Goal Zero "Nomad 7"'solar

http://www.goalzero.com/shop/p/56//1:1/

Costco has these on a rotating basis---you know, where the vendor comes in for a week with a table, then moves to another store. Several other products, including a set of 15W panels and various lights. No AA/AAA charger packs, though. You can find those on Amazon for about $25. I picked up a set of panels for $63ish.

Plenty of sun in AZ, and that's central in my lighting/cooling plans. The Nomad provide a theoretical output of 7W, and will output 5V on a USB jack, 12V on a cigarette-lighter jack or 6V into a DC prong-type socket. (That last isn't well-covered in the literature, but it's there.)

Bottom line up front: it works as advertised. I can fully charge a 4-pack of NiMH AAs in under 2 hours. (Did so about 08-1000.) I can charge a iPhone from the 20% remaining to full in about 1.5 hrs. (Did so 14-1600ish. No cloud cover in play.) The phone is a little touchy: if you dont set the panels nearly perpendicular to the sun's rays, the phone won't recognize the charger. I didn't bother to test the speaker set, since I only got that because it was bundled in the set.

The panels measure 6"x9" folded and are protected by what looks like 1000d Codura. There are 8 loops of what's basically 550 cord so that the assembly can be hung up by zip ties (poor choice) or mini-carabiners to catch the rays.

Excellent deal and perfect to keep LED lanterns up and running. You could hang this thing (9x12" open) from your ruck as you were moving and keep Garmin and comms up.

I'll probably get a second for the car.