Energizer to Release Portable Solar Battery Charger
GoodCleanTech reports that Energizer plans on debuting its portable solar-powered AA and AAA battery charger at January’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The slick-looking gadget is completely weatherproof and comes with a USB port to power electronics.
- » See also: Nike’s Lorrie Vogel on Closing the Loop. Part 2- The Human Impact
- » Get CleanTechnica by RSS or sign up by email.
Energizer’s device can also be charged from an AC outlet just in case the sun lets you down.
The company plans on releasing the charger this summer for $49.99— not a bad price for freedom from wall outlets.
Photo Credit: GoodCleanTech
I can easily see this in my Christmas stocking and using it in my window sills. Kind of expensive but very cool.
We are noticing a number of solar charging units coming from the promotional products industry as well, mainly for phones and other small personal electronics.
The KEYWORD solar locates a number of items at http://www.proformacatalog.com
The idea that millions of batteries, which currently end up in our landfills, might be replaced by solar rechargeable versions is a great bit of news, though I can’t understand why it took this long to bring such a product to market.
@Global Patriot
It is not new. A friend of mine bought something similar around 1996. He gave up on using it because it generate so little power that battery charging time would be counted in weeks not hours. I am sure the solar PV cells used have improved since then, but have they improved enough? There is no tech specs given, we will have to wait until it on the market.
Solar PV is wonderful, but not very powerful per square-cm, so in reality a much larger collector is needed. Here are some transportable models that are on the market now:
http://mobile-energy2.com/products_me2solar.php
I’ve had one of these for years. It just doesn’t have a fancy brand name on it.