
>>> email: info at multipoweredproducts.com.au
>>> website: www.multipoweredproducts.com.au
>>
>>
>>
>> On 28/01/2011, at 12:01 AM, Post, Mark wrote:
>>
>>> Hi All -
>>>
>>> I'll add two cents from the mountains, where I'm trying hard to be
>>> minimalist: Solar Traveller (UK) has come out with some reasonably
>>> good Li-ion batteries called "Power Gorillas" with lots of included
>>> adaptors (but make sure you get the right one for your laptop) and
>>> variable output 8v/9v/12v/19v/24v (would be nice to have a 5v, but
>>> oh well). I power a Lenovo x61 8cell to about 80% with one full
>>> charge, which gives me 5-8 hrs using Toolbox and MSWord on low-power
>>> mode (about 4-5 if transcribing), and if I had the money to buy one
>>> of the new solid-state Lenovos, I'd presumably have more. With two
>>> Power Gorillas, I have enough additional power for 12v AA/AAA and
>>> camcorder battery chargers via car lighter adaptors (included with
>>> the Gorillas), and don't need AC at all (so no inverter). And the
>>> Power Gorillas can take a 20v input, so I don't need a charge
>>> regulator (unlike with a lead acid battery). Power Gorillas are
>>> designed to work with 20w "Solar Gorilla" solar panels, which,
>>> however, in the mountains (no more than 5 hrs peak sun) don't give
>>> me enough charge even when daisy-chained. Also, I've found that they
>>> don't work well by directly-inputting into some laptops, despite
>>> that this is what they're designed for, especially when 19v laptops
>>> are powered-on. However, I've found that a 60w flexible panel well-
>>> placed charges one Solar Gorilla in about 3 hrs of peak sun, and
>>> another 1-2 hrs gives the other a good run. So far, I haven't run
>>> out of power yet, and I'm using everything pretty heavily.
>>>
>>> So the setup I'd recommend for people interested in avoiding lead
>>> acid batteries and firm solar panels is:
>>>
>>> 1) 60w flexible panel
>>> 2) 1 or 2 Power Gorillas, depending on peak sun hours at field site,
>>> plus any add'l adaptors needed
>>> 3) 12v chargers with car lighter adaptor cables for AA/AAA and
>>> camcorder batteries, of which cheap copies (buy some backups!) are
>>> available on Ebay etc.
>>>
>>> The whole setup weighs about 2-3kg not including whatever laptop you
>>> have, but is a bit pricey at about AUD $1000-1400 depending on where
>>> you buy everything. So it is really a reasonably well-funded
>>> fieldworker's set up rather than a practical community-oriented
>>> solution.
>>>
>>> One additional point is that this setup doesn't work very well for
>>> Mac users, as Macs can only run off the Power Gorillas (via a car
>>> lighter adaptor), and can't charge the internal battery. This seems
>>> to be an Apple design quirk which probably won't go away.
>>>
>>> Cheers from Arunachal,
>>>
>>> Mark
>>>
>>>
>>> Mark W. Post, PhD
>>> Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in Anthropological Linguistics
>>> James Cook University
>>> Cairns QLD 4878 Australia
>>>
>>> TEL (AU): +61-7-4042-1881
>>> TEL (IN): +91-89746-64180
>>>
>>> http://jamescook.academia.edu/markwpost
>>>
>>> ***I am on fieldwork in Arunachal Pradesh until late April 2011 and
>>> can (hopefully) be reached on +91-897664180. Keep trying.***
>>> ________________________________________
>>> From: r-n-l-d at unimelb.edu.au [r-n-l-d at unimelb.edu.au] On Behalf Of
>>> Xavier Barker [meibitobure.gaunibwe at gmail.com]
>>> Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2011 5:44 AM
>>> To: Aidan Wilson
>>> Cc: r-n-l-d
>>> Subject: Re: Solar panels
>>>
>>> Spot on! Check him out on http://www.servalproject.org/
>>> <http://www.servalproject.org/>
>>>
>>> On 27/01/2011, at 10:56 AM, Aidan Wilson wrote:
>>>
>>> This (the stuff on the finemespot.com<http://finemespot.com>
>>> website, not the lab-in-the-case stuff) seems reminiscent of an
>>> invention I saw on the New Inventors (ABC Australia) about this
>>> system, in which a portable mobile coverage tower is rolled out to
>>> areas after disasters (Haiti was the most recent disaster at the
>>> time and was the cited example) which would allow people to connect
>>> to one another and call emergency numbers while the normal towers
>>> are non-functional. The benefit of the system was that users
>>> retained their regular numbers and could therefore call one another
>>> in the effectively closed system. And calls inside the cell network
>>> are free since it never goes to a telco.
