Solar all the way

Feb '15

The biggest thing I struggled with with solar is specs…what will give you enough power. I still don't know but I can tell you what I have

I have a 7 Watt panel 

and leaving it in the sun from around 9am to 6pm 

charges my 13 000 mAh power bank

half way

…which means I can charge 2 cellphones off of it to full charge at night

The first time of using the power bank I charge it all the way using a wall plug

off of this I could charge

2 cellphones

and about ½ way on my iPad

I definitely recommend you get a power bank and a USB extension cable!

iPhones and iPads have a minimum charge that they need before they will start charging…connecting them directly to the panel means that when a cloud comes over and then moves on, your iPhone might not start charging again. Also, if the sun isn't strong it won't charge. Where as I have found the power bank will charge regardless. 

This is all very untechnical though so maybe the small charge is doing more harm than good? Let me know if so!

In terms of water features:

I have a 7 Volt/140 mA/1.2 Watt panel (11 x 11 cm) connected to a 6 Volt, 120 mA pump, and maybe I get about a 10 to 15 cm high fountain coming off of that. It is sensitive to the sun and angle though so they hight will increase or decrease accordingly. If the sun is limited it will just spirt on and off!