One little gadget I got last month was a Solio. Basically, it’s made of three solar panels connected to a rechargeable battery. It’s multi purpose really – either charge the battery from the sun, and then via connectors, charge up a mobile device (e.g. iPod, Palm, GameBoy Advance etc.), or run whilst charging. if there’s no sun, you can charge the Solio from a wall and just use it as an extra battery.
It ships with the iPod connector, but there are quite a few more. I’ve just send off for the mini-USB one to charge my Palm 72 with. I’m waiting for one to work on the PSP and/or the DS Lite too.
You can order it from their website, or from a few major retailers – here in Japan Bic and Yodobashi allegedly carry it, but I went into Bic’s main shop in Yurakucho here in Tokyo and the only one they had was in a small glass case near the stairs – and not the main stairs either. The Japanese press release we showed to staff was met with weird looks and “ask in the iPod area” responses. That said, if you go to Bic Camera’s website, you can order it easily from there, but it may be cheaper ordering it direct.
I have to say I really like it – not just because I like odd eco-friendly things, but because it’s really useful either for charging as you go, or as the bolt-on battery. worth a look.
