I can still remember the analogue days of travel, when I backpacked through Europe and Asia with no more electronics than a couple of Double-A batteries (at best). I only needed them if I wanted to use the flash on my camera. That was less than fifteen years ago.

Now I don’t even go to the zoo without my laptop and my digital camera. When the battery runs out, it’s time for coffee. And then I make sure I sit near a power outlet in the nearest cafe.

But what do you do when there are no power outlets? If you are kayaking in the middle of the Atlantic, climbing Mount Everest, or just on a local camping trip in the wilderness, what do you do when the batteries run out?

Some say “just bring extra batteries.” That might work.

But what if you have several different electronic items, and you don’t want to buy spare batteries for each of them? What if you’ll be away from civilization for an extended period of time, and the spare batteries just won’t last?

A solution for this can be portable solar power.

Currently, there is quite a variety of portable solar devices available. There are solar-powered devices for small equipment, such as MP3 players, GPS’s, and cameras; and there are stronger solar chargers which will run a laptop. There are waterproof portable solar devices, flexible solar devices, solar panels built into bags and backpacks, solar-powered radios and flashlights… and I’ve even seen a solar-powered camera.

But if you have ever tried to do a quick search for portable solar power on the Internet, you have possibly gotten lost in the endless tangle of windy searches through the web. And when you did find a company that offered a portable solar power device, the specs might have been completely indecipherable to anyone but a trained electrician. If you wanted to compare two similar products, you had to bookmark the page and continue down the endless maze of search engines.

If you got interrupted in the middle of all of this, and tried to come back to resume your quest at a later date, you were probably completely confused.

If you are looking for a way to quickly find the portable solar power device that you need, you may want to look into http://www.findportablesolarpower.com. The site contains simple explanation of how solar power works, as well as how to interpret specs and understand which device is correct for your needs. You can quickly access several merchants of portable solar power devices, to compare their products and prices easily.

So don’t cancel that 45-day mountain trek. And don’t leave your digital camera behind.

We don’t all have to be tethered to the power lines.

Heidi Alm is a student of photography who has traveled in four continents. She is currently engaged in research on the uses of solar energy. For further information you may visit http://www.findportablesolarpower.com

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