RV FEATURE
HOW LONG DO THEY TAKE TO RECHARGE A DEVICE ?
Let ’ s tackle this question first . The BEAM Outback solar chargers have the ability to recharge any device at the same time as it would take recharging from a normal USB port . So if it takes three hours to recharge an iPhone 12 from dead flat to fully charged from a 2A USB port , you can get the same result from a USB port on the BEAM Outback panel of the same output . However , if the conditions are even slightly cloudy , or the panel isn ’ t in the ideal position in the sun , then it will take a bit longer .
The reality is that it is not very practical to plug your phone ( or any other device ) into one of these chargers and place them in direct sunlight for three hours . For a start you ’ ll probably cook your phone or someone will see it sitting in the open and nick off with it .
So under what circumstances are they useful ? The best way to answer this question is to describe to you the instances where I did use the BEAM Outback solar chargers to best effect , and it ’ s here you ’ ll see just how good they are and how useful they can be in certain everyday situations .
Using the 11W and the 20W panels to recharge three devices at the same time
An inconvenient flat battery in my camera .
We were in Townsville recently and , as anyone who ’ s been there will know , it is home to an RAAF base . Be there at the right time and you can see some pretty impressive aircraft up close and personal just by parking yourself under the flight path of the airport .
Such was the case when we were there . The air force was training pilots on its latest acquisition , the Lockheed F-35 Lightning Stealth Fighter . I ’ m an aviation buff so the opportunity to see and possibly photograph these impressive planes in flight was too good to miss . So off I went , found a place to park , got my camera set-up and waited for one of the planes to fly over . To my disappointment , I had forgotten to recharge the camera ’ s battery .
No problem . I just pulled out the 10W BEAM Outback panel , plugged my camera into it and placed the panel on the roof of the car . In about 20 minutes , I recharged the battery to a sufficient level that enabled me to get the photos I wanted . I thought that was very impressive .
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