Nokero P101 , P102 and C110 Solar USB AA Chargers

ama230

Enlightened
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Apr 23, 2010
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416
Location
Mesa, Arizona
First of all I had wanted to state that I do not work for or endorse this company at all. I am simply doing another review of some products from a reputable company that is of course my favorite, alternative energy.

I know there are tons of folks out there that want to be able to keep there small portable devices powered at all times and these are some of those nice products that aren't heavily exposed as their initiative is towards third world efforts.

I am going to be doing a general review of three products form a company that was founded in the US and has a very nice price point amongst all of their products via their website. The three are their solar panel chargers which two have just usb ports for external charging and one panel with a AA charging function.

They all use the same photovoltaic panels which is a high efficiency thin film that allows the capture of low light and as well as direct sunlight. This is nice as you usually have to make a choice between the two as past photovoltaic technologies were limited. I know its in the 20-22% efficiency rating and are manufactured by SunPower, which is one of the leading ones. This means that they will do the best all around job for charging as it depends on how big your device is what size you want to carry around. They are all compact as it varies from a shirt pocket to a back pocket which is nice.

As for some general information on solar products as these are the basics to ensure you get the results you want. As the majority out there say, "Going green is not really going green when it takes more energy and resources to produce such a device."

Energy cannot be created or destroyed, thus using natural or perpetual forms of energy as a fuel source is the idea here. Plain and simple the device is made and is powered by existing fuel sources that are not synthetic. As for PV panels, the solar panels are from waste silicon from manufacturing silicon wafers for IC chips.


Alternative Energy Facts:

I can only reply with a straight answer and respond in saying a few things first:

1) Solar, Thermo-Electric (Heat) and Electro-Mechanical (Wind Turbines - DC Motor Only) all have one thing in common is that only produce a DC power.

2) DC-to-AC Conversion is wasting half the power and if you are going from 12v to 110v etc..

3 )The reason its is going green, is that there is no further investment in providing fuel to power or store a charge. The sun, waste heat and wind are all things that are mainly perpetual(never stops in our lifetime), which is why alternative energy is great.

4) Our infrastructure is meant to be setup for convenience. A customer buys a house and wants to have power tied and just pay a monthly premium. AC devices are inefficient and are bulky.

You can think of DC(As Diesel) and AC(Conventional Gasoline). One is far more efficient and providing more work output. As a result we all know which one will be the least total investment and impact.

5) These are facts and if you want to do a little research, please do as it is really fascinating.

Enough with the ranting but just wanted to get a few facts straight as I know that there is lots of information out there but I am doing my best to break it down for a basic review.

The products I am going to review can be purchased at Nokero.com, amazon, ebay and etc...So these are every day things that you and I ( poor people? ) can buy to use for anything. Just to make sure, I am not working for the company or associated in any way.

I have done a small general review on each of the three products with pictures and they are listed below:

Nokero P101 Solar USB Panel:

Stated Specs: (Manufactures Website and printed on back of product)
Voltage: 5V
Current: 200mA
Power: 1W

Measured Specs: (Absolute best conditions so this is the best case scenario with sunlight and temperature 75F @ 1000W/M^2)
Voltage: 5.29V
Current: 230mA
Power: 1.2W

This is their smaller panel that is geared towards smaller electronics like traditional flip phones(like the one I use) or electronics that have 3.7v li-ion 1000mah battery or smaller. It has a full size USB port at the top right of the panel and allows the use of any cord you might have as it comes with a nice cable with multiple tips. For charging indication it has a blue led that will tell you that the panel is capturing an ample amount of sunlight for charging, so this is a nice feature. It is light weight and thin so portability is possible.

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Nokero P102 Solar USB Panel:

Stated Specs: (Manufactures Website and printed on back of product)
Voltage: 5V
Current: 400mA
Power: 2W

Measured Specs: (Absolute best conditions so this is the best case scenario with sunlight and temperature 75F @ 1000W/M^2)
Voltage: 5.30V
Current: 450mA
Power: 2.4W

This is a little bigger panel as its going to do twice the work than the P101. It has the same features but is able to produce produce twice the current with little bulk added. This will enable the user to charge her or his device twice as quick in the same conditions. You should be able to charge a typical flip phone in 1-2 hours of sunlight, which is just as quick as some wall chargers. Then again when its hot out you have to make sure the device you are charging is shaded or not exposed to direct sunlight as you will ruin the internal battery(Li-ion etc.) of your device (VERY IMPORTANT & DANGEROUS).

0328121942.jpg


Nokero C110 Solar AA NiMh Battery Charger

Stated Specs: (Manufactures Website and printed on back of product)
Voltage: 2.5V ( I think they mean 1.5V not 2.5V)
Current: 190mA
Power: .48W

Measured Specs: (Absolute best conditions so this is the best case scenario with sunlight and temperature 75F @ 1000W/M^2)
Voltage: 1.42V
Current: 200mA
Power: .29W

This has a nice form factor as its job is to charge one 1000mAh AA NiMh Battery in one days worth of sunlight. It has a sliding door on the back which is where the battery goes and is easy to operate. I used a AA eneloop battery and it had charged 820ma which is almost half in a days worth of sun without actively facing the panel to follow the sun. This is ensure that the device is seeing real world use as most do no track the sun, which is vital, to ensure shorter charging times.



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Then here are a few more to show features and general size:

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That is it for my review and if you have any other questions or comments please fire away. Thank you for taking the time to read and hope to post more reviews in the future.

Thank you for your time,
Eric Ramirez
 
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