Voltaic Solar Backpack
by Francine Hardaway
Published on December 28th, 2007
2 Comments
Everybody knows how much electricity we use with our gadgets, and how we hate the short battery life of every device. And the expense of batteries, and the pain in the butt of recycling them or properly disposing of them. Batteries are a real tribulation of modern life.
But this Christmas I got the gift that may end this problem for me—the Voltaic Solar Backpack, a mobile solar generator designed to charge your handheld devices, including cell phones, cameras, PDAs, and iPods.
Embedded in the part of the bag that sits away from your back are three lightweight waterproof solar panels that can can generate four watts of solar power. One hour of direct sun exposure powers 3.5 hours of iPod tie or 1.5 hours of talk time on a cell phone. It’s the gift that keeps on giving!
The backpack also comes standard with a LI Ion battery pack to store the extra power that’s generated in very sunny climates so it’s available when you need it — it saves it for a rainy day, as it were :-)
The bag also comes with eleven standard adapters, but you can also plug in to its power using your device’s car charger or USB charger.
And get this: the bag is made of fabrics that are woven from recycled PET (soda bottles). Recycled PET is water resistant, UV protected, and durable. And it looks better than than nylon that’s usually used for backpacks.
I’m so excited to use this gift that I loaded it up immediately. Now I have to wait for the rain to stop. I think I may be the first on my block to have this, so I am going to demo it all day to my buddies.
bravenewleaf
posted on January 6th, 2008 at 11:24 pm
My favorite Christmas gift was of a similar nature, but a little easier on people’s pocketbooks (you have some generous friends/family!)
It’s called the Solio Hybrid, and can easily be placed on the outside of a backpack, or just live on your windowsill. It can charge phones, ipods, etc. and recharges fully after 8 hours of direct sun or 12-18 hours of cloudy days. Built-in battery, similar to the backpack.
http://store.solio.com/s.nl/it.A/id.80/.f?sc=7&category=109
–A new greenie trying to figure it all out…
http://www.bravenewleaf.com
Rochelle
posted on January 29th, 2009 at 9:36 am
Many thanks to both of you. GREAT ideas! The backpack is a bit expensive, but would be a good investment for a student or regular backpacker. As I’m more of a hermit these days, the Solio looks like the better option for me.