Solar Backpacks and Luggage
Posted by Laird on Sep 6, 2008
Solar Backpacks and Luggage - Green Gadget of the Year
Solar bags are some of the coolest green products out there, and they make a great gift, too! Compare and choose which one best meets your needs and your taste. The name says it all, the Voltaic Backpack Solar Powered Backpack is a daypack that host several small solar panels on the back of the bag.
The idea is that the Voltaic Backpack Solar Powered Backpack can charge your small electronics such as MP3 players, cameras, etc as you travel. You can also switch the sun jar completely off to save power. Keeping the lantern in bright sunlight for 8 hours you will supply it with power for 3 hours. If you need it fully charged then you should keep it in the sunlight for 30 hours.
Solar charging on the move
Posted by Laird on Aug 1, 2008
Imagine being able to charge your cell phone, MP3 player or portable video game console while you catch some rays on the beach. This versatile and portable solar power panel can recharge the batteries on many consumer electronics, or simply power them outright. Sunlinq Folding Solar Power Panels are lightweight, flexible, weatherproof and durable CIGS (copper indium gallium diselenide) solar cells. It comes with everything you need to charge a variety of batteries and appliances. The Folding Solar Power Panel will charge or run most 12V accessories. It comes with a variety of cables that let you connect it to an automobile battery, and a cigarette-lighter-style connector that will let you charge most other electronics. Just about anything that is capable of being charged through a standard cigarette lighter adapter (CLA -car charger) can be charged by Sunlinq Folding Solar Power Panel.
Wind belt generator
Posted by Laird on Jul 6, 2008
Shawn Frayne invented an inexpensive non turbine wind generator called the wind belt. I have no specs other than what you see on the video. I imagine it’s use on the roof of an electric car but obviously it can be used anywhere there is wind. The bennefit is that it is very inexpensive to build as opposed to a standard turbine wind generator.
The fan simulates the wind which moves the belt which moves the magnets through the coils to make electricity to power the clock and LEDs. I don’t know how much the output voltage is.
The Windbelt is a device for converting wind power to electricity. A windbelt is essentially an aeolian harp except that it exploits to motion of the string produced by the the aeroelastic flutter effect to move a magnet closer and farther from one or more electromagnetic coil(s) and thus inducing current in the wires that make up the coil.
A famous example of aeroelasticity is the fall of the original Tacoma Narrows Bridge, which became known as Galloping Gertie and is commonly shown to engineering, architecture, and physics students as a cautionary tale.
Prototypes of the device are claimed to be ten-to-thirty times more efficient than wind microturbines, even though greater than 100% efficiency is not physically possible. One prototype has successfully powered two LEDs, a radio, and a clock using wind generated from a household fan. The cost of the materials was well under US$10, giving a savings of 10s of dollars per watt.
Green Tip of the Week
Posted by Laird on Jun 30, 2008
Green tip of the Week
Use the (Free) power of the Sun to recharge ipods, MP3 players, Cell phone’s, Camera’s and a whole bunch of other gadgets, there are some wonderful little Solar wallets coming onto the market, not only do they save money on Electricity bills but are also portable devises allowing you to charge up your gizmos while out on the road or at home.
The Solar Wallet is is a win win device.
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Festival charger Pods
Posted by Laird on Jun 21, 2008
Charger Pod
Got Wind has some fun tricks up its sleeve. Last year at the Glastonbury Festival - a massive music and performing arts festival in the Vale of Avalon, England - phone service provider Orange and renewable tech creators Got Wind provided a tent-mounted wind-powered phone charger - a pretty awesome set up considering that the event is off in the boonies and cell phone charging stations would be in demand. But this year, the team plans to dwarf last year’s charging pod.
The new pod will stand nearly 23 feet tall and host a wind generator and solar panels that will generate enough electricity to charge up to 100 mobile phones and hour, and store any leftover energy in its battery tank. With thousands of people attending the festival, they think they’ll be pretty busy. And the newer recharge pod is still only a test for bigger, more powerful stations to come. I can definitely see stations like this being useful at any large event where outlets are scarce.
Solar Gadgets and Gizmos
Posted by tich on May 31, 2008
There are thousands of different solar powered gadgets available from solar mailboxes to solar watches and more. Solar powered gadgets are getting cheaper as the solar panel technology improves and gets less expensive to manufacture.
Heres a few of the innovative solar gadgets available on the market today and some examples of specific solar powered products to consider.
What about gadgets with built-in batteries? When it comes to charging your phone or iPod, the sun has been left you cold.
One innovative product, HYmini, is a universal power charger that uses wind and solar energy to top up most gadgets, and it comes with mini solar panels and extra batteries. Twenty minutes of wind power will provide 30 minutes of iPod time.
