Abstract: A common battery for providing power to a first of a plurality of radios. The plurality of radios includes at least a first radio and a second radio. The common battery has a size of the smallest of at least two batteries. The common battery comprises a raised concentric wall edge for enabling the common battery to lock in place when used in place of a larger of the first battery and the second battery, such as within a Vehicular Adaptor Amplifier. The raised concentric wall edge has a height of a difference between a height of the first battery and a height of the second battery. In one variation, the common battery comprises a circular piloting interface that uses an outside radius of a respective bayonet connector on the first and second radios to align the common battery to the respective radio.

Abstract: A device that is attached to portable solar panels so as to allow users to readily verify panel quality and performance. In one example implementation, a device may perform a self-test by measuring the illuminated I-V (current-voltage) curve or dark I-V curve of the solar panel. The measured values derived from the self-test may be compared against a threshold to identify whether either the solar cells and/or the interconnects of the solar panel may have suffered damage affecting the performance of the portable solar panels. A user in the field may be able to dynamically determine whether the performance degradation is due to weather or setup conditions, or if the deviations are due to cell breakage, creases, and/or cracks on the solar cell or other comprised performance factors, such as compromised integrity of the system interconnect.