Review: Solar Cell Phone Charger by Daylight Savings

September 22nd, 2008 • Mark Guim • Filed Under •

I was really glad to bring the solar cell phone charger with me to Berlin because it saved me from low battery. It was provided by Daylight Savings for review. Bottom line, forget about the other chargers out there. This is the only one you need.

Solar Charger

The main feature of the Daylight Savings solar cell phone charger is that you can just place it by your window or car seat on and let it charge up, assuming there’s some sunlight outside. On a day where you know you’ll be taking lots of videos and pictures, bring the charger with you just in case. This is also really helpful during camping getaways where power outlets are hard to come by.

Don’t worry if there’s no sunlight. You can also juice up the charger with a USB cable connected to a laptop or computer.

Solar and usb Charging
You can also charge it with a USB cable.

The charger comes with different adapters fitting many popular brands including Nokia phones. The wire that comes with the package is pretty short. On my trip to Berlin, I actually used the Nokia CA-100 USB charger instead with the solar charger which is a little longer.

The solar phone charger has a 1200mAh battery inside. This means I can fully charge up a Nokia N95 8GB once until the solar charger’s battery becomes empty.

Nokia n82 Charger
Charging the Nokia N82

The Daylight Savings solar phone charger is not a necessity, but it’s one of those things that one day you’ll thank yourself for having one. For only $20 (+$4.99 for shipping), I think it’s a great deal. A popular competitor is the Proporta charger which costs more than double and does not have solar charging. Do I really need to ask which one is the better buy?

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  • JoeAnne11
    I heard that the home solar system Maryland is the best way to charge cellphones or batteries, even to get heat in the house and it doesn't cost a fortune either.
  • Ahmed
    How much this solar charger costs and from where it can be purchased online ??
  • Dan
    Interesting article - many of the reports I read dismiss solar chargers as ineffective, so it's nice to see positive feedback. Also the comment from someone about them even working in the UK also rings true. We sell solar chargers and are seeing an increase in popularity about them.
  • Adam
    Hey there, I bought the charger after reading the article and I am really disappointed witht he quality of the instruction manual.

    I have some extra questions and I hope you can answer some.
    1. When is the charger converting sun into juice?
    2. Does it have to be on or off?
    3. How do I know the charger's battery is full?
    4. Does it hurt to keep it in the sun for the whole day?
  • Yordan
    Hello, 2 weeks ago I got this Nokia E71, the battery is big 1500mAh but this is not big enough for me. I do use the very often for laying music and making phone calls, 3G is off but still Im running out of battery too fast. So I got few questions.
    How much is the capacity of the solar charger(its own battery) 1200 mAh or 2000 mAh ?
    How long does it take for the solar charger to charge its own battery in a very sunny conditions like near 850-930 W/m^2.
    How fast a fully loaded solar's charger battery can charge an empty phone battery ?
    How big is the device ? size, weight, is it possible to be attacher to a window without using any cords ?
    How does the chrgers protects its own battery form overheating ? I mean GOSH! its all black !

    If any of u can post some answers I'd be verry happy to read em!
    Thanks in advance.
    P.s. brilliant idea for having such a nice wall-plug in your pocket :)
  • Good one thanks! There are plenty of generic solar chargers for all mobile phones available, but do anyone have the same designed specifically for the iPhone.
  • I've been cautious of solar chargers ever since my N95 started having major battery issues after I charged it with a Solio. It might have been a fluke, but I don't know for sure. I'd also warn against ordering cheap solar chargers from China (via eBay or other sites). I bought a dirt cheap no-name solar charger for ~$20 that claimed to have a 2000mAh battery, but when I opened it up, it only had a single 200mAh cell. Solar chargers are awesome in theory, but they seem to have a long way to do.
  • Really good article. I have been following your blog for last 3 months. You have good knowledge
    on Mobile(cell phone) Industry and happenings. Please continue the good work. Thank you.
  • Snotick
    I purchased on of these after reading your review. The packaging and owners manual states that my unit contains a 2000mah battery instead of the above mentioned 1200mah. I dont know if they just recently changed this. But, bonus for me.
  • I always get the urge to get them all, whenever I read about solar chargers! Such an amazing thing, I don't understand why there isn't a bigger market. But when looking at mobile solutions, i want something that can charge even my laptop, and that seems to be much harder to find. Watts confuse me - do you know how powerful this charger is in terms of machines, and what else it can charge? And what is the weight?

    On a side note: On my way to this blog, I found this clipp on youtube (i put the URL as "website") searching for Nokia... I thought it was hilarious (or sad - i am not sure) so i thought i'd share! "Good technique on you!"
  • Just updating that Proporta kindly offered to send me a charger so I can compare it to the Daylight Saving charger. I'll post a comparison after some tests.
  • I meant E71, not N71.
  • it's frustrating that the N95 doesn't charge when connected via USB to a laptop however this coould be an excellent workaround - i've just ordered one :D
  • @ josh909 - There is a mod that you can do if your feeling brave enough to allow usb charging on your N95. There is a simple guide over on N95Users.com/forum
  • The CA-100 will also let you charge the N95 through USB.
  • Well I never knew that Mark! I will try that now with the CA-100 I have here from WOM that came with the N71. Heres me thinking they were completely different.

    Bugger, just checked, its an CA-101 :(
  • Dan M
    Works in the UK? I'd never believe it. The Sun went on holiday over the summer. It has just returned!
  • I have used this product. i works really well in even over cast weather. it was a fairly bright day but still... works in the UK :P


    http://www.sustainablesource.co.uk
  • Great review! I have the Proporta Solar charger my self, which has got me out of bother more than one. This one you have trialed is indeed a bargain however.
  • ashu
    aigo,,,,another alternative!!!!!:)
    Have posted a comment about it on Ricky's site also...
  • Cosmo
    Hi!
    Seems that the shiping is free to Romania, just paid over paypal and it charged only 20$. I hope i'll get it this year :)
  • Cosmo
    Just got it today, paid 1 (one) more dollar tax, that's all. Me happy :)
  • Is this one able to charge the phone while the phone is in use? One thing I love about the Proporta (aside from having 3x the capacity) is that I can keep using my phone (email, Jaiku, camera, etc) while it's charging, and it will still take on more charge than it's sucking down.

    Or do you need to leave the phone alone while it's charging off this one?

    (I hope that question makes sense)
  • Not sure how to accurately test that out so I’ll give an example usage:

    At the airport 2 days ago, I was browsing the web with one bar of battery life on 3G connection while connected to the charger for about 20 minutes and it bumped the battery by only one bar.

    At home last week, an empty Nokia N82 not running anything was charged about 5 of 7 bars after 45 minutes then I disconnected because I had to leave.
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