$300 for a solar cooker? You can quickly make one for a few bucks from free plans on line.

A solar backpack with the panel pointing toward the horizon? Can you say “almost no solar gain”? As useful as golf cleats on the tops of your shoes.

$80 for a solar lantern? Shop carefully. There are several available for less than $30. Make sure you’re getting some sort of extra benefit for your money.

$265 to $350 for a solar tent? Make sure it’s a damn good tent because you’re paying top dollar. You can buy a very good ‘family’ tent for under $100. Paying more would probably make sense if you needed very lightweight one because you were going to carry it a few miles. And remember those <$30 solar lanterns.

$40 – 60 for a solar fan. Maybe. Probably not. A $1 folding fan works pretty well. I'd want to give this a very critical check before writing a check. If it had 8 – 10 hours of storage then it might be good for keeping you cool and the mosquitoes away while you sleep, but it doesn't.

If you're going to be out away from the grid for a while I'd recommend you look for a solar battery charger that could charge up some AAs/AAAs in a decent amount of time.

Head lamps with AAAs are great lighting. Hang one in the tent for general lighting and use personal ones for tasks/reading.

Make yourself a solar cooker out of cardboard and aluminum foil. They work great. I knew someone who made dinner for her family every good-weather day, using the same box for two or three years. She'd prepare the main dish, put it in the box up on a high stand where the animals couldn't get to it and take off for work. Solar slow cooking. Cost about $5 to make.

Take the money you save and donate to one of the organizations that help very low income people purchase small solar systems so that they can quit using kerosene.

All that kerosene they don't burn over the next decades? You've helped someone have a better life and you've lower the world's carbon footprint.

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Writing a check. It's almost a lost art.

I had to write one a couple months back and it took a moment or two to remember the process….