debcook

You’ve probably seen the bags that have solar panels on the outside of them. I bet you wonder if they work and if so, how well.

The answer is yes they work. There is a caveat though. As long as you only want to charge a cell phone, an MP3 player or other small device there is enough power generated by the sun to run them efficiently. If you want to power a laptop – a device that requires much more power – you are just about out of luck.

There are quite a few bags on the market with solar panels. These are a few of the best known.

· Voltaic Bags
· Eclipse Solar Gear
· Juice Bags
· Noon Solar

Some of the solar bags have a battery pack that can be charged by plugging them into a car cigarette lighter. Otherwise the sun charges the solar panels and they can directly charge your small electronic device.

Back to those of us that needs to charge laptops while out and about. The Voltaic “Generator” generates up to 17 Watts compared to other models and other brands that generate up to 4 Watts.