I’m taking my phone off “the grid”, who’s with me?

Solioclassic1It’s about time for another crazy mobile experiment. Last time was my 60-day "web-challenge" where I tried to use only a browser for my daily computing tasks. It went quite well, but indicated to me that web services still have plenty of room to mature. So what’s the new challenge? This one fits in with our household efforts to be more "green" in our care for the environment.

In 2005, we sold a gas-guzzling truck and opted for a new hybrid vehicle. In 2007, we swapped out over two-dozen incandescent bulbs with CCFLs and saw a huge drop in our electricity usage. Earlier this year, we purchased and installed a solar-powered attic fan and we’re on the verge of composting our organic food waste. Since I use mobile devices all day, I decided to take a solar-powered approach to further reduce our electricity consumption so here’s the challenge: I’m taking my handheld devices off the grid for the next 60 days. Or at least, that’s what I’m going to try.

After much research, I opted to purchase a Solio Classic hybrid solar charger for $99 through Amazon. It’s about the size of a mouse when folded up, but unfolds to show three solar panels. Solio makes two other hybrid solar chargers but I felt the Classic would meet my needs the best. Each of the three Solio models is a "hybrid" in two ways: all of them include a rechargeable battery so you can store energy and each can be charged through a USB port from a computer. I felt that the $99 Classic model offered the best bang for buck in terms of the battery since it can store 1650 mAh of juice. The Solio Hybrid 1000 is cheaper at $79, but the internal battery only stores 1000 mAh of power. That’s a significantly lesser amount for the $20 savings. On the other hand, the Solio Magnesium Edition stores 1800 mAh worth of juice, but retails for $169. I like that Solio includes adapter tips so you can charge a number of handheld devices. Included with my unit were adapters for USB, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, LG and mini-USB devices. I might be able to use this with the kid’s handheld game platforms in a pinch.

I’m still using a first-generation iPhone and the internal battery is rated for 1400 mAh of power, so a fully charged Solio Classic will fully charge my phone, with a little extra power to spare. I’ve also trained myself to use the device a little more efficiently from a power perspective:

  • Set the screen brightness to the lowest usable level. I don’t want to squint in the dark, but I find that the phone is perfectly usable with the brightness setting at nearly zero. One bump up from no brightness works for me and my four eyes.
  • Turn off WiFi when the phone is idling for hours. (Note the same would apply to 3G, but my handset doesn’t offer 3G). In standby, I need my phone to be ready for calls at a minimum. E-mail is important to, but EDGE is perfectly fine; even for the hundreds of e-mails I receive daily. When I need to hit the web for a while, it’s no big deal to turn WiFi back on.
  • Set the e-mail fetch interval. Even though my career is totally dependent on the web and heavily on e-mail, there’s no message that can’t wait more than 30 minutes. If it’s that important, someone can call me, so I set my e-mail fetch interval to 30 minutes. This way, the phone isn’t checking more often via the data connection.

PhotoNote that anyone can take this approach to get more run-time out of a handheld. You don’t need to go extreme and start solar charging to reduce your electricity demand. The strategies above let me go two days without charging my iPhone however, and that gives me two days to capture sunlight with the Solio. I guess if we have a three-day rainstorm, I’m out of luck.

So here’s the (crazy) challenge I’m undertaking. I’m going to see how long I can use my iPhone without plugging it into the A/C adapter or into my MacBook for power. The only exception will be for an iPhone software update. My goal is at least 30 days, but my stretch goal is 60. While I won’t sacrifice my standard usage of the device, I will be smart in how I use it, based on the strategies above. Using the Solio Classic in my south-facing home office, I’m hoping for around four to five hours of direct sunlight per day and I may end up moving the unit to a west window in the afternoon. Solio says it takes around eight to ten hours of direct sunlight to fully charge the internal battery, so it’s going to be tough to make this work. Plus I’ll need to keep an eye on the weather and take full advantage of sunny days.

Is a $99 solar charger going to provide enough free electricity to make this cost effective? I can almost guarantee the answer to that is no, so no need to tell me so in the comments. But it’s not about the money. It’s about being productive and mobile while trying to do whatever we can to reduce our demand for electricity. Besides, you often learn more from the journey than simply from the destination. Who’s with me?

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