Tag: solar

Monster Watts Gives Your iPhone a Touch of Solar Power

Your iPhone may have a respectable battery life, but with today’s army of always-connected apps, keeping it fully charged can be a full-time job, especially when you’re on the go. Fortunately, Monster Watts’ Hybrid Solar Battery Case can harness the power of the sun to your iPhone’s advantage.

The case, which also protects your iPhone from everyday drops and scratches, sports a built-in solar panel charger along with a an embedded rechargeable 2400 mAh battery. Put the case under ambient sunlight, and it’ll replenish your iPod’s battery via the solar panel. (Alternatively, it can also be charged from any PC or standard phone charger via the built-in USB port.) There’s even an LED status indicator to inform you of how much battery life you have left. Continue reading Monster Watts Gives Your iPhone a Touch of Solar Power

Ski Helmet Doubles as Solar Charger

While there has been an increased focus on the protection that helmets can provide to the wearer, engineers at the Frauenhofer Institute are also considering how a helmet can also help provide some power for personal electronics. The team has developed a flexible solar panel that is durable enough to be mounted on helmets, and can optimize Bluetooth in the process.

The result is a helmet that can include speakers for a mobile device or music player and use solar cells to get juiced up by the sun, while a battery can ensure that collected power can be saved for those times when the sun might not be shining. The helmets still in prototype but should be arriving later this year.

[Via Ubergizmo: Solar Ski helmet keeps your gadgets charged]

Surfboard That Catches Waves and Rays

Surfers like to catch waves, and typically do so where there tends to be a bit of sun. There are times that people surf in less than sunny locations, but not a new innovation will want them to catch waves, and catch some rays of the sun as well.

Tony Jones of Coral Reef Wetsuits essentially added a solar panel to his custom board, and it adds power to the deck, enough to just up cameras, flashlights, mobile phones and portable radios. So while he’s out riding the waves, the solar power charges a 2200 mA lithium battery. The solar panel doesn’t even need direct sunlight to charge efficiently, but with the board on the roof it could even trickle charge the car’s battery.

This is certainly an interesting twist on getting positive energy!

[Via Earth Techling: Solar Surfboard Lets You Catch Waves, Power]