Writer Paul Salopek is on a seven year walk “starting at humankind’s birthplace in Ethiopia and ending at the southern tip of South America, where our forebears ran out of horizon.”

He is using PowerFilm solar panels connected to our V60 (now the V88) to keep his electronics charged. Says Paul, “the direct DC feed from the solar camel’s two PowerFilm panels–I have acquired two now, a 20W panel and a 30W panel–charges up the battery within about 4 hours and gives me up to eight or nine hours of extra work time on my most energy-hungry piece of equipment, my MacBook Air. ”

powerfilm panel charging v60 laptop battery solar charger with powerfilm panel

Prior to his trip, Richard Smith calculated Paul’s daily power needs and published them in this blog post (it is also an excellent guide to anyone who is interested in fully powering their gear on an expedition). Here’s an excerpt:

Paul Salopek’s Device Power Requirements
Device Capacity (Wh) Charging Efficiency Charge Req. (Wh) Duty Cycle Daily Req. (Wh)
Hughes 9202 satellite terminal 37 85% 43.53 10% 4.35
11” MacBook Air 35 90% 38.89 100% 38.89
Canon XA10 camcorder 13 80% 16.25 75% 12.19
Inmarsat IsatPhone Pro 10 80% 12.50 20% 2.5
Total 95 111.17 57.93

Read more about Paul’s Out of Eden Walk and our compatibility with PowerFilm panels.

 

 

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