Solar Power Bank

USB power banks are usually rated in milli-ampere hours (mAh) in most cases the more power the better (higher mah is better) I have one, originally for backpacking, that is rated at 20,000 mah (which translates to 20 amp hours) it is more than enough to keep my phone and blue tooth speaker recharged for several days (a week or more of intermittent use)... I would stay away from any USB power banks that do not list their power storage capacity, and any that do not recharge from, at least, several square feet of solar cells, as far as I can see they are, likely, all made in china with chinese quality..

Not sure how well your cell phone will work if you get far away from the cell towers of civilization, though...

When I am out side of cell service areas my cell phone can easily last 4 days without recharging. When using it for a lot of talking (in range of cell service) though its only good for a couple of days between charges.
I tried & have a 5 watt (advertised) solar USB charger (folding solar panel array) for my USB power bank; it only barely works, smaller ones would likely be ineffective... be aware that makers of solar cells and panels etc. typically vastly overrate their products...
When camping I have used old solar arrays/panels as small as 14 (advertised) watts (measured power was in the 3 to 4 watt range) to recharge a 35 amp hour SLA (sealed lead acid) battery. My current minimum is 100 watts (advertised power from "reputable" solar companies) for solar recharging a 50 amp hour LiFPo4 battery.
Last year I experimented with a number of new, 20 to 50 watt panels (from less reputable chinese companies via Amazon) which had actual (measured) power outputs roughly 1/12 of their advertised rating ... one possible conclusion is that chinese companies cannot measure another is that they tend to stretch the truth as far as it will go. Beware...

I keep quite a bit of music stored on my phone and use it to drive the blue tooth speaker when camping (preferably out of range of cell towers).

BTW most sail boats of any size have onboard electrical power sufficient to recharge USB toys...I might suggest you inquire...

P.S. Welcome to the forum!

Enjoy!

Here is a link to a top ten solar power/battery bank guide;
Buyers Guide
Be aware that the battery bank solar recharge times seem excessively optimistic, given the size of the solar panels attached to most of the battery packs.
I also only see one bank that is pictured with a folding solar panel., and it, conversely, has the longest advertised battery bank recharge time of those reviewed (something doesn't seem to add up).
Use caution to avoid being ripped off ...

Edit; here is a pic for one of the 30,000 mah, battery/packs/banks that gives (I believe/expect) a more realistic view of expected recharging performance;


Enjoy!

I have and have, occasionally, used a pocket sized lithium based power bank; worked fine to power a LED light and to recharge the cell (for tunes). ...used a 5 watt (Harbor Freight) folding solar array (definitely NOT pocket sized, but still backpackable) to recharge it; and the 5 watt array was barely/not really enough. Smaller arrays would likely not be worth while; I would suggest a 15 advertised watt array as an absolute minimum size (used a DIY folding, 14 watt (advertised) array for years to keep the old 35 AH lead acid battery charged during extended camping trips). Beware; solar panels are usually unrealistically over rated in an effort to sell them. And small/tiny solar setups often need an inordinate amount of baby sitting, IMO.


the above is a pic of the 14 watt array and 35 AH battery (not backpackable) set up)

Enjoy!

The above wind/water turbine is Interesting; I regularly (always try to) camp near a stream or river, both for water and for the ambient noise.
... not sure how well the turbine would work without an associated dam and penstock. I have seen expedient electrical generation, based on automobile alternators and large drums, anchored to the shore by guy lines & floated in rivers.
I suspect, at least for myself, that the turbine would be one of those ideas that might get used a couple of times then end up in long term storage.

Even having a collection of solar panels and charge controllers; I normally avoid using them, as they can be a significant hassle (I bring a fully charged battery of sufficient size to run everything I need or want for 4-7+ days (50 AH LifePo4; Note, your usage and needs, may be/probably are, different). For permanent/semi-permanent install on a trailer, popup or RV solar would be less trouble, I expect. (I base camp with a tent; by preference, in shady locations).

I only camped once (by mistake) on a ridge where the wind was strong enough that I would consider a wind generator... never again! ... the howling wind shook the tent all night long... If I had to evaluate a wind generator I would try getting a permanent magnet based electric radiator fan from a scrap yard and look for/adapt a large diameter blade assembly. ...Or try mounting it so that the shaft was vertical and fabricate a light weight (vertical) turbine to catch the wind (it would almost certainly need guy lines to keep from blowing over and the noise level might be a concern (but would, likely, be less than a cheap gasoline generator).

I would probably see if I could get a used electric trolling motor cheap/free and investigate its electrical generation capabilities before investing much in a water turbine.

Over the years I have found that I can camp without much electricity and run entirely off batteries (my electrical needs are tiny).
Probably the easiest in camp recharging setup that I have used was to recharge the old 35 AH lead acid battery from the vehicle; but it is NOT a fuel efficient method. Note; I have a dc to dc charger to charge the the LiFePo4 batteries from a vehicle but have not yet needed it... I rarely camp for a week any more.
Next, IMO, would be to use a tiny propane based generator/alternator to power a Lithium battery recharger (need to balance the charger power requirements and the genny size) ...used this while evaluating electrical camp cooking methods.
Solar would be in third place due to the baby sitting and need to carry the gear & battery to a non-shaded/sunny area... As mentioned mounting the panels to an RV/trailer might be a good solution.

Enjoy!

Happy Joe said:

I would probably see if I could get a used electric trolling motor cheap/free and investigate its electrical generation capabilities before investing much in a water turbine.

Click to expand...

interesting, though i would expect the drag of the motor brushes would be an issue with output ability, unless it is a 3-phase brush-less trolling motor. i have a wind turbine i thought about using with my camper, but when is the last time you found a good ridge with wind, that a camper could navigate to. but as it is a 3-phase AC wind generator, it could be converted (or another one could be) to a water turbine. i think it is a 600W @12V turbine, though 3-phase generators are a touch more hardware, what with the 3-phase bridge-rectifier, dump-load, charge controller, and so forth.

i may find a way to make the wind turbine portable, with an anchor-able tripod stand, or something, though i think i will leave it to home, as a charger for something else. i don't know just yet, hence why it sits in storage.
perhaps my weather station project could use it...

but for a water turbine to charge cell phones, and such, i can see improving the one i mentioned with a concentration funnel sock, to gather more water pressure.