TreeHugger Review: The Solio Solar Charger
by on 03. 9.05
Many products promise much and deliver considerably less. Back in early November 04 we profiled the Solio solar charger for mobile phones, PDAs and iPods. It sounded great in theory but only became available to real folk in 2005. So does the rhetoric stand up to scrutiny? Not willing to take the easy road, TreeHugger sent our correspondent WM trekking in windy Patagonia to test the thing. His carrier pigeon recently flew in with this report..
Pros - it works! (tried many older solar chargers before and been very disappointed with their performance.) Have not plugged my iPod into the grid for nearly four weeks. The Solio is the only thing powering it. Takes about 5-7 hours of direct sunlight to keep the iPod topped up. Is small for its function, just a bit bigger than the musicmaker itself and similar in weight. Is simple to operate after one use, no more need for the mini-manual. Is reasonably rugged and robust (needs to be, as no case is provided). With its built-in battery the Solio can be charged on its own, you can then transfer the charge to your valuable iPod in the privacy of your tent.
Cons - adaptor plug provided for a Siemens mobile phone does not fit the phone! Bah humbug. The slick, modern, curvy design does not allow the Solio to stand up easily to face the sun. It's quite a slippery little beast. Flatter edges and/or some textured surfaces would be more useful. The single hole in the centre doesn't make it very easy to strap onto a rucksack for charging, while walking during the day. Small holes or rings on the ends of each fin/petal would be a big improvement for this. The connector from the Solio to the iPod is a little loose at the Solio end and needs to be jiggled now and then to keep it charging. When charging the iPod, a green LED light flashes continuously on the Solio - in the backcountry this might possibly be confused as some sort of emergency beacon.
Conclusions - Gripes aside, the Solio really does what it claims to do, and that means nasty disposable batteries are no longer needed. It's a great, lightweight way to take iPodded tunes into the hills for extended multiday periods. 4 out of 5 hugs. [by WM]
I think this is cool, just by looking at it. It is a great idea because of the pain of having to charge any device, not just your ipod. I dont know how efficient it is in terms of how easy it is to cary it, but this is a great idea and a pretty good looking design that will hopfully get better with time. I am however going to go buy this product right now :)
I saw that you were complaining that you couldn't aim it at the sun. The "finger hole" in the center is actually for a pen/pencil/stick so that you can prop it up like a tripod at the sun.
Thanks for pointing that out, Jordon. But in the mountains I'm not normally carrying a pencil and there are few sticks above the treeline. Certainly I used sticks when I could find them. But just casually trying to prop the Solio against a rock or pack, say at lunchtime (without hunting around for a stick) was often frustrating - due to the slipperyness of the shape and materials.
Dear WM,
Just read your test and I'm a bit confused. The Solio uses an internal battery that will be charged after 10-12!!!! hours of direct sunlight.
The extra battery means another pressure on our enviroment and I think this is not GREEN at all.
I have seen an unique product, made for Vodafone and tested by them, that doesn't needs this extra battery and in my opinion is greener than the Solio.
The name of the product is the Vodafone Soldius1 and trials in Australia have proven that this product works very well.
Keep on doing the good work,
Cheers - Frank
WM, I note the comments about Solio and its battery, being interested in these kind of things myself I contacted Better Energy and was assured by them that they have a full battery recycling programme. They also mentioned that they participated in the same trial Vodafone Australia and came out as the product of choice among consumers and are already on sale in Vodafone shops in Greece. Soldius 1 sounds great Frank but what happens when there is no sun?
Speaking of solar chargers..........I work for a company in the US, that is the exclusive distributor of a new solar charger manufacturered by Soldius. It is the Soldius1 solar charger. www.soldius.com. It charges cell phones, Blackberrys, ipods, etc. It is so much better than any other chargers on the market today. It is small, there is no battery to charge (and go bad after time), the power goes directly to your phone, Blackberry, etc. No middle man (the battery). This device fits directly in your shirt pocket. Its light weight. Its inexpensive. It is 100% green energy. No fossil fuels. No emmisions. No batteries to dispose of. We are so excited to be a part of this venture. This Soldius1 solar charger, charges your cell phone or device in an average of 2 to 3 hours. We brought one outside of our office on a very overcast day (in New England) and set it up to charge one of our cell phones. The second we plugged the Soldius1 charger in to the Nokia phone, it started charging within a few seconds. We also set it up next to a lamp in the office. The phone started charging, inside, next to the lamp!!! You can reach me at solarchargers@yahoo.com if you have interest in this device. We are now taking orders for these if you want one. They are for sale world wide exclusively through us. Also, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. I am more than happy to discuss anything with you. So please send your contact information to me (Patrick Carignan) at solarchargers@yahoo.com. I will touch base with you within 24 hours to discuss this new, incredibly environmentally friendly gadget. Please include you name, company name, phone number, address, city, state, country. You can check out the manufacturers web site at www.soldius.com. Also, if you would like to become an authorized reseller of thes, let me know in your email. Get in line quickly, because they are starting to move fast. We want to provide quantity for any company that is interested in selling these. Thank you for your review of this posting. And always.........Worship the Sun!!!!!!!
Patrick, thanks for bringing you imminent distribution of the Soldius1 to our readers attention. That the cell is powerful enough to get a charge from interior lights is very noteworthy. Obviously you are enthused about the product. But I would express caution in trying to over 'sell' it, by running down other products. I would also suggest there is an equally valid market for batteries in the solar market. The sun does not shine 24 hrs a day. Even buildings powered by solar, store their energy in batteries, until the building's demand requires the supply.
I was just reading about the Solius 1, made by a Dutch company. Supposedly, it beats out the Solio in that it only takes 2-3 hours to charge a phone because it has better tracking. Rather than charging a battery, it plugs directly into the phone. Sounds great, but I have not found a US retailer! Currently, the Solius 1 is compatible with most cell phone brands, but NOT the iPod.
I have an idea, why not create a t-shirt that has solar panels built into it, this way it would be possible to charge devices even faster because solar panel area would be way bigger.