HIKING WITH SOLAR ENERGY

In this article, we will be talking about hiking with solar energy and the benefits of doing so. Hiking is a great way to get outdoors, exercise, and explore what mother nature offers. However, a significant pillar of hiking is being prepared for whatever could come your way. So, let’s dive into some examples of how hiking with solar capabilities could be helpful.

Let’s say you are a nature photo/videographer and want to spend a couple of days out in the wilderness doing what you love. Eventually, you may run into a problem where your phone or camera runs out of battery power and it comes time to charge them, but there’s no way to charge them when you’re off the grid unless you have solar power capabilities.

Nowadays, there are portable panels that you can have on your person or attach to your backpack while you hike, to passively charge your devices on the way to your camp for the night. Then when you get there, you can set up your small portable panels to charge your phone, tablet, GoPro, Camera, or even rechargeable flashlights. Then by the time you go to bed, your devices will be charged and ready for the next day when you get going again. This eliminates the need for added weight as a result of packing multiple bulky batteries for each of your devices to swap them out. 

Now, let’s say you are an avid outdoorsman who spends weeks backpacking at a time. Your main goal is to remain self-sufficient during the entire duration of your hike, but you don’t want to pack 10lbs of spare batteries and power banks in your pack as it will hurt your back over time and slow you down, forcing you to burn more energy. This is where portable solar energy comes into play. The idea of portable solar panels is to remain energy independent, which is what you need when it’s just you, alone in the outdoors. You are one step ahead by passively charging your devices during the day. This avoids the potential for failure when charging using power banks of pre-charged batteries, especially in wet or cold climates where batteries don’t hold their charge quite as well.

As we close out this article, what works for you may not work for someone else, especially if their hiking style/needs differ from yours. Also, even if you don’t use it once, it doesn’t mean you may not need solar power to power your devices in the future. It’s important to note that if you are hiking for a long time, having solar capabilities is worth it as you will most likely need it. But if you are into short hikes that will only take a couple of hours, solar energy would not be a wise decision as you will likely never use it, and it could add unnecessary weight.