An essential part of your survival gear, but what is the best solar powered radio.
A radio is very necessary for keeping up to date with any disaster situation and ensuring you are able to keep ahead of any trouble.
But the type of radio is also very important – here we have a few of the best solar powered radio for preppers., offering the best value for money.
From a prepping viewpoint, anything that requires batteries is frowned upon and is generally to be avoided due to the use and longevity of the battery itself.
With an exclusively battery powered radio you risk the battery life every time you switch it on, so as a prepper this is a definite no no..
Alternatives to radios that only use battery power.
There are three choices of radios that do not use the traditional, throw away batteries.
- Solar
- Wind up
- Combined solar & wind up
Most preppers prefer the combined solar and wind up radios as these give you two choices to power the radio.
The sunlight will charge your radio during the day and if it’s used at night time and the charge gets low you can hand wind to keep it recharged.
As to ‘the best solar powered radio’ – it really depends on how many extra gadgets you want on the radio itself.
For instance, some solar powered radios come with a torch, a USB charger socket, earphone socket or a phone charger outlet.
Then there’s sound quality – from basic radio quality up to DAB digital.
Modern technology has allowed these radios to be made smaller and smaller whilst still giving excellent reception and quality. They are lightweight [essential for your bug out bag] and tough as well – all in all, a definite good bit of kit to include.
Here is my 6 of the best solar powered radio and solar/wind up combi radio
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This is the Duronic Hybrid combined solar & wind up radio.
It’s a nice compact, rugged unit measuring h70mm x w130mm x d35, making it ideal to stash away in your BOB.
It is a battery free radio which has a AM/FM radio and once fully charged will last all day, but also, 1 minute of winding will give you 20 minutes of playing time.
An excellent survival and preppers choice giving great value for money at under £15
*this has to be the best for ‘value for money’
Over 600, 5 star reviews on Amazon here
see more information on the Duronic Hybrid Radio
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This is a top end radio from Roberts – DAB / FM Digital Solar Radio.
Offering solar, battery or mains powered – The solar DAB gives up to 27 hours playing time when fully charged.
A high end DAB radio with a price tag of just under £70
Size(mm) 202 (w) x 140 (h)x 70 (d)
*Available in white, green, black or red.
Over 280, 5 star reviews on Amazon here
see more information for the Roberts DAB / FM Digital
click image to enlarge
The Duronic Apex Wind-Up Solar Powered AM/FM Radio with Apex Digital Display Alarm Clock, built in Torch and Phone Charging Function. Also has a USB charging port with lead supplied.
A nice compact radio measuring H:7.5cm, L:15cm, W:5.5cm –
This radio will give up to 9 hours after fully charged and 6 hours of flashlight use after fully charged.
This radio will never need batteries.
*Great value solar/wind up at under £15
Over 600, 5 star review on Amazon here
click here for more information on Apex Digital
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Aquabourne Wind up & Solar Radio AM/FM/WB radio.
Cube shaped and splash proof with rubberised body.
This unit will never needs batteries – Integrated V2 high output solar charging panel and also a compact folding winding handle.
Play time – 20 minutes of play from 1 minute winding (approx). 5 hours from 5 hours direct sunlight.
Measure a very compact 80mm x 80mm x50mm
*Purely a radio – with no other features
Over 100 customer reviews on Amazon here
click here for more information on the Aquabourne
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Freeplay Energy – Companion (radio, torch, mobile charger)
Waterproof and compact, requiring no batteries with the nice addition of a torch.
AM/FM radio that gives 12 hours of playing time when fully charged.
This radio compact at 125mm long and weighs only 230g – so perfect for a BOB.
*All round good value for around the £25 mark.
Customer reviews from Amazon here
click here for more information on the Freeplay Energy
click image to enlarge
Re-wind DSP5016 Solar Powered Portable Wind Up AM/FM Radio
Battery free AM/FM solar powered & wind up radio.
Nice rubberized, non slip casing.
A budget range solar/wind up radio offering value at under £15.
Customer reviews from Amazon here
click here for more information on the Re-Wind
A Solar Powered Radio is an essential item to have in your bug out bag –
If the SHTF you going to want to know what’s happening around and about you – where the danger areas are and is it safe to venture out.
Are troubles escalating, is rescue on its way?
The radio stations will be one of the last to shut down so they are a valuable source of information for us preppers – don’t rule them out and definitely don’t go out without a radio and ideally a solar powered radio – it just makes sense.!
Choosing the best solar powered radio that suits your needs is an important decision – I hope this guide helped.
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]]>Best Solar Survival Light for Bugging Out 
There are quite a few solar powered survival lights and solar powered survival torches on the market today making it a difficult task to choose the best solar survival light for your home or bug out kit.
