Did my ability to search for things intelligently on the internet die when Google search did or are there legitimately no personal umbrellas with solar panels and a battery pack? Like I feel like that would be an obvious thing, and there’s a bajillion beach umbrellas and patio umbrellas that have solar panels. How are there no personal versions for wandering around on a sunny day with portable shade that gets you a charged battery pack? Is this a thing and I just can’t find it or does it not exist yet and all of science has failed me in every way possible?

Sorry for the terrible AI picture, I didn’t create it I just found it on the internet and it was the only one I could find because these apparently don’t actually exist.

  • Ilovethebomb@sh.itjust.works
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    1 day ago

    I’ve got a very similar panel myself, in fact it’s probably a bit bigger.

    If you leave it out all day, under ideal conditions, it will put around 10AH worth of charge into a power bank, maybe a bit more, so 40-50 watt-hours if you’re lucky, over twelve hours.

    Not a worthwhile amount of power.

    • Korhaka@sopuli.xyz
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      17 hours ago

      Yeah this has always put me off solar panels like this, for their cost they make fuck all and if you just need power for a day or two it’s better to get a battery. Only if you need weeks does solar+battery start to make sense instead.

    • nimpnin@sopuli.xyz
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      1 day ago

      That charges a phone just fine?

      I use a smaller panel to charge a battery at a summer cottage. That keeps my and a few other people’s phones charged pretty alright.

            • Korhaka@sopuli.xyz
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              17 hours ago

              Modern smartphones are terrible for energy consumption tbh, if you just want calls/SMS an old Nokia is so much more energy efficient.

              I suppose turning the phone off can help save, but how many people could even comprehend that these days?