Solar charger for batteries and phones?

[Robb]

I'd like to find something relatively inexpensive to charge up flashlight and radio batteries -- as well as phones. Seems like a simple enough task, but I'm having the darndest time being convinced anyone's selling a product that does this task well. Reviews are mixed, to say the least.

Anyone have any real-world experience with a half-decent solar charger that won't break the bank?

[cbayer]

1. We live almost exclusive off of solar. We have very large panels to run our home and charge

our batteries, but have used smaller ones for various tasks as well. My husband knows more and will probably weigh in here.

We have a good friend who is making hats with small solar cells in them. You can either charge devices directly or store the energy to a battery for later use. Pretty cool!

[Starboard Tack]

2. Lots of choices out there.

For flashlights, I keep one or two hybrids around. They have their built-in own solar charger and also have regular AA batteries. Fot cell phones, MP3 players and ipads, there are all kinds of hybrid chargers out there. Best get one with a built-in battery for emergencies.

This one looks like a great buy and is on sale for about $27
Opteka BP-SC4000 Ultra Thin Solar Powered High Capacity (4000mAh) Backup Battery and Charger for Cell Phones, iPhone, iPod, and Most USB Powered Devices
http://www.amazon.com/Opteka-BP-SC4000-Powered-Capacity-4000mAh/dp/B005ZSVZRY/ref=pd_sim_sbs_sg_6

[Curmudgeoness]

3. I am not sure what would break the bank for you,

but I bought an inexpensive one years ago and it was trash. It was poorly made, and worked for about a year before croaking. So what I would do if I decided to try this again is buy the best model that I could afford----and like I do with everything, although I seem to be the only one these days, I would find one in a store where I could see it before I did the purchase. I would make sure it is well made of quality products. That would not insure that it would be good quality that lasted, but it would be more likely than what I got (online).

[mopinko]

4. look in sporting goods stores.

campers have been using this kind of stuff for a long time now.