2013 has just begun, and solar power is more affordable than ever, there are several innovative chargers and gadgets which have ditched the wall socket to bask in the sunshine. Today, we bring you our top 10 list of solar powered gadgets.
The list consists of innovative and practical solutions that are going to help make the world around you a bit more greener.
1. LightCap 300
The LightCap 300 is a water bottle with a cap embedded with 4 bright, waterproof LEDs and a solar panel at the top. It makes a perfect companion for bike riders and people who like the outdoors, providing a sip of cold water and lighting up the way at night for 8 hours at a time. If you aren’t an outdoor person, you can hang it out on the porch or keep it in the garden.
2. Spark Tablet Case
2012 saw the release of many tablets, and they’re starting to become common in almost every household: a solar powered tablet case makes for a good green investment. Spark Tablet Case is tablet carrying case with a lightweight, sturdy and waterproof solar panel. It supports a host of modern tablets, including the iPad. The solar panel manages to generate 8 watts of power in direct sunlight, and it takes 10 hours to fully charge the iPad with direct sunlight.
The case also comes with a battery pack; the battery can be charged with sunlight or a USB connection. If there’s a lack of sunlight, you can use the battery to power and charge your tablet. The battery pack holds enough of a charge to fully charge an iPad. Take a look on
3. Lumiwall By Sharp
Sharp has been pushing the solar power initiative for a long time now, and they’ve come up with an amazing product. The Lumiwall is a sheet of transparent solar panels sandwiched between two pieces glass. The solar panels soak up energy during the day while letting sunlight shine through, and at night, they use the stored up energy to provide soothing ambient light, the panels make for a great skylight or window replacement.
4. Solar Camera Strap
DSLRs are power houses these days, and require more power to take snaps; it would be a shame if you run out of battery just when the perfect shot captures your attention. The Solar Camera Strap gives you a stylish camera strap embedded with a large flexible solar panel which charges your camera on the go. It is the brain child of Weng Jie, the strap is just a concept at the moment, it’s definitely something worth a look when it comes out.
5. Solar Bricks
Solar Bricks make great use of solar panels, embedded with a solar panel and 2 LED lights, they’re perfect for patio pathways. They store the energy from sun during the day and use them to power the lights at night. After a full day of charge, the brick powers the 2 LEDs for 8 hours.
6. Kickstarter Project: electree+
electree+ is easily the most beautiful thing on our list, but the solar soaking sculpture just isn’t for show, we’ll let the makers of electree+ tell you why.
The electree isn’t available in the market yet, but they’re currently looking for backers on Kickstarter to get the electree+ into the market. If you like this innovative design, and want to help out the team, visit their Kickstarter page.
7. Sun Jar by Suck UK
Wouldn’t it be great if you could trap sunlight in a jar and make use of it at night? Now you can, thanks to Suck UK’s Sun Jar; available in different colours, the jar has a solar panel on top which charges a battery inside, which powers a small LED lamp. The jar is waterproof, and I think it makes for a fabulous garden light. If you’d rather keep the trapped sunlight in the house, the Sun Jar provides soothing ambient light at night indoors. The jar has an automatic switch , so it automatically turns of the LED lamp to charge the battery during the day and turns on the captured light at night upto 5 straight hours.
8. Solarpod
Solarpod is a solar power generator by Thousand Suns, it is a useful backup generator, and a perfect companion for camping trips and other outdoor activities. The Solarpod comes in a carrying kit which comes with a foldable solar panel, and the Solarpod itself. The solar panels can charge the Solarpod in 6 hours, once fully charged, it powers a 40W TV for 6 hours. It has 2 USB sockets, a car power socket, and a main power socket.
So whether you’re going camping, or just need an eco-friendly backup generator; look no further than the Solarpod.
9. Generator Solar Laptop Charger
Generator Solar Laptop Charger is a stylish laptop bag with a robust, waterproof solar panel which helps you charge your laptop on the go. The bag weighs in at 4.5 pounds, and an hour of solar charging can provide 45 minutes of runtime on energy efficient laptops. But it isn’t just for laptops, it is compatible with a range of laptops, tablets and smartphones. The bag comes with a large battery pack which doubles your laptop’s battery time. It takes the large battery back 7 hours to charge in direct sunlight. You can purchase it on
10. Solar Keyboard Folio for The iPad
There isn’t a shortage of solar powered cases for the iPad out there, we’ve featured one in this list earlier, but the Solar Keyboard Folio for the iPad by Logitech stands out. As the name suggests, it brings a full QWERTY keyboard within the case, the keyboard is charged by the same solar panel that charges your iPad, so you needn’t worry about charging the keyboard separately.
We hope you like our list of solar powered gadgets, do you know about a solar powered product we should feature here? Let us know in the comments section below.
