Seeking solutions to charge Canon batteries in the field w/ solar power

Dear 35mm friends,

I take extended trips into the backcountry and need to charge the
batteries of my Canon 10d. (BP-511 batteries) I would like to hook up
some type of lightweight/portable solar panel to my batteries to
charge them in the field. I am not sure what products I will need to
do this.

Does anyone know if there is a way to hook up a solar panel directly
to the camera? Can the Canon 10d be used to charge its own battery, or
do I need to use a separate and dedicated battery charger?
....adapters?? ...converters??

If anyone has experience charging batteries like this in the field, I
would really appreciate any help or guidance you might be able to
offer.

Thanks,
Sean

 

Check out: http://tow.com/photo/articles/solar_charger/

Consider that it just might be cheaper (and lighter) to buy more
batteries (~$20 each, no-name brand). Have you thought about an image
storage solution?

-Dave

 

Sean,

Can a 10D use AA batteries by chance? If so you could get a AA solar
charger from REI. Or you could go and build one with solar ceslls from
Radio Shack.

Robert Meyers

 

Where did you find those batteries for $20? I'm paying $40 for no name
batteries (eFilm) and $60 for Canon, locally. Not that I'm disputing you,
I'd really like to know.
And, even at $40, that's probably cheaper than trying to rig and maintain a
solar panel in the field. Can you imagine a solar panel large enough to
power a 10D in the Columbia Gorge???