User Reviews

Evelyne Binsack, alpinist and helicopter pilot, has been on the road since 1st September 2006: Her aim is to reach the South Pole from Switzerland under her own steam, cycling, on foot, on skis and sledges.

"Thank you for asking about the solar system! The device works perfectly and is absolutely indispensable. For example, if an expedition has a base camp that cannot be relocated. I believe the solar device gives us complete freedom, having no access to standard electricity networks!“

Ciril Floess goes on ski tours and freerides in the mountains in winter. In summer you are likely to find him hiking, climbing or doing other outdoor activities.

"Last winter (06/07), I had the opportunity of testing a Sunbag S from Offgrid Systems. I hadn’t used a solar charger myself before.
At first I was quite sceptical, because I knew that batteries tend to lose performance quickly in the cold.

On a Sunday, starting off on a ski tour, I attached the solar panel with the empty battery to the outside of my rucksack. I couldn’t check on the way up if the panel was actually directed towards the sun or not. So I was positively surprised to find how fast the battery was charged – even in not ideal lighting conditions. There was enough power to charge my mobile phone to two thirds... not more, as I then packed the panel into the rucksack for the downhill run.

I was positively surprised to find that the panel charged the battery even in bad lighting conditions and that it didn’t react strongly to the cold. I was worried about the humidity, because the panel did have contact with snow from time to time. However, that worry proved to be unfounded.
In the meantime, the Sunbag has convinced me. I’ve taken the panel with me on other tours and on my travels.

Its advantage lies clearly in the fact that it is foldable and doesn’t take up much space and, of course, its very light weight, which is always a factor to consider when touring.“

Uli Reyer used the Sunbag L on a 10-day camel trek.

"My experiences have been extremely positive. As mentioned in earlier emails, the primary objective was to keep the battery of my video camera charged during a 10-day camel trek. I used the camera regularly and very often, so that the battery was at least 75%, sometimes even 100% empty, by the end of the day. I charged the Sunbag L in the sun during lunch breaks (around 11, 12am until 3pm) and sometimes for an hour in late afternoon. This 3-5 hour exposition time was always sufficient to re-charge the camera battery in the evening or overnight up to 100% again for the next day. I had a spare battery with me – just in case – but I didn’t need it at all.

My fellow travellers were very curious and almost in awe of the solar charger’s existence and performance. Some of them had left their own video cameras at home because they didn’t see a possibility of getting sufficient power supply.“ 

Supporting Projects

Off-Grid Systems supports original and exciting projects. A few of the projects that we find particularly interesting:

Watch the erection of a log cabin in a Canadian forest: http://blockhuette.blogspot.com/

To the North Pole and back again on bicycle with trailer and dog: http://www.obstundgemuese.ch/

A motorcycle trip around the world: http://www.tomsride.net/

New Products

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Media Coverage

15.02.2007 Sunbag S test report by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Sonnenenergie (the German Associatoin of Solar Energy).

13.02.2006 Press article on the Sunbag products in the Coop Zeitung

Magazine 24 2006 c't Magazin (the download of this article is liable to costs)