Joules, not jewels
Is it wrong to want more power? Before I continue, a bit of disambiguation (I love that word; thank you, Wiki). I’m not lusting after political power here. More, a source of joules. Again, not jewels, for those who think in terms of treasure. Joules. That unit of energy that I never really understood, despite the best efforts of “Doc” Edwards in high school science.
Anyhow, I had spent the afternoon looking at portable power supplies and battery packs, when out of left field, I received a query: Should we buy a lithium generator. I had to stop, Google quietly and realize that this had nothing to do with interplanetary travel. Rather, there are now chargers for those who fear the depletion of accumulators while away from the house. As in camping.
And they are expensive. For something delivering about 500W, the cost after adding in a solar charger comes out at about $2/W. Not over the top, but not as simple as throwing another few “lead acid” C-cells into the flashlight. With one of these units, we could keep a couple of laptops and a couple of cell phones and a couple of tablets in use through the hours away from the grid. Or power a small HF transceiver! Well, that changes everything!
Actually, I’m going to hit pause on my buying spree, and read for a bit. There has to be a downside to anything technically advanced. The idea is still on the table, but we won’t be taking delivery this week. Besides, didn’t we just order new tires for the grey beast? Good thing our debt load is under control.
