Solar powered 7D

Thought about taking an old broken flash for the shoe mount and using the battery tray on the grip wiring up a solar panel that will hard mount to the flash shoe and small cord to the tray and will power the camera up without any batteries needed. Operating volts is 7.2v and the battery is a 1800mAh rating. The battery charger for the camera is rated at 10W so you won't need a large panel for this. Could you imagine unlimited juice haha. oh btw, I am a Master Electrician so I'm being serious but the real question is...


...why not?

why not a solar battery charger so you don't have to mess with the innards of a camera?

MCAsan wrote in post #14789532
why not a solar battery charger so you don't have to mess with the innards of a camera?

It would be way cooler to have an 8"x10" panel sitting on top the camera haha, could be sun shade for the viewfinder haha

Talley wrote in post #14789525
Thought about taking an old broken flash for the shoe mount and using the battery tray on the grip wiring up a solar panel that will hard mount to the flash shoe and small cord to the tray and will power the camera up without any batteries needed. Operating volts is 7.2v and the battery is a 1800mAh rating. The battery charger for the camera is rated at 10W so you won't need a large panel for this. Could you imagine unlimited juice haha. oh btw, I am a Master Electrician so I'm being serious but the real question is...


...why not?

I'll admit, I thought about stuff like this.
Wire it through the grip, and you wouldn't have to mess with the camera. I'd be interested in a solar battery charger for a small price, though!

Talley wrote in post #14789563
It would be way cooler to have an 8"x10" panel sitting on top the camera haha......

Your definition of cooler may be a little different than how others may see it....

If you could design a generic solar powered gizmo for cameras, you might be able to get some interest over on Kickstarter...

Solar does not work that way. You have to have a battery.

It would also take a panel a bit larger than you think. You could mount one on a top hat and have this cool mad hatter look while you are shooting. Set yourself apart from all the guys with the backwards baseball cap

bigVinnie wrote in post #14790025
Solar does not work that way. You have to have a battery.

That's not necessarily true. A voltage controller can be used between a solar cell array and the load and no battery would be needed - as long as there's enough sunlight to operate at design parameters.

How hard would it be to design a battery charger for LP-E6's, that runs off solar power?
I'd like to have a built in battery, so I could power it at day, and charge the camera batteries at night.

SkipD wrote in post #14790039
That's not necessarily true. A voltage controller can be used between a solar cell array and the load and no battery would be needed - as long as there's enough sunlight to operate at design parameters.

Though true, you would still be better off doing the solar battery charger thing. To design a system that has enough current at the needed 7.2vdc you would need a lot more solar panel than a system that continuously trickle charges the battery then the battery can provide the needed current.

gjl711 wrote in post #14790078
Though true, you would still be better off doing the solar battery charger thing. To design a system that has enough current at the needed 7.2vdc you would need a lot more solar panel than a system that continuously trickle charges the battery then the battery can provide the needed current.

Even better! More shade!

Also guys this was merely a joke. The best way to make a "Solar powered battery charger" would be this:

10w 12v solar panel
12v battery for panel to charge
75w cigarette lighter inverter hooked up to said battery
use original charger on this charger.

could also power/charge anything. duration would be depending on how large of a 12v battery u use. grab a car battery and pretty darn long haha.

I just plugged in my charger for my 5D with a battery that was a little low. According to the kill-o-watt it is running at 5w.

So in theory you could get one of those chinese ones that take a 12v input and use one of 7w portable solar panels to charge your battery.

Another interesting link:

http://www.solartechno​logy.co.uk/shop/camcad​dy-cc1005.htm