Originally Posted by
Aidoneus
Although I have a dynohub, I decided to go with just a battery-powered taillight for the rare (I hope) case of riding on roads near dusk or during a dark storm while I look for somewhere to shelter. Similarly, I have a removable, USB-rechargeable headlight for lighting off-road trails and camp sites (allowing me to leave my small headlamp at home). The plan is to use the dynohub to charge one or two power banks, which in turn can recharge my headlight, Edge 25, iPad Mini (offline maps and wifi phone calls), and Nook (reading).
I have been contemplating purchasing a solar panel to use when I set up base camps in southern Utah, and perhaps farther south if I decide to keep going next winter. So far, I haven't been very impressed by reviews of different portable solar panels; most seem to suffer from one or more of the following faults: expensive, heavy, low efficiency, problems charging with intermittent clouds, weatherproofing, reliability, etc.
Of course, I am extremely interested in others experiences with different solar panels in the field.
I also use battery taillight when I have a dynohub. I either am using the USB port to charge, or using the headlight, but can't use both at the same time. If I wired in a taillight it would only function with the headlamp on. And I often want to have the taillight on while using USB to charge things. There are other charger setups that would get around that problem, but I am quite happy with the battery taillights so not changing a thing.
I bought two solar panels a couple years ago, but they do not appear to be available any more. Each one has a USB port and in bright sun will supply 500ma through the USB port. I have not used them on bike tours and have no such plans since I have a dynohub to serve those needs. I got the panels for kayak trips.