solar aa battery charger

solar aa battery charger

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Batteries are old-school stars of gadget world

If batteries could go to a party they'd wear blue suits and brown shoes and stand in a corner while the HDTVs and PCs whooped it up.

But without them your iPhone wouldn't say a word, and your laptop computer might as well stay home.

Knowing a little bit about them can make a big difference in how well your gadgets work. It can mean having enough light to see when the power goes out and a few extra minutes to make a cell phone call when you need help. It can save you a few bucks, too.

Let's start with the ordinary alkaline batteries you see. They make the best choice for many everyday uses.

The reason: They can hold a charge even after being stored away for two or more years. A rechargeable battery, for instance, would be dead as road kill if stored unused that long. By the way, while friends will tell you to store alkalines in the refrigerator for even longer shelf life, don't bother. They'll do fine in a closet or drawer.

And it's smart to keep a dozen or so stored away. That way if the power goes out, you'll have power for battery-powered lanterns, flashlights, portable radios and the like. And small devices that don't draw much power, such as remote controls, do best with an alkaline.

Rechargeable batteries have been around a long time. But there have been real improvements over the last few years. The old nickel rechargeables were highly toxic and didn't hold a charge very well.

Your laptop probably uses modern lithium-ion batteries - cell phones and other consumer gadgets also have moved almost universally to them. And, increasingly, they're used in popular AA sizes in digital cameras and other devices.

They lose a charge when stored unused, but much more slowly than older rechargeables. And they avoid one of the big flaws of early rechargeable batteries. They have no memory effect. Batteries with memory effect needed to be completely discharged before charging again to remain effective. Still, I think it's smart to let them run down to about 20 percent of their charge once a month or so.

Regular readers know I'm a big fan of having an Uninterruptible Power Supply - UPS - for a computer. It furnishes enough power to let you shut down your computer properly when the power goes out. But it's also great during power outages as a source of AC current that will let you use the battery charger for your laptop and cell phone.

A UPS uses a sealed lead acid battery - not so different from the battery in your car. These batteries should be replaced about every two years, and replacing the battery, rather than buying a new UPS, can save money. The manufacturer of your UPS usually will offer replacement batteries.

Any type of battery can be a safety hazard if misused. For instance, popping an alkaline battery in a recharger, or using lithium batteries in a recharger made for other kinds of batteries can be dangerous. For a long list of battery do's and don'ts, check out this website: http://www.batteryexpress.org.uk/faq.htm

Despite the improvements in batteries that I've mentioned, the technology has moved slowly compared to the high-tech world in general. But with the push for electric cars and the need to find ways to store energy produced by solar cells and other alternative energy sources, we're on the verge of a great leap forward.

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