>>>
>>> I'm going entirely off memory here, so I might be getting a couple
>>> of details wrong, and can't remember what it's called. And I'm also
>>> getting significantly off-topic...
>>>
>>> --
>>> Aidan Wilson
>>>
>>> PhD Candidate
>>> Dept of Linguistics and Applied Linguistics
>>> The University of Melbourne
>>>
>>> +61428 458 969
>>> aidan.wilson at unimelb.edu.au<mailto:aidan.wilson at unimelb.edu.au>
>>>
>>> On Thu, 27 Jan 2011, Xavier Barker wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi all,
>>> As always, i can offer no practical fieldwork advice, but...
>>> Our company provides small mobile internet connected computer labs
>>> in a suitcase (or, rather, pelican case) to a number of schools
>>> in off-grid parts of Uganda. We fit 11 netbooks with 9 cell
>>> batteries and a single loom charger. Most netbooks are designed to
>>> draw 19V, but we have no problem at all fitting the loom directly to
>>> a 12V battery and providing DC power. With this
>>> lab-in-a-case, we are able to provide fully internet-connected(3G/
>>> gprs/edge/sat (with a SPOT
>>> (http://www.findmespot.com/en/index.php?cid=116)) to places that
>>> have no power. The system is able to be used for about 5 hours
>>> without a charge, but a whole day oif trickle charging from solar.
>>> Whilst this solution works for getting everything charged at a
>>> base station where solar panels can be permanently fixed, there are
>>> also a number of really good portable options. Keeping in mind that
>>> the netbooks will run fine on 12V DC (as will small desktop PCs like
>>> the Eee Box which can be fitted with a DC
>>> LCD monitor), it is possible to rig a 12V folding solar panel
>>> directly to the charger of the netbook. Suntech make small folding
>>> 60W 12V panels but they still weigh about 15kg - not great for
>>> lugging around. ALternatively, and much better if weight is a
>>> concern, is the 20W solar-charging laptop bag
>>>
>>>(http://www.multipoweredproducts.com.au/products/Voltaic-Generator-%252d
>>>-Solar-Laptop-Charger-Bag.html
>>> ). This bag has batteries
>>> which will bring your netbook up to a full charge in a day, provided
>>> you get about 5 hours of sunlight. It's probably not going to
>>> be enough to charge a full-sized laptop though. It also has outputs
>>> for you to connect 5V USB devices and car-plug options. This
>>> means you can plug in a caravan/car/camping style lamp into the case
>>> at night and give yourself plenty of power. Cheers,
>>> Xavier
>>> On 27/01/2011, at 4:06 AM, Jeremy Hammond wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi All,
>>>
>>> I am pretty much in agreement with Tom and have being
>>> successfully doing a
>>> similar setup for the past 3 years in Vanuatu. I also buy lead
>>> acid
>>> battery in-situ but am considering getting a solar-specific one
>>> this year
>>> if I can find it in Port Vila. I'll just add 3 points.
>>>
>>> 1. Buy a universal battery charger. They are great and means you
>>> can
>>> really cut down on the amount of chargers you have to take (I.e.
>>> phone/Camera/AA/video/AAA/USB are all doable with mine). Here is
>>> one
>>> http://www.solartechnology.co.uk/shop/camcaddy-cc1005.htm but
>>> there are
>>> different brands/models. You can buy them at most camera stores.