Remember, you don’t need hours and hours of bright sunlight to charge a solar powered survival light. You simply need good daylight and if there’s a bit of sunshine then all well and good, it all helps. But one of the key factors is, you need to have your solar survival light exposed to daylight whenever you can so its ready for action when you need it the most…. at night.!
So keep it out in the open at all times, just like shown here. >
In order to be able to do that your solar light must be very portable, of which most are, but also very water proof, hard wearing and robust to withstand the wiggling and bumping about that it will get.
When hiking the back of your rucksack is the ideal place. When camped it can be hung onto the top of your tent.
POWERplus Barracuda Waterproof Dynamo / Solar Powered Torch
The POWERplus Barracuda is a combination of two different energy sources that you are able to use at the same time.
You can either charge the Barracuda using the sunlight during daytime or use the dynamo handle that winds up the torch.
The Barracuda has 3 LED ultra bright LEDs which give you a quite powerful light – certainly enough to se your way.
To find out what other thought of this solar survival light see customer reviews
View more information, reviews and prices on the PowerPlus Barracuda – click here
This is a really neat solar survival light that seems to of been designed specifically for preppers.
The WakWaka Solar lamp will give you 16 hours of bright, reading light on a full charge and has some 2:1 use time vs. charge time
It comes with 5 different light modes, including SOS beacon and is both water and shock resistant.
It also has an neat USB port which allows for charging a phone or other device – very clever… This is a top end bit of kit and sells for just under £30 inc delivery – so quite a reasonable price for a lot of kit.
View more information, reviews and prices on the WakaWaka Solar Lamp – click here
Re-Wind Eco Friendly Solar & Wind-up Powerful 3 LED Waterproof Torch
The Re-Wind Eco Friendly Solar & Wind-up Torch has three Powerful LED lights that give a powerful beam. The LEDs also flash to give an emergency signaling touch.
The Re-Wind is also Waterproof up to 5 meters in depth, which is a very handy feature, knowing you torch is going to be OK if you drop it in a puddle.! The torch will fully charge in sunlight but also has the added feature of the wind up handle which will give 60 minutes of light for 1 minute of winding.
A nice compact torch measuring only 24.2 x 14.8 x 4 cm and weighing in at less than 1kg.
Selling at under £15 inc delivery, this offers very good value for money.
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]]>OFF GRID SOLAR SYSTEMS FOR SURVIVAL PREPPERS 
As a UK Prepper you may think we don’t have enough sunshine to use solar power effectively – well think again folks – the amount of daytime sunshine hours is more than enough to provide the power you need to run essential survival equipment.
If you have ever had a power cut then you’ll know just how frustrating it can be. For those of us who live in rural areas these power cuts can become quite often – as a result you learn to adapt and prepare for when they happen.
Fortunately they only last an hour or so.
But what if you power was gone…
A complete loss of power for days or weeks or more – would you be prepared for that.?
What about if you were forced to bug out and just get away from a disaster area.?
As a prepper it is essential to look at the various Off Grid Solar Systems that are available for Survival.
Cost plays a huge part in what is practical and what’s not. If money wasn’t an issue then you could run just about everything from the sun and provide power for you heating, cooking, lighting and everything else, but slowly as technology improves the cost of being able to produce solar power is getting cheaper and cheaper.
However, theres always an alternative and preppers know that you have to be able to do things yourself to survive, so making a DIY solar system is within most preppers abilities. A solar heater for your hot water is far more easier than you would think as is providing electrical power for the most essential items.
Off Grid Solar Systems to generate electricity
A solar panel electrical systems, is also refereed to as a solar photovoltaics (PV), capturing systen – the PV panel captures the sun’s energy using photovoltaic cells.
PV cells do not require the direct sunlight to work – and are able to generate some electricity even on a cloudy day.
The PV cells convert the sunlight that falls onto their surface into electricity. That electricity is then used to run your household appliances and lighting.
Off Grid Solar Systems to generate hot water
The solar panel is a water filled heat collector where the water is heated via the sun. This collector is heavily insulated against any heat loss and also painted in black for maximum heat absorption.
The system shown here uses no electrical power and works on the age old gravity system whereby hot water rises and creates a natural flow around the the system.
This system works using a pump to create the flow around the system due to the collector being above the tank.
All the components to make these systems are readily available and there are many different adaptation of the basic design, but the principle is always the same
These off grid solar systems are ideal for preppers and would make like a lot better if you decide to bug in. You can keep the essential items running especially on the 12V system.
However, what happens if you decide to bug out.? There are still plenty of solar power equipment to make your bugging out life easier – take a look at what’s on offer for solar powered bugging out here.
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