Hello there, Steemers :)

So here's a little project i've been working on in the last few days, its a solar charger for camping.

The idea came to me a long time ago, I wanted a box with lots of battery power, charged by the sun that can charge all phones, have all kinds of outputs, and even a 220V AC socket with an inverter. 

As my motto says, "Why do something today, when you can do it tommorow?" so lets just say it took me a while to begin.

First, I had to gather some parts:

- 12V Panels
- Charge controller
- Battery
- USB Car charger thing (for USB Outputs)
- Car lighter jack (We want that output too)
- A small 200W inverter (For the 220V Output)
(All of those shouldnt cost more then 100$, let me know if you need links)

Finally, I needed a box, in my case a friend donated an old army ammunition wooden box thingie that was perfect in size.
Also, I'm broke, and to make the first version I used an old UPS Battery, that doesnt really charge anymore.

![](http://i.imgur.com/TWKdUyo.jpg)

As the panels arrived, I drilled a whole for each pair, to get their wires through.
I sticked the panels to their place with a two-compound super-strong epoxy thingie, but you can use your favorite glue or whatever as long as it can stand the heat of the panels in the sun later.

![](http://i.imgur.com/otFkGFq.jpg)

As you can see, I also have two small panels there, I wasn't planning on using them as they are 6V, but I used them anyway and connected them in serial to make a 12V.

When more parts arrived, I connected all the panels parallely to the charge controller, and plugged the battery to it (The plan is to have 3-4 big batteries in the box connected in parallel as well).

![](http://i.imgur.com/gkD4I61.jpg)

The Car USB Charger, I sticked into a hole on the side and connected that too to the battery. the usb charger has a nice blue light that shows the voltage, I couldnt make a clear picture of it though:

![](http://i.imgur.com/81agOdu.jpg)

So now I have a charger that charges itself, and can charge cellphones. 

![](http://i.imgur.com/HCP955J.jpg)

As more parts arrive, I will continue posting the how-tos :)

Enjoy!

-Simba.