I was reading makezine.com a couple of months ago, and came across a post about Steve "Chippy", a British cyclist living in Germany and bike touring along the the Rhein River. His trip is about balancing "a 450km cycle camping trip with work and a solar powered UMPC experiment". In his posts, he details the good, bad, and ugly uses of solar technology to power his communication devices and Ultra Mobile PC (UMPC). UMPCs are handy little devices if you need or want to work, but like to travel light.
Chippy made a video of how to use a solar panel to power your communication devices while you are off the grid riding around on your bike. But watch the video and read the posts before you start hooking things up to your solar panel. He outlines issues with solar charging on his bike trip in detail; scroll from the bottom first and read to the top, and it is easier to understand.
Of course, you can argue that if you are away from civilization riding your bike, that is the point, to get away. I agree until it is night, and the moon is full; you have a flat in the middle of nowhere; it is cold; you can't find a match or lighter; it is sprinkling rain, and the batteries in your flashlight are dead. Oh, I almost forgot, and you are really hungry.
(Scott a guy Chippy links to in his post has put together a 4.4 pound solar-powered communication solution during his hiking trip of the Appalachian trail. So, you might want to check that out, too.
