Hello all
What is the best way to solar charge 18650 batteries?
Joe
I want the brightest flashlight! O.K. so that wasn’t helpful….
Premium Solar Charger setup: Big #*s solar panel 50W+, Morningstar Sunsaver lead acid battery charger, 12V sealed lead acid battery, Li-ion battery charger with 12V input. Charge 18650 batteries morning, noon, or night.
Budget Solar Setup: Not so big solar panel of 5-10W (foldable?) and with USB output connection. USB single 18650 charger like the Miller series. Charge while the sun is up.
Nerd Solar Setup: Solar Mini-panel 1W, and diode connect to 18650 battery pack, and keep track of voltage with a microcontroller circuit. Wait three days or more for a not quite full charge (CV only) A Solar Rechargeable FlashLite - Done! (2014 BLF Handmade Contest)
7805 regulator on a good heatsink and a tp4056 board.
better yet a good buck regulator and the same board.
My emergency/outdoor set-up is a 14W X-Dragon foldable solar charger. It delivers a bit over 1A in a mild autumn sun, charging my phone fine, and a Miller102 charger for li-ions.
i want to buy 18650 bettery, which one is best
IDK that you will ever get people to agree on a 1 best. There are many to choose from, I’d say read HKJ’s reviews and go from there. General rule is to buy good quailty cells from a reputable dealer. I’d stay away from most “**Fire” brands and Ebay is notorious for fakes. If you don’t want or need protected cells I really like using laptop pulls.
Below are couple of my favorites. Efast are good too.
Thanks you reply,Efast are good ? what about brillipower batteries ?
Can you please tell us where to buy brillipower batteries? Do they charge up good on a solar charger?
Do you have a solar charger for sale?
not have 
Get em reviewed by our trusted battery gurus here…then we will talk
I bought my 18650 from one of the trusted posters that pull them from laptop packs and sell for like a buck each plus priority mail shipping, 6 to my mailbox cost about $12.
I would use the solar to charge a conventional 12v car battery, then plug in my imax b6 clone hobby charger for Lion use.
I have a foldable 7W solar charger with USB output and ML-102 and it charges pretty well with a fair amount of sun. I have also used it with the Soshine SC-S7 with good results.
That said, I would like to make a slightly larger setup with a 12V system which could be used with any 12V charger…
What would you guys recommend for a portable charging system under 100 buck USD?
Something I can use with my Xtar VP2 with the 12V car charger adapter.
Was wondering something similar myself.
This is what I was thinking might work but who knows?
Solar panel to one of these
DC-DC 3-40V to 1.5-35V 3A Buck Converter Stepdown Module
then set the out put to around 5V and use one of these
TP4056 1A Li-ion Battery Charging Module
is this logical or not?
It depends on how efficient your setup needs to be. That TP4056 uses a linear regulator for voltage control, which dissipates excess voltage as heat. That buck converter is a switch-mode regulator, but it runs at a relatively low frequency, and so probably isn’t particularly efficient.
your website is useless without buy now button and prices.
and your offerings belong in commercial sellers.
Solar directly is going to have an output that varies from nothing to full power in a semi random fashion as clouds or other objects block the sunlight.
Lion chargers need a constant power source over several hours time unless somebody builds some kind of smart charger designed to deal with periodic power drops during charging, best to put some kind of storage large enough to accommodate any drops between the solar and the charger.
I’ve charged 18650’s using a Miller ML102 connected to the Goal Zero AA battery pack which was charging from the solar panel. The battery pack provides stable power to the Miller charger and the AA battery pack is designed for non-constant power.