TreeHugger Picks: Solar Chargers
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA 
on 10.18.06
Solar power holds its own as one of a host of TreeHugger's favorite alternative energy technologies; unfortunately, it's still a little on the cost-prohibitive side for most people to implement on a larger scale (like with a flock of panels on the roof, for example). On a smaller scale, however, solar-powered chargers have arrived, giving us all a way to cut back on power consumption while enjoying the benefits of cell phones, laptop computers, PDAs, iPods and more. Here are some of our picks for solar chargers.
1) One charger from Solar Style will power your mp3 player, digital camera, cell phone and more (and Solar Style has lots more designs, too).
2) We can't think "solar charger" without thinking of the slick Solio -- check out our hands-on review.
3) The Soldius1 uses a mysterious technology called Maximum Solar Power Tracking to charge a mobile phone in just 2 to 3 hours.
4) This foldable charger is small enough to fit in most backpacks and laptop bags, and powerful enough to juice up your laptop, PDA, GPS and more; it'll even power up rechargable batteries.
5) Solar bags are great for multi-tasking gadget-lovers; we're especially fond of the Voltaic backpack -- read Bruce Sterling's review to see if it's right for you.
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I am suprised you did not mention the Juice Bag by Reware. They are lighter than the Voltaic, though they do not have a battery pack in the bag. That comes seperately.
Dont forget The Reware Juice Bag that uses Flexible solar panles with many more style options. Although the battery for storing power has to be purchased seperatly with the Juice Bag vs. Voltaic, The Juice bag provides a trickle/maintaining charge to any electronic device that is compatable with a female car lighter socket and a cheaper starting price. Both The Juice Bag & Battery Accessory are available at www.earthtechproducts.com
Here is the link to the Juice Bag: http://www.earthtechproducts.com/p1.html
Treehugger almost always supports the Voltaic, rarely hear of the Reware JuiceBag here. Hmmmm, Treehugger. Anyway, the new ES bags (made from recycled soda bottles) are pretty awesome. I'm surprised bike messengers aren't picking them up. Price too high?
http://www.rewarestore.com/
I'm going to share my favorite secret, supercheap solar panel source with you. Shhhhh, don't tell anyone! Heh.
It's a foldable, 5 watt (hook two of 'em up for 10 watts!) for only $40 at Northern Tool. Yeah, these are probably pretty cheaply made, but they do work well. I've had one for a couple of years and it still pumps out the wattage.
Having Type Key problems again? Let's see if this posts as me this time...
I'm going to share my secret, supercheap solar panel source with you. Shhhhh, don't tell anyone! Heh.
Foldable, 5 watt (hook two of 'em up for 10 watts!) for only $40 at Northern Tool. Yeah, these are probably pretty cheaply made, but they do work well. I've had one for a couple of years and it still pumps out the wattage.
Although these things come in quite handy when you are hiking and you run out of power... But don't get yourself fooled into thinking this is very sustainable. A solar panel is sustainable when you can optimize it's use, but these small devices only generate electricity when the user needs it to charge something - bringing spare rechargable batteries is probably both a cheaper AND a more sustainable thing if you would make a Life Cycle Assessment. The chemicals and heavy metals in such a panel, the energy needed to produce such a panel, it's all not really worth it. It would be if they could produce electricity during all of their lifetime.
Install one of these on your roof and use it to charge your small appliances and I would definately agree, but apart from extreme hiking I don't see where this is a very good thing!
Might have something to do with Voltaic being one of the founders of Treehugger. Even so, I think the Voltaic bag is pretty good. I'm just glad to see everyone so interested in solar. I'd love to see the world of mobile electronics decide that it's cool to go completely off-the-grid. Hey, maybe renewable electricity is better? Clearer phone conversations, higher fidelity MP3s, less staticy FM, smoother videogames, faster web browsing, hotter IM chat buddies ...
turil, could you describe your setup with the northern tool solar panel for me?
its only $35 right now!