>>> I just
>>> have two of these for all my charging needs (plus my laptop
>>> charger of
>>> course).
>>>
>>> 2. Consider getting solid panels. If you have easy enough access
>>> to your
>>> fieldsite and have a long term relationship with them then it is
>>> an easy
>>> process to take it there and set it up on a roof etc. I usually
>>> take a
>>> solid 50W panel with me each time I go so that now I have around
>>> 150W
>>> which should be above 200W this coming year. They are super
>>> strong, and
>>> great long term value. Plus now I leave them there setup with
>>> LEDs on the
>>> battery so that people there can use the light at night, even
>>> when I'm not
>>> there.
>>>
>>> 3. While tom suggested the "workman's" light and they are good,
>>> if you are
>>> electrically handy then making your own LED setup is really
>>> inexpensive
>>> and easy. There are some great yellow ones that are good for
>>> reading/working by as well. On that note as Tom said, test your
>>> setup but
>>> also understand how it works. Get a friend who knows something
>>> about
>>> electronics to explain it to you and when things go wrong, you
>>> will be in
>>> a much better position to fix it.
>>>
>>> Jeremy
>>>
>>> -------------------------------
>>> Jeremy Hammond
>>> Syntax, Typology and Information Structure Group
>>> Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics
>>> P: +31-24-3521171
>>> E: Jeremy.Hammond at mpi.nl
>>> W: http://www.mpi.nl/people/hammond-jeremy
>>>
>>> On 26/01/11 7:27 AM, "Tom Honeyman" <t.honeyman at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi Jeff,
>>>
>>> Despite the negative "reality check" at the end of the
>>> paper Pat
>>>
>>> mentions (thanks Pat!, also the paper supersedes the blog
>>> posts, but
>>>
>>> thanks Peter!), I am now quite happily using solar power
>>> for fieldwork
>>>
>>> in Papua New Guinea.
>>>
>>> My current setup (well actually I've dropped/genericised/
>>> forgotten a
>>>
>>> few items to simplify!):
>>>
>>> 1 low power netbook (they're all almost exactly the same)
>>>
>>> 2x DC adapter for netbook, but also adapters to charge USB
>>> devices,
>>>
>>> mobile phones etc also very good
>>>
>>> 2x Li-Ion battery pack chargers (for camera, video camera
>>> etc... can
>>>
>>> be very handy)
>>>
>>> 1x DC-DC adapter with multiple plugs (very handy for
>>> powering all
>>>
>>> sorts of things if you know what you're doing)
>>>
>>> DC plug adaptors (so I can plug in many things at once)
>>>
>>> 50W foldable solar panel
>>>
>>> charge regulator with load cut-off
>>>
>>> 10x AA NiMH AA batteries
>>>
>>> 8x AA NiMH AAA batteries
>>>
>>> 1x AA/AAA battery charger (charges 10 batteries at once,
>>> each
>>>
>>> individually)
>>>
>>> 1x AA/AAA battery charger (charges 4 batteries in pairs -
>>> this can be
>>>
>>> a pain if you have a device that uses 3 batteries!)
>>>
>>> Head torch and mag-lite - make sure they work with
>>> rechargeables!
>>>
>>> Often they don't work well with them.
>>>
>>> 12v/DC workman's light, fluro or LED based, low power
>>> consumption
>>>
>>> (these are really good for a lot of light!)
>>>
>>> All the regular equipment otherwise (recorders, speakers,
>>> mike,
>>>
>>> cameras, etc), but make sure they work well with
>>> rechargeables).
>>>
>>> And then I also pack the following for fixing stuff (but
>>> only if you
>>>
>>> know what you're doing):
>>>
>>> fuses, glass and blade with several spares for each device
>>> that has one
>>>
>>> pack of alligator clip wires
>>>
>>> Gaffer tape (often available in country)
>>>
>>> digital multi-meter
>>>
>>> pocket knife
>>>
>>> jeweller's screw driver set
>>>
>>> super glue (often available in country)
>>>
>>> I tend to buy a (preferably deep cycle) lead acid battery
>>> in country.
