solar panels powered for Solar Charger Bag charger backpack USB Output portable charger for all mobile phones

Solar chargers on the market

Portable solar chargers are used to charge cell phones and other small electronic devices on the go.

Chargers on the market today use various types of solar panels, ranging from thin film panels with

efficiencies from 7-15% (amorphous silicon around 7%, CIGS closer to 15%), to the slightly more efficient

monocrystalline panels which offer efficiencies up to 18%.


The other type of portable solar chargers are those with wheels which enable them to be transported from

one place to another and be used by a lot of people. They are semi-public, considering the fact that are

used publicly but not permanently installed. A good example of this kind of portable solar charger is the

Strawberry Mini device.

Electrical Characteristics

What are Solar Panels Made of?


Photovoltaic (PV) solar panels are made up of many solar cells. Solar cells are made of silicon, like

semiconductors. They are constructed with a positive layer and a negative layer, which together create an

electric field, just like in a battery.

How Do Solar Panels Generate Electricity?


PV solar panels generate direct current (DC) electricity. With DC electricity, electrons flow in one direction

around a circuit. This example shows a battery powering a light bulb. The electrons move from the negative

side of the battery, through the lamp, and return to the positive side of the battery.


With AC (alternating current) electricity, electrons are pushed and pulled, periodically reversing direction,

much like the cylinder of a car’s engine. Generators create AC electricity when a coil of wire is spun next to

a magnet. Many different energy sources can “turn the handle” of this generator, such as gas or diesel fuel,

hydroelectricity, nuclear, coal, wind, or solar.


AC electricity was chosen for the U.S. electrical power grid, primarily because it is less expensive to

transmit over long distances. However, solar panels create DC electricity. How do we get DC electricity into

the AC grid? We use an inverter.