Solar Gadgets and solar powered devices

This section of our site describes several solar powered gadgets designed with the consumer in mind.

Portable

SolarMAX Briefcase Solar Panel

This new solar panel briefcase by solarMAX may be just what you need to power your laptop when vacationing off the grid.

SolarMax’s Portable Briefcase Solar Panel

Take this portable 13-watt solar panel anywhere

When vacationing or camping, its easy to want for a power source when you are so far off of the electricity grid. Now, however, there’s a solar panel solution to this vexing problem. Whether you want to power your laptop computer, personal stereo, portable fridge, or stand-alone dvd player, you can now use SolarMax’s portable solar panel briefcase. It’s durable, foldable, and produces 13 watts of electricity.

This solarMAX portable solar panel unit is highly versatile, and can be mounted on the roof of your car (when stationary of course) or you can set it up outside of your tent for instant energy. We reccomend, however, that you prop up your unit a few feet above the ground. This will keep shadows from brush and low-hanging foilage from reducing your power charge.

Solar Powered Headset

This 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. Pass the time away and dance to tunes generated with renewable energy.

Solar Powered Headset

Solar Headset for the outdoorsman

This solar-powered headset is an excellent gift for someone special who spends much of his or her time outdoors and loves music. The solar-powered headset pictured is one of many available models, and each runs from a tiny, clean, and efficient solar photovoltaic cell.

You can purchase a solar-powered headset on Amazon.com. These are obviously not well-suited for jogging at night, but if you are working in the yard, or enjoy exercising during the daytime, this solar-powered headset is very useful indeed.

Solar Spotlight

These solar spotlights are ideal for a fine lawn or garden. Solar spotlights can help you show off your greenery at night and help you find your way in the dark. Learn more about solar spotlights and why no cluttered cables are involved, and why solar spotlights will not be a drag on your energy bill. This solar spotlight makes a great Christmas gift for the holidays.

Solar Spotlight

An outdoors solar-powered lightcasting device

Solar-powered spotlights can accentuate your lawn or garden, and have numerous advantages over traditional household spotlight systems. Solar spotlights sport a small solar cell on the head of the solar spotlight. This solar cell gathers sunlight during the 12 hours of daylight, and is designed to store and utilize this energy at night. Solar spotlights are used to light up lawns, accentuate notable plants in your garden, or help provide light without imposing a burden on your electricity bill. Solar spotlights are clean and require only a small initial investment. A good solar spotlight will

sport 2-4 bright LED lightbulbs and feature a quality rechargable battery to store the energy the solar cell in the solar spotlight gathers during the day.

Military Solar Panels

The military’s Natick Soldier Systems center is developing new battlefield technology using amorphous silicon solar panels, which can be layered over a soldier’s tent or rolled up to fight snugly and lightly in a backpack. Click to read more about how the military plans to use solar panels to advance battlefield technology and reduce soldier detectability, increase soldier mobility, and provide a renewable source of energy that many soldiers need.

Solar Panels in the Military

Army tests solar panels in troop deployment

The US Military hopes to bring alternative energy to the battlefield by utilizing extremely flexible solar panels in next-generation soldier’s uniforms and tents. Advocates introducing solar technology into the military arena tout the benefits of moving soldiers swiftly across the battlefield, with solar panels facilitating reliable communication among soldiers, and the ability to generate power without producing infrared signatures and compromising soldier positions. These new suits and tents are equipped with advanced solar paenls, which will also reduce the amount of supplies a soldier has to carry into the battlefield by eliminating the need for generators and battery packs needed to power communications gear and electronics. The project is being researched at the Army’s Natick Soldier Systems center, using solar panels developed at Iowa Thin film Technologies.

The solar panels are made of amorphous silicon, and are layered on top of a tent or can be rolled up for the soldier to carry into battle. These lightweight solar panels produce about 1 kilowatt/hr of energy. This energy is suitable not only for powering communications equipment, but fans, radios, laptops, and lights.