Long term solar power charger for portable devices

[Coastgal]

I'm hoping you experienced & knowledgeable lot in the liveaboard community can help me out with a solar power conundrum.

I've been trawling the tinternet trying to find a solar powered charger to charge our various gadgets (iphones, ipads, kindle, AA-batt charger). There are soooo many out there, but most seem to be for short-term, portable travel use, like camping, short cruises etc. Yes, we can charge from the domestic batteries, but it seems useful to have an additional means of charging the smaller electronic devices.

What I'm looking for is something that provides a larger panel with higher charge/storage capacity and is designed to be left opento draw sunlight continuously. Something along these lines (though, somewhat expensive & still not quite appropriate):
http://www.amazon.com/Suntactics-sCharger-5-Performance-BlueTooth-Sunlight/dp/B003ZFQUWO/ref=cm_cd_al_qh_dp_i

I've read of people's make-your-own ventures, with smaller batts, but would really prefer to find something made for the job.

Does anyone have or know of a solar powered charger that might fit the bill?

Many thanks - Stacey

 

[GrahamM376]

Most of us have sufficient solar power to keep the batteries topped up and charge smnall items during the day when there's excess power - may not apply to UK though, not much excess.

 

[Hadenough]

Why would you want it separate from the main charging capacity? For less ££ than the example you show you could fit a decent size panel to charge the boat battery (batteries?) and charge the ancillaries off them. I have a biggish solar bank, 240W, and actually manage charging phones, computers, etc to draw down on the "excess" output from the panels during the high output times.

 

[macd]

As Hadenough says: why restrict something to dedicated charging rather than just chuck it into the general pot? I can't imagine any liveaboard would go that route. I'd add that anything semi-flexible such as the Amazon link the OP offers will be less than long-term: they don't last.

 

[Coastgal]

Thanks guys - I think you've all basically confirmed what we'd started thinking. I was praps getting overly concerned about the number of gadgets requiring charging (I'd forgotten to include the laptop!), and it initially seemed like a practical solution having an alternative method of charging the smaller stuff, but this does appear a false economy.

Many thanks for the input - Stacey

 

[dominatus]

I disagree, I have an sCharger-12 (from the same company) and it has lasted me a little over 2 years and continue to use it to solar charge my iphone and nexus 7 tablet.