Solar-powered Phone / Tablet / Device Charger

After being underwhelmed by commercial solar chargers (expensive + slow-to-charge + heavy) I decided to hack together something that delivered more power for less weight.

The easiest way to shed weight was to forgo any kind of battery storage - this will be a direct-charging device.

To make my Thing I obtained a cheap 6-Volt / 2-Watt solar panel + a 12-Volt USB car charger. I disassembled the USB charger, removed (desoldered) the cigarette socket components, and wired it to my solar pa