Charging Electronics:
Some hand crank chargers won't work with iPhones and iPads. I've got to do more research on this.

See:
Charging in technology here
Hand Crank flashlights and Mobil Phone Chargers and

Preparing for power restoration:
Turn off major appliances. The electric water heater, range and heating system breakers need to be turned off to avoid overloading your circuits when the power is restored.
It can also reduce the risk of fire if you are not home when power is restored.
Unplug any voltage-sensitive equipment (e.g. computers, TV's, ...).
Power surges or spikes can occur when electricity is restored, causing damage to equipment such as computers, and motors in appliances like the air conditioner, refrigerator, washer or furnace.
The easiest thing may be to go to your circuit breaker box and turn all circuits off, except a few lights.
I'd turn on major appliances, furnace, stove, first, before electronics.
Switch on an outside light. This may assist our crews in determining whether or not your power has been restored late into the night.

Even though there is a widespread outage (e.g.hurricane Sandy NJ/NY 2012), if you report your outage to the power company, they may send you email when power is restored.

When power is restored:
Idaho Power - Service and Billing - Energy Emergency Information - Outage TipsOnce power has been restored, wait 30 minutes and begin turning home appliances and lighting back on in 10-minute intervals.

See:
Spring & Summer Power Outages | Ohio.gov
Outage Preparation | Consumers Power
Idaho Power - Service and Billing - Energy Emergency Information - Outage Tips | Idaho Power

Passive solar:
At www.azsolarcenter.org/tech-science/solar-architecture/passive-solar-design-manual/passive-solar-design-manual-heating.html they say, "Even on cloudy days passive solar heating designs continue to collect energy from diffused sunlight."

www.sunearth.net/solar.html and www.ehow.com/how_7978182_make-thermal-lining-fabric.html confirm this.

However, at www.epb.net/power/home/energy-efficiency/education/ they say, "Keep drapes and blinds closed on cloudy days and at night."

See Also:
Charging in technology here
Hand Crank flashlights and Mobil Phone Chargers and Solar Panels in products here.
Solar Chargers
Solar Tutorial UPS