For this one-year trip, we had to be able to access electricity in multiple countries, in both 120 and 220 volt, and off-the-grid when no wall or generator power was available. And we had to be able to provide power to the following items:
– The Canon LP-E6 batteries that power Jen’s camera.
– The battery that powers my Canon SD780 IS point-and-shoot camera.
– The rechargeable AAA batteries that power some of Jen’s camera gear and our flashlights.
– The rechargeable AA batteries that run my hair trimmer and my sound recorder.
– Our two iPhones.
– Jen’s Macintosh computer.
The kit that I put together to handle these requirements included the following items:
– A Brunton Solaris 26 Watt solar panel.
– A Brunton Sustain portable storage battery.
– A really cheap (like $5) third-party charger for the Canon LP-E6 batteries. What was needed here was something that would work with both 110 and 220 volt AC power, and would charge using 12 volt DC power drawn through a cigarette lighter adapter.
– An Ansmann Digicharger Vario Pro universal charger to cover the AA and AAA batteries, and that handles 110 AC, 220 AC, and 12 volt DC power.
– A cheap universal wall plug adapter that I bought for under $10.
– An airplane power cable for the Macintosh computer, which allows the computer to draw power from some of the more up-to-date airplanes, and also allows it to draw DC power through a cigarette lighter adapter.
– The standard wall power cables for the Macintosh.
– The wall power cable for the Brunton Sustain (which also worked for the Ansmann charger).
– The standard wall power plug for charging the iPhones.
– Charging and synchronization cables for the iPhones.
– The cables necessary to connect the solar panel, portable storage battery, Ansmann charger, and LP-E6 charger to each.
All told, it has worked as hoped.
One of the more significant challenges was a charging solution for the Canon LP-E6 batteries. Canon has made their batteries in a way that they can be charged by non-Canon chargers, but non-Canon knock-off’s of the LP-E6 battery cannot be charged by the Canon charger. It’s all a bit temperamental, so I was worried there would be a failure with the $5 AC/DC charger I snagged (as opposed to the three-figure-cost Canon AC/DC charger). We are five months into our trip, using all power sources, and the $5 solution continues to work. It was a bit touch-and -go at one point, when the charger stopped working, but I took it apart and found some corroded connections that just needed a little cleaning. Nonetheless, given the imperative of keeping Jen’s camera running, I think I should have purchased the Canon AC/DC charger, and brought the standard Canon LP-E6 wall charger along as well.
Another challenge was keeping the Macintosh computer up and running when we had to rely on solar power. We have only attained a partial solution. We can charge the Brunton Sustain storage battery with the solar panel, but the computer itself will not charge from either the solar panel or the Sustain, even when the Sustain output is set for 19 volts. However, with an output setting of 19 volts, the Sustain will run the computer for about two hours – it just won’t charge the thing. So, what we have is, in effect, a backup Mac battery that can be charged from solar and wall power.
Now, the Macintosh completely drains the Sustain in about two hours, and it takes pretty much an entire day of good sun to completely recharge the Sustain with the 26 watt solar panel. So, for hiking – when you aren’t sitting in one place for an entire day – it’s a limited solution.
Beyond this, the Sustain portable storage battery has been a great piece of gear. We carry it with us in a day pack on plane flights and bus trips, as it allows us to keep our iPhones charged. We play a lot of games, read electronic books, and listen to a lot of music to pass the time; and without the Sustain we would instead have been twiddling a lot of thumbs. The Sustain can handle multiple rechargings of an iPhone.
Overall, the power kit has been a success.
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