So my roommate decided a year or two ago that he wanted a stereo that he could take with him on camping trips. It would have to be completely solar-powered so he could charge it in the daytime, and play music on it all night, and it should also be able to charge whatever iPod, iPhone, or USB device was supplying the music. It should also be rugged to survive being packed with camping gear, getting caught in the rain, and even going down a river in a canoe.
What he used was
- a pair of boat speakers,
- a solar battery minder/charger,
- a sealed lead acid battery (like you'd find in a pocket bike, motorized razor scooter, or alarm system),
- and a class-t stereo amplifier,
- all fitted into a utility dry box.
The end results were pretty good, and he kept the cost as low as he could so that in the event it fell out of the canoe into the river, it wouldn't be the biggest tragedy ever.
Seeing how successful he was on his project, I wanted to make my own, so I bought a bunch of things on Amazon yesterday:
I spent a little more for name brand speakers, hopefully it'll be worth it.
I also might want to have a case made out of wood so I can customize the size and shape, and hopefully reduce the overall volume (though it will probably way a bit more), and find a way to make everything not move around if picked up by one hand from the side.
I might have a custom case made by a place like this:
Could cost upwards of $100 though...
Update 8/6/2013: Exchanged some products so updating the links here. Solar panel arrived with a small crack so I returned it and bought another one that was 1.8W instead of 1.5W. The battery also arrived with a dent in the corner (came shipped in only packing envelopes), so I returned that and bought a better reviewed one from Chrome Batteries. Hopefully they ship better.