Application of cell batteries in expeditions and camping trips.
Hermetic alkaline accumulators have become the most popular means as power suppliers of portable devices for more than half a century. Their technical characteristics improve constantly but today there is still an issue with accumulators, even advanced accumulators have limited capacity. I would like to share information from my own experience. I am engaged in speleology and the specificity of this engagement is that you constantly depend on lighting devices consuming electric power, and, hence, batteries or accumulators. For years this circumstance was the biggest problem in my wanderings on labyrinths of caves. In long expeditions it was necessary to take a large supply of accumulators that made backpacks much heavier, sometimes forcing to refuse from necessary things. But thanks to improvement of modern electronic schemes which have become less power-intensive I started to use a solar battery. I need to note an important circumstance: the prices for solar batteries have fallen considerably in comparison with the 70’s and 80’s! Moreover, they continue to decrease and the use of solar batteries becomes rather perspective. Applying solar batteries you can refuse from the use of big mine batteries, replacing them with their accumulators of the format АА.
If you plan to go on a camping trip or expedition for a couple of days, you can take 30 accumulators which will give power to all necessary equipment: GPS, radio stations, a lantern, flashlight, the receiver (you will need several sets for each device). If you combine small accumulators to the solar battery, constantly recharging them, you will not feel lack of energy carriers, weight of your backpack will decrease as well. Accumulators with solar batteries, a converter, a tester, and a box for accumulators weigh 1,5 kg (for comparison: it is the weight of one grump light with the capacity 36 watt/hour only). Thanks to the solar battery your power supply will have the capacity more than 65 watt/hour. For people engaged in cycling or boating it is an optimum variant to solve problems with power supply and extra kilograms.
Some people think that the use of solar batteries is strongly limited. Their main argument is that in order to use the solar battery it is necessary to have a constant place of basing (parking or camp) in a camping trip or expedition. But today the industry produces accumulators which become charged in three hours. During short letups or a halt for a dinner such accumulators can be charged completely. It is possible to recharge accumulators from the solar battery during a trek to the basing place. You can place the battery on the top of your backpack but don’t forget that in the wood the danger for your battery is represented by branches of trees and bushes. On open district this method is quite comprehensible. Some people consider that the main minus of application of a solar battery is its dependence on the Sun. According to certain control measurements charging of accumulators can be accomplished regularly: during bright sunny days, cloudy days, when it rains, in the forest during sunny days, in the shade of trees. Usually cloudy days are combined with sunny days. Thus, the charge is certainly not always so effective as it would be during sunny days but it is enough for uninterrupted charging of all devices mentioned forth above.
Every day people become more and more dependable on any energy sources. Appearance of new portable devices forces us to use various kinds and models of accumulators. It is already impossible to imagine the modern world without electricity and devices which accumulate it. Consequently in order to keep up to date to it is necessary to look for new nonconventional methods of power supply for devices. At least our active outside leisure will became more comfortable.
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