Mini Solar Panels Great at Recharging - in Sun
Posted on: Tuesday, 7 March 2006, 12:01 CST
By Brian ergstein
The Soldius1, a very cool new solar-powered battery charger for iPods and cell phones, is a great idea and works well. I could see it coming in very handy on car trips and camping excursions or during daytime power outages.
When closed, the Soldius1's twin solar panels are slim enough to slide easily into a bag or jacket. When opened, the device isn't much bigger than your hand.
It comes with seven different plastic adapters that let it feed electrons into 250 different devices, including power-hungry iPods, Zen Micro MP3 players, BlackBerrys and mobile phones from Nokia, Siemens, Sony Ericsson, Samsung and Motorola. It should take two to three hours to fully charge a cell phone, the company says, and I found nothing to dispute that.
Here's a caveat. The compatibility sheet I was given with the Soldius1 said its panels would charge both new and older iPods. But while I used it to energize an iPod Mini and an iPod Nano, I got essentially zero results with a third-generation iPod I've had for the tech eternity of 18 months.
A few times, the Soldius1 fed the device just enough juice to make it switch on but didn't appear to be charging the battery. After that, my iPod wouldn't take anything from a Soldius1.
On one unseasonably bright and warmish January day at the edge of Boston Harbor, I plugged three different Soldiuses into my iPod, and got nothing. Those same three panels all revved up an iPod Mini.
The company says it has discovered that problem, too, and now no longer officially considers the Soldius1 compatible with any iPods other than the Mini, the Shuffle and the Nano. So tread carefully.
There are two beautiful aspects to the Soldius1. The main thing is flexibility, because it works when an electrical outlet isn't available. It also felt good to do my part, however small, to reduce my drain on the power grid. Opening the solar panels on a windowsill felt clean, resourceful.
The Soldius1 is $90 directly from its Dutch maker at http://
mysoldius.com
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO
MEMO: TECH TEST
Source: Richmond Times - Dispatch
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