Solar Flashlights -
Hand-held solar flashlights operate for nearly three hours when fully charged, and can be mounted on a bicycle for nighttime rides. Some of the features for this cool gadget are AM FM reception — AM range: 525-1650 KHz, FM range: 88-108 MHz; Built-in dynamo generator with manual winding lever, Built-in flashlight (with clear, amber and red lenses); Hi-fi speaker and 3.5mm earphone jack.
A solar powered flashlight that can also charge your cell phone, MP3 player, or PDA is on useful and versatile solar powered gadget. The ultra-bright LED flashlight (65,000MCD) uses mono-crystalline silicon solar panels for power generation and recharging the built-in 700mAh/3.6v NI-MH battery.
Solar Tents -
Yes, it is a tent that comes with it’s own solar panel and integrated, interior LED lights. You can also use the solar panels independently to charge batteries. It’s approximately 4-6 hours of direct light to yield 2-4 hours tent light. The 7? (18 cm) solar panel is placed on the top of the tent’s hub and clicked into place. The fly is then placed on top of solar panel & tent, and sun will charge the panel through the clear PVC window at the top of the fly. The tent comes in as 4-person and a 6-person versions.
Solar Lighters -
This great solar fire starter is perfect for backpacking, boating, hiking and as a solar survival tool.
Solar Tombstones -
Vidstone developed the solar powered Serenity Panel, ‘Utilizing ground-breaking solar-powered technology, this weather-proof LCD panel provides families and friends with a timeless way to commemorate a life that’s passed at one’s final resting place.” It adds about two grand to the price of a conventional tombstone and has a waterproof 7? screen. Four hours of sunlight will play a ten minute video six times. Michael at Groovy Green notes that ‘There’s even a head-phone jack to limit your groove from beyond the grave to inquiring ears only.”
Solar Lighted Mailboxes -
Solar panels gathers the sun’s energy and charge the battery pack. At night, address panels automatically light up at dusk and go off at dawn.
Solar Powered Headset -
A solar-powered headset is a solar gadget perfectly suited for the environmentally-conscious outdoorsman who loves music. This headset is great for daytime jogging, or working in the yard.
Solar Radio -
You will be able to listen your favorite radio shows and if you need to see better in the dark the flashlight is included.
Solar Watches –
Swiss-made LeJour solar watches ($99.95), which run on either sunlight or ambient lighting, work for a month in total darkness.
Solar Backpacks and Bags -
Solar bags are some of the coolest green products out there, and they make a great gift, too! Compare and choose which one best meets your needs and your taste. The name says it all, the Voltaic Backpack Solar Powered Backpack is a daypack that host several small solar panels on the back of the bag.
The idea is that the Voltaic Backpack Solar Powered Backpack can charge your small electronics such as MP3 players, cameras, etc as you travel. You can also switch the sun jar completely off to save power. Keeping the lantern in bright sunlight for 8 hours you will supply it with power for 3 hours. If you need it fully charged then you should keep it in the sunlight for 30 hours.
Solar Power Chargers and Battery Packs -
Solar battery chargers bring a pair of nickel-cadmium batteries to life in less than seven hours. It’s not clear how long the panels need to soak in the sun’s rays, but Velleman claims this power brick’s good enough to charge laptops, electric hand tools, GPS systems and–we kid you not–caravans, yachts, and DC refrigerators.
The Solio will charge from 4 volt to 12 volt devices by doubling or tripling the power output using the adapters. There are four contacts in the adapter tip system cable and to get up to the higher 12 volts it just uses three of these outputs at 3.6 volts to get the 10.8 volts for these higher voltage charges.
Source: solar flashlights
Solar-powered bra ‘able to charge an iPod’
Posted by Laird on May 27, 2008
“Photovoltaic-Powered Bra”
Eco-chic may have a long way to go before it dominates the catwalks of Milan, but at least women will now be able to keep green issues close to their bosoms after the unveiling of the solar-powered bra.
The bra comes with a detachable solar panel, worn around the stomach, which can produce enough energy to power an iPod or mobile phone as the wearer lazes on the beach, the makers claim.
It is also equipped with plastic pouches that can be filled with water, allowing wearers to quench their thirst without having to buy and then throw away hard-to-recycle drinks bottles.
And the bra itself is made of high quality organic cotton, to ensure its production has the smallest possible impact on the environment.
One small question, however: how is the solar panel exposed to sunlight without compromising the bra wearer’s modesty?
Yoshiko Masuda, of manufacturers Triumph International Japan Ltd, conceded: “It might be difficult to put it to practical use considering people usually cannot go outside without wearing clothes over it, and there may be few places like a balcony or a garden in your house where you can use it outside.”
Pragmatic details aside, the carbon neutral undergarment is capable of charging more than excitement. According to Triumph, the bra produces enough power to boost up the bars on a mobile phone or an iPod.
This not the first time Triumph have released an innovative set of pragmatic lady smalls, having previously launched the chopstick bra and a ‘No Shopping Bag’ bra.
See the climate-friendly fashion accessory, as well as Triumph’s other unconventional underwear.
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