>>>
>>> This let me work for a few hours a day on the laptop, use
>>> torches/
>>>
>>> flashlights at night, and put on a "movie night" once a
>>> week. Every
>>>
>>> now and then an activity might come along (like a big
>>> recording
>>>
>>> session, or very rainy weather, or on one occasion my roof
>>> blowing
>>>
>>> off!), which would drain the battery too much. Then I'd
>>> have a day or
>>>
>>> two not using the laptop (far and away the most power
>>> hungry).
>>>
>>> 4 things I'd recommend:
>>>
>>> (a) check _everything_ beforehand. There are many "single
>>> points of
>>>
>>> failure" in a solar setup. That's why its good to have
>>> backups, or
>>>
>>> multiple ways of achieving the same thing.
>>>
>>> (b) get a charge regulator with a load cut off. This
>>> magical box will:
>>>
>>> - ensure that the battery is charged properly, dropping
>>> the power as
>>>
>>> it approaches a full charge and cutting the power entirely
>>> when the
>>>
>>> battery is full
>>>
>>> - stop power flowing back into the panel at night (this is
>>> often
>>>
>>> redundant depending on the panel)
>>>
>>> - cut the power to your devices when the battery is too low
>>>
>>> Basically this will let you safely run your equipment, but
>>> it'll
>>>
>>> ensure that the battery doesn't fail because you've
>>> drained it too
>>>
>>> much... this is something that is _very_ easy to do. If
>>> you know what
>>>
>>> you're doing then you can drop this, but you'll spend more
>>> time
>>>
>>> managing your power setup and less doing work.
>>>
>>> (c) try to eliminate using AC power. This is costly. I
>>> guarantee that
>>>
>>> you will not have enough power to do all the things that
>>> you'd like to
>>>
>>> do. So this means do not use "wall adapter" plug
>>> equipment, use "car
>>>
>>> adapters" for all of your equipment. The DC adapters for
>>> charging a
>>>
>>> laptop can often power other equipment. The DC-DC adapter
>>> is extremely
>>>
>>> useful for powering low power equipment. Having these
>>> flexible, multi-
>>>
>>> plug adaptors can be very useful for unexpected scenarios
>>> like
>>>
>>> powering a cassette recorder you've borrowed because your
>>> audio
>>>
>>> equipment fell in the river. Or powering your recorder
>>> directly
>>>
>>> because your batteries or battery chargers have failed for
>>> some reason.
>>>
>>> (d) check that the AA/AAA powered equipment works, and
>>> works well with
>>>
>>> rechargeable batteries. Rechargeables operate at a lower
>>> voltage than
>>>
>>> Alkaline batteries. A lot of equipment is designed for use
>>> with
>>>
>>> Alkaline batteries, and even though initially they may
>>> work fine,
>>>
>>> later in the field you may discover that they have a
>>> (seemingly) short
>>>
>>> life. Digital cameras often are designed to work with
>>> rechargeables
>>>
>>> these days (sometimes they last longer with
>>> rechargeables), but
>>>
>>> torches/flashlights for instance are often not.
>>>
>>> Hope this helps,
>>>
>>> Tom
>>>
>>> On 26/01/2011, at 3:48 PM, Patrick Hall wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> Honeyman also coauthored a paper with Laura Robinson
>>> on this topic in
>>>
>>> LD&C which might be of use:
>>>
>>> Honeyman, Tom & Laura C. Robinson. 2007. Solar power
>>> for the digital
>>>
>>> fieldworker. Language Documentation & Conservation
>>> 1(1): 17-27.
>>>
>>> It's available online:
>>>
>>> http://hdl.handle.net/10125/1722
>>>
>>> cheers,
>>>
>>> Pat
>>>
>>>
>>
>> Frances Kofod
>> PO Box 1918
>> Kununurra
>> WA 6743
>> 08 91692 852 ~ 0438 894957
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>Frances Kofod
>PO Box 1918
>Kununurra
>WA 6743
>08 91692 852 ~ 0438 894957
>
>
>
>
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