Electronics, Lighting, & Gadgets - Solar chargers?

i am planning a long distance bicycle trip
what i plan to take with me will make my trip more enjoyable
instead of being depended on grocery stores for buying batteries i have equiped my self with rechargable batteries...........i have 3 items that work from rechargable batteries
a cell phone that is 7 volts (i have the cig lighter for this)
a bicycle helmet light (DiNotte) this is 3 volts 4 AA rechargable batteries
a grundig mini 300 world reciever am/fm/sw 2 AA rechargable batteries

so what i am looking for is a solar charger that will handle this voltage draw that is light weight
i am going ultra light on the bicycle trip total of 24 lbs equipment 28 lb bike 52 lbs total this will give the running chance of being able to do 55 to 60 miles daily

i have seen on the sundance solar web site they have a charger that should do this
and i have also seen on the solio web site a charger but i cannot get a rep from solio company to respond to my email questions..........

so any ideas out there except for leaving everything behind and forgetting the whole idea

How many days is the trip? Things like cel phones will last a couple days even if you leave them on all the time and a week or more if you turn them off during times when you don't expect to be answering calls, like while riding, sleeping, etc. Batteries don't take up too much space or weight to pack them with you. I know that's not exactly what you were asking, but I think it's a valid question since bringing a charger isn't entirely practical if its only a 4-5 day ride IMHO.

As far as actually answering your question, Solio is probably one of the ones I would have suggested you check out, but you already knew about them. There's also random other ones available, like this unit (http://www.greenbatteries.com/battpack.html) which is around $100 for the charger and solar panels together. The only issue then is figuring a way and time to get enough sunlight to actually charge the batteries each day, which may or may not work depending on where you're riding and how long your daylight camp times are.

Being self sufficient is always a pleasure, but, have you considered just carrying a quality small AA NiMh charger and plugging it in to charge your batteries occasionally? You'd be surprised how many outdoor outlets there are where you could plug-in over night. Also willing restaurants, cafes, and coffee shops are in abundance and in most you wouldn't even have to ask about plugging in since they are already used to laptops being plugged in.

Regards,
HB

A solar array with enough capacity and small enough to use on a bike effectively would be nice but... In fact here's one measuring only 15.5 x 2.5 x 41.5 inches (WxHxD) and it weighs less than 15 lbs.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006JO0X8

Might want to look for a smaller one.

Photosmith

out of all of the responses ......... i must say yours was on the button
thanks for the turn on to www.greenbatteries.com
now if i can get them to answer my e mails
but thanks they seem to fill the ticket and the price range

my bicycle trip might be up to 3 months i am planning on doing the great divide mountain bike trail next year........

and between the solar charger question and rain gear that is about it..

i have everything else made or bought .........

Have you considered using a bottle type bicycle dynamo to recharge your batteries? I tried solar recharging, it's near impossible to keep the panel aligned with the sun allowing any serious recharging. Here is the circuit I use.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r154/n4zou/DynamoUSB.jpg
There are two circuits selected with the switch. An LED headlight using a design from Martins site here.
http://pilom.com/BicycleElectronics/BicycleElectronics.htm
It can be replaced by any standard dynamo headlight or omitted from the circuit entirely if you don't want or need a headlight.
The other circuit is used to power and recharge USB devices such as my GPS unit. You do not need the USB connector if your not going to be using a USB device. Simply purchase a battery holder at Radio Shack or any other electronics outlet and connect to the bridge rectifier and dynamo. You may recharge anywhere between 2 and 5 batteries at a time. The batteries internal impedance will automatically control the voltage produced by the dynamo by loading the dynamo with enough resistance to prevent any over voltage production. The dynamo is also designed so it's can't produce more than about 500mA of current. This is the suggested rapid recharge rate for AA Ni-MH batteries. Recharging is simple. Just calculate the time required to recharge your batteries at 500mA, this information will be printed on the battery or located on a data sheet that came with them, reset the trip time meter on your cycle computer, engage the dynamo with the batteries in the holder. Start riding. When the cycle computer trip time reads the same is your calculated recharge time, your batteries will be fully recharged. Your cycle computer will automatically stop and start timing as you start and stop riding so you don't need to worry about keeping up with recharging time due to breaks or stops to take pictures.

You need a system like Pedalpower+ www.pedalpower.com.au (http://www.pedalpower.com.au) keeps you powered up all the time

Solar charges small enough to be portable take days of sunlight to charge a couple batteries. Why not get a 12v out dynamo and get a good charger like a maha c401fs? You could fast charge in an hour if needed.

I had a friend get a solar charger for a Dinotte. 12 hr solar charge only gave about 4 hours run time on the light.

thanks for your in put......
the trip will probably be more than a month....
i have seen the unit your recomended....
i figure i just have to deal with carrying extra batteries
and a plug in for the cell phone...
and to keep the cell phone turned off ...when not in use...

I came across this product that recharges electronics devices through dynamo and solar called the Pedal Power + (http://www.pedalpower.com.au/index_files/Page490.htm)

It recharges mobile phones.

Here is a link to a thread in another forum that discusses using dynamos to charge batteries (separate ones or in phones, GPS, etc).
http://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=6672.0

Later on in the thread it gives a circuit to build your own regulated USB charger.