UltraLast Green Solar 2 AA/USB Charger with 2 AA Everyday Precharged Batteries

10 February 2010 No Comment

Manufacturer: ULTRALAST
Customer Rating:
List Price: $49.95
Sale Price: $21.17
Availibility: View Product Availability

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Product Description

Flexible charging power—use solar panel or AC-UB wall adapter to: - Charge AA rechargeable batteries with solar panel or through the USB port. - Charge electronic devices through the USB port. - Rugged, compact cover design for use indoors or out. - Use clip hook for attaching to backpack or clothing, keeps batteries charged as you’re hiking, walking, or doing any other outdoor activities. • Kick-stand on back of charger allows solar panel to be angled in direct sunlight at different times of the day—will even charge through a window! - LED indicator light illuminates to show charging direction— LED glows green when IN/OUT switch set to “IN”, batteries receiving power from solar panel or USB port. LED glows red when IN/OUT switch set to “OUT”, electronic device receiving power from fully charged batteries, solar panel turns off. - Packaged in eco-friendly materials, including post-consumer recycled cardboard and recyclable PET plastic. - Includes: AA UltraLast Green Everyday Rechargeable batteries. - AC-USB wall adapter - Interchangeable USB cable, with USB and Mini USB connectors

Product Details

Use the power of the sun for the ultimate in Green power
AA/AAA charging 8-20 hours
Charges USB power pack for cell phones, bluetooth headsets and MP3 players
Includes 2 AA precharged batteries
Now includes Micro-USB

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Customer Reviews

Nifty Charger

Review Date: April 9, 2010

Reviewer: AnnaB,

For those interested in the environment, this is a fantastic product. I live in a sunny location, so it's easy to get enough sun to regularly charge my Blackberry. In fact, I never use my regular wall charger for my cell phone anymore, although it might not work so well for those in a darker climate. I just bought a couple as gifts. Definitely a great little product for the price.

Nice way to go green. Handy for hiking.

Review Date: January 28, 2010

Reviewer: Rodney Beede,

Compact size. Very light weight. You can charge batteries using sun or usb power. You cannot charge usb devices using solar but you can with batteries.

Would have been nice if the IN-OUT switch on the side was more descriptive, but the provided instructions were helpful. Would have been nice if it had included a small travel pouch for carrying around the adapters and manual.

From the instructions manual:

Charge Time
Type Size Cap Source Time
Ni-Mh AA 2100 mAh Sun 1-2 days
USB About 10-11 hrs

Other things from the manual:

"The UltraLast Green Sol Charger will not charge USB devices using Sun/Solar power"
No big deal since you can't really expect such a small panel to have sufficient power. I just charge the batteries first then charge my phone from the batteries.

"The LED will not change color or turn off to indicate charging has complete."
Annoying since you can't tell when it is fully charged.

I paid $25 (shipping and all) so it was an okay deal for the price. It will be handy for long car trips and what not.

No AC-USB Wall Adapter!

Review Date: June 2, 2010

Reviewer: soundhack,

Just got this today and am charging the supplied two batteries using the USB cable. The instructions (and the description on amazon) claim there is a "supplied AC-USB Wall Adapter" but there wasn't one. It's hard to imagine how they can fit a wall adapter in the cardboard packaging anyway.

Biggest negative other than the lack of the adapter is that the LED does not indicate when charging has finished, especially after the ominous warning "Do not charge AA Ni-MH batteries for more than 24 hours via USB or Solar"

I will edit when I have had a chance to charge this in sunlight.

Fun little gadget - limited practical values

Review Date: July 24, 2010

Reviewer: NLee the Engineer, Nashua, NH

This item (UltraLast Green Solar 2 AA/USB Charger with 2 AA Everyday Precharged Batteries) looks like a versatile product. It is very compact (same size as a deck of playing cards), and offers multiple functions. You can:

1. Use it as a solar-powered charger: to recharge two internal AA NiMH cells under direct sunlight
2. Use it as an USB-powered charger: to recharge internal AA cells from an USB port
3. Use is as an USB power source: to recharge cell phone or other gadgets from internal AA cells

Upon closer examinations, however, each function turns out to be poorly implemented:

1. The solar panel is quite small (4x7cm). Even under direct sunlight at noon time, with the panel perpendicular to the sun beam, the maximum charging current is just 100mA. In real life it will take about 3 sunny days to fully recharge a pair of 2100mAh cells. The case is not weather-resistant, so it should not be left in the open. But when I placed it under the windshield of my car, the charging current dropped by 50% because the glass is UV-filtered.

2. When powered from an USB port, the two internal AA cells are continuously being charged at about 125mA. The problem is there is no 'charging done' signal. The little green LED simply remains on forever, even when there are no batteries inserted. You have to unplug the USB cable after about 20 hours, to prevent over-charging of internal batteries.

3. When used as a USB power source, the 5V output it generates is limited to 300mA max., which is lower than the 500mA from a normal USB port. I have used it successfully to recharge my Philips GoGear Aria MP3 Player and my Motorola W755 cell phone. However, I'm unable to use it to recharge someone else's Kodak Easyshare camera, because the current requirement is too high.

In summary, the ULG Solar charger is still a reasonable value if you can use it as a cell-phone charger. But it is not practical as a solar charger during hiking trips, because the case is not weather-resistant. For smaller size and less weight, you could bring an extra set of Lithium AA Battery instead.

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