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Home → Reviews → Camera Gear Accessories

Voltaic Solar Battery Charger Review

By John Sherman 10 Comments
Last Updated On April 30, 2023

What to do when you are out in the field with amazing scenery to shoot, a handful of exhausted camera batteries, and no electric outlets in sight? Self-disembowlment comes to mind, but wait, there are better options. I was recently on an 18-day Grand Canyon rafting trip and faced with the above dilemma. One option I utilized was a small waterproof solar charging system from Voltaic. The unit I tested was a beta version as far as the waterproof housing went, but other than the housing, it used the components of Voltaic’s 17 Watt Solar Charger Kit ($265 MSRP).

Verm-rafts-Grand-Canyon-5190-Edit
The last thing you want down here is a camera bag full of dead batteries. NIKON D810 + 24.0-120.0 mm f/4.0 @ ISO 640, 1/500, f/8.0

The Voltaic system uses a 17-watt solar panel to charge a storage battery, in this case Voltaic’s V72 Laptop Battery. You then use the storage battery to charge your camera batteries or you can also charge camera batteries directly off the panel. As well you can charge camera batteries off the storage battery while the solar panel recharges the storage battery. The storage battery can also be charged from AC or your DC car outlet – both convenient ways to charge the storage battery before heading into the wild. The storage battery is no bigger than a slim paperback such as Brighty of The Grand Canyon, my reading for the trip (the mostly-true tale of a heroic burro – ages 8-12).

Using the Voltaic kit was very simple, just plug a battery cradle into the V72, slip your camera battery into the cradle and in a couple hours you camera battery is charged. When the V72 charge dips, plug the solar panel in, point toward the sun and let the battery pack recharge. Note you will need to get the appropriate DC-powered battery cradle for your particular model camera battery (the charger you get from Nikon, et.al. is probably just AC-powered) – this does not come with the kit, but you can easily find such cradles through Amazon, etc. The only control to set is the 12/16/19 volt switch to give the proper output to the cradle.

Verm-Voltaic-Grand-Canyon-4652
Here’s the 17W solar panel and the clear greenish waterproof case holding the V72 Battery.

Does it work? You bet. Voltaic rates the V72 battery as being able to charge 3.5 DSLR batteries before you need to recharge the V72. In practice I actually charged 4 EN-EL15s (used in D7000/7100, D600/610, D750, D800/810) before needing to recharge the V72. I may have exceeded the specs because these batteries were run down to one bar, not to the blinking red “oops I’m screwed” state, before I removed and recharged them. I’ll just say I’m usually dubious of claimed capacities on battery-driven items, so I was happy when the V72 lived up to its hype.

The panel that charges the V72 is fairly stiff and measures 15.5”x 10.75”x 0.25”. I took reasonable precautions to protect it from damage. If you got careless and stepped on it I don’t think it would do too well, but for minor bumps it seemed plenty rugged. Line drop is a big issue for solar systems, so the cord between the panel and battery is kept short.

The waterproof housing kept the battery dry, but was too big for the battery. As stated above the waterproof housing was a beta version and Voltaic plans to use a different housing in future kits. Hopefully the new housing will have a pressure relief port as the one I tested didn’t and I could see air pressure blowing it open if it were submerged more than a few feet underwater.

In practice in the depths of the Grand Canyon, this system didn’t crank out as much as I hoped. This was not the system’s fault, but due to a combination of inclement weather, the depth of the canyon and the twisting nature of the Colorado River, which constantly brought us in and out of shade as well as switching the orientation of the panel strapped to the raft. By the time we got to camp, the sun was often low in the sky. It takes the panel ~7 hours to fully charge an exhausted V72 battery and we rarely got that many hours of direct sunlight to devote to solar charging. I could only get the V72 charged up to 3 of 5 bars while in the Canyon, but after the trip successfully got it charged to all 5 bars by using best practices – unobstructed midday sun and the panel angled at right angles to the sun. Even at 3 bars I could get two EN-EL15s charged, so it kept me in business. According to Voltaic, 2 hours of sunshine are sufficient to charge one DSLR battery – this seems to agree with my results in the Grand.

Verm-Voltaic-Grand-Canyon-4632
Even a small shadow over the corner of a solar panel can greatly decrease output.

For a Grand Canyon trip, other charging options exist. You can pack a pair of deep cycle marine batteries with an inverter (total weight over 100 pounds and if you are a heavy battery user, you might exhaust all your juice – these kits rent for $8/day, not including the hernia operation). Alternatively you can bring enough pre-charged camera batteries you don’t run out (big bucks, unless you go the AAs in battery grip route – I estimate I ran through 15 – 18 charged batteries on my trip, but I’m a heavy shooter – don’t forget a lot of memory too). Generator use to charge batteries is not allowed in the depths of the Grand.

The Voltaic can also be used to charge smartphones (7 charges per full V72) or a laptop (one charge per full V72).

