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What are Power Banks and How Do I Use Them?

Ashleigh AngellOctober 3, 2018 8161 0

What are Power Banks and How Do I Use Them?

Ever out with your phone, notice it creeping into the red, and can’t find a wall charger to save your life? You need your phone for something important - a Lyft home, letting your boyfriend know you’re okay, access to your bank account - but it’s going to die any minute and you’re running out of options. Luckily, there’s a technology out now called a power bank that will be there to your rescue if you ever find yourself in this stressful situation.

What is a Power Bank?

A power bank is a type of portable charger that uses solar energy. They come in multiple shapes and sizes for various energy needs. For things like phones, there are portable chargers that you can fit right in your pocket to take on the go. For larger items, like laptops, they also come in bigger sizes, which are also portable, but probably won’t fit in your pocket.

Power banks are already fairly common in the form of a USB port type plug that goes into your computer to charge. But solar power banks are on the rise, and all they need to juice up is the sun.

How are they made?

Most of them use Li-Ion or Li-Polymer batteries, because these contain the most common cell types that are capable of recharging. The main difference between the two of them is that Li-Ion ones are cheaper. Li-Ion batteries are also smaller and lighter. However, they’re also very fragile and must have extra care put into them.

Li-Polymer batteries are good for items that aren’t a rectangle or a cylinder shape. An example of this is the type of solar powered charger that wraps around like a belt. They are also more expensive and heavier, however.

Can I bring my charger on a plane?

A main reason a person would want a portable charger like this is a situation like an airplane. The short answer is yes, you can bring it on the plane. However, there are also some restrictions. For example, if you have a Li-Ion charger, you can only bring it on in your carry-on. This is because if you bring it in your luggage, there’s a small chance it could have a reaction and explode on the plane. While this chance also exists if you bring it on as a carry-on, it’s a lot easier to minimize the damage if it’s in the cabin as opposed to the cargo hold. Luckily, you’re probably bringing your solar powered charger onto the plane because you want to use it in the cabin, so hopefully that won’t be an issue.

You also have to make sure your charger’s battery has a rating limited to 100 Wh per battery.

How do I know how much Wh my battery has?

Luckily, the formula for figuring out how much Wh your battery has is fairly simple.

(mAh/1000) x V = Wh

mAh is the mill amperes per hour, and it should say on the unit exactly how much there is.

V is for voltage, which should also be listed on the unit.

And Wh is, of course, the watts per hour.

Using this formula, you can figure out if your solar powered battery is going to be safe to take along on the airplane or not.

Want to learn more about new solar technologies coming out every day? Check out the HahaSmart blog!

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