Originally Posted by
VegasTriker
I'm not sure a DIY phone charger makes a lot of sense because the components would cost you way more than buying a readily available one. Searched a site that I used to buy my bike lights for "solar charger" and came up with 41 results. Price depends upon the capacity of the lithium polymer battery built into the charger. Starts at $10 including shipping.
solar phone chargers - Buy Cheap solar phone chargers - From Banggood
Well it's a good thing I happen to have all the components I need on hand then. I already had the solar panels from a battery charger project I made a number of years ago but fell into disuse when I got a larger, higher current solar panel. The PC board, voltage regulator, capacitors, & diodes are all out of my junk box, and some I bought in bulk pretty cheap at some point in the past. And the USB jack I salvaged out of an old printer/scanner/copier which no longer worked.
I have seen a video online where someone took a cigarette lighter USB charger plug and basically soldered a 9V battery connector to it so that you can charge your phone from a 9V battery. This I will also incorporate into my charger as the 5V voltage regulator will allow the 9V battery to charge the phone, as well as whatever voltage I'll be getting from the two 3V solar panels.
I might work on this project tonight, and whenever I get it completed I'll post a thread about it here.