Without months/years to test this system, I can’t comment on long-term durability and battery life.

The Bottom Line

In the right conditions – abundant sunshine with the solar panel directed properly – solar charging is a viable option to keep you shooting when no electric outlets are available. Efficiency drops way down in inclement weather or if the panel gets shaded. Don’t wait to charge your DSLR batteries until they are all exhausted – take advantage of every sunny day to keep your stock charged. Size your system to take care of your needs plus a bit more. I like that the Voltaic system I tested was relatively compact, lightweight (~3 pounds), simple to use and lived up to its published specs.

Voltaic Solar Battery Charger
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Photography Life Overall Rating

4.4
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Filed Under: Camera Gear Accessories Tagged With: Product Reviews, Solar Chargers

About John Sherman

John “Verm” Sherman is one of only 25,000 wildlife and nature photographers based out of Flagstaff, Arizona. In 2012 he was awarded Flagstaff Photography Center’s Emerging Artist of the Year award. He has since submerged into internet notoriety but comes up occasionally to contribute to Arizona Highways Magazine.

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Pat
Pat
August 8, 2018 11:45 am

Hi John, I’m delighted to have discovered your blog post – great info. I’ll be heading down the Canyon for 14 days in a few weeks. Someone just gave me a Goal Zero Nomad 7 solar panel. It sounds like I will also need *both* a separate storage battery pack *and* battery cradle for my EN-EL 15’s, right? Does any brand work that fits the plugs, or do I need a special kind?

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Verm
Verm
Reply to  Pat
August 8, 2018 1:47 pm

yes you will need both. My girlfriend just used a Nomad panel in Peru with the voltaic battery and had good luck. There are EN-EL15 chargers that run off cigarette lighter outlets and it’s not too hard to find adapters to rig that up to the Voltaic battery. The 12V chargers though are notoriously unreliable so I would take an extra as backup. Get all this stuff right away so you have time to test it out before your trip.

Have a blast down there and bring lots of memory cards,
Verm

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Jon Ignaszewski
Jon Ignaszewski
May 10, 2018 8:36 am

Going on a 18 day private trip in November 2018. Thank you for the tips about charging. Trying to get my head around whats essential and what’s not. Any can’t live without items that we should be considering? The voice of experience always has more wisdom….

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Verm
Verm
Reply to  Jon Ignaszewski
May 10, 2018 3:00 pm

Congrats on getting a private trip. I’d take lots of sunscreen, memory cards and beer. Also an extra hat in case the wind takes one away. Spare sunglasses too – someone on the trip will lose theirs. Best tip I have is to personally check the waterproofness of your camera containers whether they be a re-purposed ammo can or a pelican case. They are all prone to leaking. Especially if you get sand in the gasket. So keep them clean on the river but before your trip submerge then for 30 minutes or so in a tub to make sure there are no leaks. This especially goes for rental containers. Lots of cameras die in The Ditch from getting wet – a spare body is good insurance and a lot cheaper than trying to get another trip. Every day there is a chance of flipping so always “rig to flip” as they say. Have a blast.

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Simon
Simon
August 7, 2016 8:42 pm

Can you let me have any details on the 18 day canyon trip? That’s something I’d love to do!

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Aaron Priest
Aaron Priest
November 9, 2014 11:58 am

I use a Goal Zero Sherpa 100 battery and Nomad 20 solar panel to power most of my gear in the field. I found a DROK 12v to 7.5v step down converter on eBay to power my camera with. Almost everything else I use runs on 12v already (eMotimo, stepper motors, RamperPro, dew heater, etc.). I use an 8-way splitter/distributor and Anderson PowerPole connectors from powerwerx.com.

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Muhammad Omer
Muhammad Omer
November 3, 2014 3:24 pm

i have seen smaller solar charging panels. they were as big as a phone or phablet. Perhaps they would have lesser efficiency

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John Sherman
John Sherman
Author
Reply to  Muhammad Omer
November 4, 2014 5:20 pm

Many of the smaller pocket-sized solar charging kits only output 5-6V, enough to charge smartphones (which generally only require 5V), however most DSLR battery cradles require more than 6 volts. The popular EN-EL15 battery cradle outputs 8.4V. There are some smaller solar chargers that will output 12V like this other offering from Voltaic www.voltaicsystems.com/amp. Fully charged, it has a 15wh capacity compared to the 14wh EN-EL-15 so it will only charge one EN-EL15 before it has to sit in the sun another 4.5 hrs. I hope this helps.

Verm

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Nestor
Nestor
Reply to  John Sherman
November 4, 2014 6:08 pm

hi John, I guess you made a mistake or a typo for enel15, it is 14 wh, not ah. With the wrong units your comment is confusing.

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John Sherman
John Sherman
Author
Reply to  Nestor
November 5, 2014 9:48 am

Thanks for catching that Nestor. Got it corrected. Where’s Ohm when you need him :)

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