SunStream Solar Charger

In preparation for Papa Dragon's forthcoming KBC-Gray's Pass hike, saros mentioned a cheap (R200) solar charger that he'd heard is available at selected Vodacom stores; a bit of searching revealed that it is the SunStream unit by World Panel.

Papa Dragon has managed to buy a couple of chargers (Midlands Mall, Pmb), and we will be testing them on the hike, with a report back on our findings in due course.

It seems the charge rate is pretty low at 360mA (smartphones require 1000mA plus to charge optimally) but it's light, simple, robust & waterproof and should at least extend the power-life of your device (phone/gps watch/tablet/camera).

Here is a product review on the SunStream by someone who seems to know what they're talking about (not me ).

A minor correction to the review on the link, the units we have have a split USB to micro Usb/Nokia type cable.



Size compared to a 500ml buddy Coke:



Weighs just over 200g with the cable...

We took 2 of these on the recent hike, one by andrew r and one by myself.
Andrew will report on his experience, I am sure.
I used the cable that was originally supplied with my phone, and the charger would not stream directly to the phone. Same with the pictured cable that was supplied with the charger.
However, the device charged up a 2600mAh power bank fairly quickly in full sun, though I didn't take notice of the exact times. The power bank then efficiently charged the phone.
One thing that I noticed is that the device does need direct sunlight to work, even a bit of shade stops it charging.
I know that Mark from EKZNW also bought one of these, and his wouldn't charge his phone either, I am not sure if he has tried it on a power bank yet.
I would recommend the device if one was going on a longer hike, and clear weather was forecast, to extend battery life. My phone was used mainly on flight mode, as a camera, and occasional calls and whatsapps.
Hope this is helpful to someone.
Cheers
Papa D

Further to Papa Dragon's review above, herewith my observations re:SunStream Solar Charger:
I used the charger to great effect on my Sony Experia Z1 Compact phone, which was able to utilise the 360mA charge directly, without a Powerbank.

Papa D had superglued some Velcro strips to the back of the SunStream and I attached it to the top of my pack, with the phone inside a zipped compartment to keep it cool out of the direct sun and connected via my usual USB cable.

I did not take careful note of how long it took to increase battery charge but I found that with the phone on flight mode it was able to charge the battery slowly, and with the phone turned off it was able charge more effectively (as you would expect).
We had mostly sunny weather so the unit had optimal conditions; on the one partly cloudy morning the charge rate dropped but still provided a bit of boost to the battery, confirming Papa D's comments above.

From our limited testing thus far it appears that the following phones will need an intermediate powerbank to use the SunStream:

• Sony Experia E1
• Samsung (not sure of model)
• iPhone

Thus far it is only the Sony Experia Z1 Compact which charges directly.

It is possible to connect two or more SunStream units to a single phone to increase the charge rate, but I think a much more practical hiking solution is to use it to charge a simple powerbank, and then use that to charge your phone.

As posted above, the unit weighs 200g and is waterproof with a robust plastic case. It survived the normal wear & tear of a 4-day hike with no visible adverse effect.

I will definitely be taking it on future hikes of more than two days as it was great to be able to take pictures, send messages and make calls 3 days into our hike.

One addition I will be looking out for is a longer USB cable to charge the phone while it is in a more accessible pocket, so that I can use the phone/camera while charging instead of one or the other.

When I have time I will do some measured trials to see how long it takes to increase battery charge and by how much.

Measured trials:
I have not got around to comprehensive trials yet, but today was cloudless and I set the SunStream up in direct sunlight on the verandah to charge my phone (Sony Experia Z1 Compact) from 9:30 to 10:00 (30min) and it increased the charge from 68% to 74% (6% increase). The phone was on and locked on to a signal (i.e. not hunting for a signal which seems to use a lot of energy) but not being used. I'm not sure if this can be extrapolated to 8 hours to charge the phone from 0% to 100%.