David Fletcher and Jason Stirling of NorthSouth published a video of the exhilarating and harrowing ride over the Highest Road in the World, from Manali to Khardung La. They used some locally purchased mountain bikes and a ton of effort to make the trip. Enjoy the video below.

They brought the Fuse 10W Solar Laptop Charger and Fuse 6W with them on the trip to keep MacBook, Canon 5D, DJI Drone and phones charged.

It looked like a very challenging trip, but all worth it for the downhills.

There are many Chromebooks on the market so we couldn’t do tests or provide specs for all of them, so feel free to use the table below as a reference for your own laptop to see how you’d expect it to perform. On a sunny day, any of our 10 Watt Systems (Fuse 10W, Array) will provide about an hour of runtime for every hour in the sun. Our 17 Watt systems can provide over 90 minutes for every hour in the sun.

For reference to see how Chromebooks stack up against other laptops and tablets you may want to take with you, see the chart below. Runtime per every Watt hour of capacity is in the same ballpark as a MacBook Air and a bit worse than a typical tablet (assuming the specs manufacturers runtime specs are accurate…feel free to adjust if you have first hand information on runtimes).

Advantages of traveling with a Chromebook

One of the main advantages of traveling with a Chromebook is their energy efficiency. They are small (screen sizes of 11-13 inches) and light so they can be easily thrown in your backpack. They are not as energy efficient as large tablets, but they offer almost all of the advantages of a laptop that many tablets do not provide (such as USB ports, a SIM-card slot for pictures, a comfortable keyboard, and a larger screen).

Another advantage of using a Chromebook away from the electrical grid is their low price. At a starting price point of $200, you could reasonably justify buying one just to protect your main laptop by leaving it at home while you travel.

Additionally, the distinctive feature that separates Chromebooks from any other on the market is their cloud-based software, so your files are automatically backed up through Google’s cloud services whenever you have access to WiFi. That means you’ll never have to worry about loosing your files if your laptop is lost, stolen, or broken while traveling abroad.

Disadvantages of traveling with a Chromebook

The small hard drive capacity (8-16GB) almost requires frequent backups online if you are gathering lots of pictures or videos, which presents a serious problem if you are miles away from a reliable WiFi network. Additionally, when you temporarily have access to a WiFi network it may take a long time to upload all of your new pictures and videos (if you have several gigabytes worth). The storage problem can be solved if you bring your own external hard drive or SD card to hold your files.

Another drawback is the limited suite of apps and programs that work with Chromebooks. While there are many apps and programs that are specifically designed for Chromebooks to satisfy all of your average computing needs, there may be specialty programs or software that you need for your trip that is not compatible with them.

Conclusion

If you plan on powering your electronics exclusively from solar power, consider only bringing a tablet if a laptop is not necessary. Using a tablet will save you money, weight, and storage space for both the device itself and the solar charging equipment necessary to keep it powered. If you want the keyboard and laptop feel, Chromebooks have some major advantages over other laptops such as price and weight, though we recommend bringing an external hard drive with you to store all of your pictures, videos, and files while traveling abroad.

If you’ll be frequently traveling around with all of your gear, consider using our Array Solar Backpack or Fuse 10W Solar Charger to hold and charge your laptop. If your belongings can stay stationary in a relatively safe area, consider using the 17W Solar Charging Kit to power your devices in much less time. For proper use, make sure you match the voltage of the V88 to the voltage of your Chromebook’s AC charger as closely as possible (it should be clearly labeled on your Chromebook’s AC charger), and charge the laptop while it’s asleep or turned off to stretch the battery capacity of the V88 even further.

*Battery life times are estimates based on manufacturer specifications, and will vary based on many factors including screen brightness and program usage.

**Solar charging times are estimates based on ideal conditions, and are subject to change based on cloud cover, temperature, and angle of the panel towards the sun.

Our three portable solar panels gave Ultralite the power to keep their DSLR cameras (Canon 5D), Sony High Speed Camcorder, Macbook Pro, and DGI Phantom running all while shooting off-the-grid.

Soaking up some Panama sun after a long day of shooting.

17 Watt Kit sun set up.

For more information on how you can run your devices on Voltaic solar power, visit the links above.

Interested in learning how to power your Sony FS-700? Bud and Ultralite films simply paired our 17 Watt Solar Kit with a Sony Off Camera ‘Intelligent’ Rapid Charger to make it possible to quickly charge up while out in the field. Stay turned for more updates on how Ultralite Films are using Voltaic to power their creativity.

All photos were taken and provided by Ultralite Films.

They brought with them a quiver of Voltaic products including the Fuse 10W Solar Charger, Amp, 16 Watt Kit, and 7 Watt Kit. They used them to keep their MacBooks, GoPros and other cameras charged.

These pictures were from the Llanganuco and Ishinca valleys.

In 2014, American Climber Science will “likely expand to include Aconcagua, Ojos de Salar, and several localities in Nepal.” If you’re a serious climber or environmental scientist, reach out to John All for more information. Their website is www.climberscience.com. Follow on Facebook at www.mountainscience.org.

Plan out your next adventure by visiting our Hike, Camp, and Climb page.

A number of product suggestions came up that we’re working on but perhaps the best suggestion was that we should open up a store in Nepal. A bit of a commute from New York but sounds like a lot of fun.

Here is a complete guide for using Voltaic for solar power while camping and hiking.

Update: Visit our current guide to charging DSLR Camera Batteries which includes our latest products and is kept up to date.

Here’s a brief guide to turning your solar charger into a digital camera battery charger. Basic Concept: Most camera batteries need to be removed from the camera and charged from a special cradle designed to fit that specific model battery. The cradle that comes with your camera plugs into the wall, but most likely will not work from solar. You need a cradle that has been designed to charge from a car socket, and ideally one that has been tested to work with solar output. Car charger cradles look like this:

Always Test Before you Travel: We’ve tested all the camera chargers we sell on our site to make sure they work well with solar. Some camera chargers available online will not work with solar as their internal circuitry is setup to look for a higher current or other issues. Either way, we recommend you always take the charger for a dry run before traveling. Drain the battery in your camera, then put it out in the sun for 5-8 hours. Depending on the battery size, it should read full (See Estimating Charge Times Below).

Connecting to the Charger: Our 4 Watt solar chargers have two cables coming from the panels. One has a Mini USB tip that connects to the USB battery and the other is round. Connect your camera cradle to this round output via one of the universal adapters included with your bag. If your battery is 7.4Volts, you will also need to change the setting on your charger to 12V (remember to switch it back to 6V when charging the Voltaic USB battery). If your battery is 3.7V, try charging from 6V first and switch to 12V only if the 6V doesn’t work. Remove the Mini USB connection to the Voltaic battery for faster charging of your camera battery, otherwise you’ll be splitting the power.

Estimating Charge Times: On the battery, you’ll see a Voltage (typically 3.7 or 7.4V) and capacity (e.g. 1200mAh). Multiply these numbers together and divide by 1,000 and you’ll get Watt-hours. A 7.4V, 1200mAh is a 8.9 Watt-hour battery.

With our 4 Watt solar bags and solar chargers, each Watt-hour of battery capacity takes about 35 minutes to charge in direct sun. So an 8.9 Watt-hour battery will take about 5 and a half hours to charge.

Direct Sun Works Best: As with all solar charging, direct sun is best. Make sure the panels are pointed towards the sun and no part of the panels are in the shade. If the panels are dirty, simply wipe them with a damp, soft cloth.