I don't tour at night and have no plans to tour at night, however in case something happened and found myself having to ride at night on a tour I carry standard rechargeable lights just in case. Now if I need to charge them I carry two small storage batteries, which I would also use to charge my phone up with. I then use a small solar panel that I strap to the top of my stuff on my rack and let it recharge one of my storage batteries as I ride.
I carry two storage batteries, one is an emergency backup in case I didn't get enough sun to charge up the main one enough. The storage batteries weigh a lot less than a dynamo and I have no wattage loss by using solar, not to mention it's a LOT cheaper. The drawback to the storage battery and solar system is that the solar system takes a long time to charge up a fully depleted battery, like around 8 hours, but I never let my bats fully discharge. One of my batteries can charge up my phone 8 times before it's dead according to the description I read when I bought it, but my phone is not one of those big ones, but supposedly it will charge mini iPad 4 times which I don't carry one of those. That battery puts out 20,000maH, my other one I think is 10,000.
Of course if you tour at night you need a dynamo to be effective, but if not there's really no need for dynamo. Plus a lot of places you go to will have places you can plug in and charge stuff.
A word about rechargeable batteries since I brought up that method. ALL rechargeable batteries should never be allowed to fully discharge. Some tools come with a computer chip that turns the battery off when it gets down to between 15% to 10%, this is done to protect the battery, but small stuff like lights and phones don't do that, so you have to mindful not to discharge all the way. The best way to keep a battery healthy for the longest is to charge it after every use regardless of how little you used it.
Anyway that's the way I've been doing it and so far I haven't had to plug anything into an outlet to get my stuff charged. The storage battery will recharge my phone from dead to full
After months of research I ended up with a Anker 15 watt solar system, it was only $60 but the reviews said it was very durable, and so well made that it only one of a few that can charge in cloudy conditions. It also charges faster than most others, most take about 12 to 16 hours to charge a phone from dead, this one takes 8 hours, but I charge my storage battery instead than charge my phone off of the storage battery. The Anker is not waterproof but it can withstand minor mist type conditions; plus it weighs 14 ounces so it's lightweight as well. They don't make that particular model anymore but they have something they call the 15 watt dual, which looks exactly like mine so not sure what they changed vs mine.
So the way I use it is I use small bungee cords to strap down my tent to the top of the rack, then I use a spider web bungee thingy to hold down the solar panel on top of the tent while riding if I need it to charge up a battery while I ride.
Anyway just an alternative way of keeping stuff charged if you don't want to spend the money for a dynamo or don't need a dynamo to run your lights through the night.
