Solar Power! Review of Sunsei Solar 2-watt 12-volt charger! Part 1

Submitted by sterling on Thu, 07/24/2008 - 06:46.

In Southern California there is many things: beaches, mountains, deserts, urban sprawl, sky scrapers, and a lot of sun. In fact, SoCal is a desert and the majority of the day is filled with sunshine. I had a thought of harnessing the mightly energy of the sun with a solar panel. I ordered Sunsei Solar 2-watt 12-volt charger for fun.
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I followed the instuctions and plugged the 12 volt charger cable into my 12 volt socket. But by the design of my Nissan Altima, with the ignition off the battery power to accessory devices (ACC) and to the power sockets are disconnected. While the solar panel was generating energy shown by its indicator light, it wasn't charging the battery. The included instructions warned me of this. However, with solar panel plugged in, I realized that my car radio and CD player still worked! Even when my car was off. The single solar panel was powering my car stereo and its six speakers! Amazing! 12Volts at 2 watts powering my car stereo! However when I plugged in a cell phone charger, the stereo powered off. Appearently the solar panel can generate enough power for one 12 volt item at a time.
Experiment!I left the my cell phone in my car and let the solar panel charge it for four hours while I went to the mall. By the time i got back, the phone was charged! This device can be a huge gas savings for car owners who stay in their cars to listen to the radio or for people who forget to charge their phones! Stay tuned, I will be trying to charge other small devices with the solar panel.