Solar powered battery chargers to help reduce grid energy consumption

Over the last decade, the number of electronic gadgets in use across the globe has risen dramatically. With the growth of the personal electronics segment, the demand for electricity is growing at an unprecedented rate. However, since the infrastructure that produces and distributes electricity, called the grid, cannot be upgraded at the same rate at which the demand for the electricity is increasing, alternative methods of electricity generation are being investigated. Since around a third of the electricity produced is lost in transmission. This additional dependence on fossil fuels too can be lessened if more sustainable methods of electricity production like solar power are made more accessible to the public.

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Horizon announces versatile Sunbox solar power charging system

People who are trekking in the wilderness, stranded at disaster sites or living in developing nations all have one thing in common – lack of access to an electrical infrastructure. Solar charging devices such as the Solio, iCharge and Joos Orange have been designed to meet the needs of some or all of these groups. One of the latest such systems, Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies’ Sunbox USB 3.0, is particularly versatile.

The Sunbox gathers solar energy through a 1.8-watt waterproof photovoltaic panel. Whenever the sun is shining, that panel automatically starts charging the power system module, via a 3-meter (9.8-foot) cable. That module incorporates a 6-volt 3,000 milliampere-hour battery, two USB ports, and an LCD screen that displays the battery’s level of charge. A full charge requires 6 to 10 hours of sunlight. (more…)

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How to make a solar powered can cooler

The summer sun can be very severe and dehydrating. While cold drinks are often considered as a ‘solution’ to beat the heat and re-hydrate the body, very often, these canned drinks do not remain cool in spite of using Styrofoam coolers. Here is an elegant way to make use of the sun to keep the drinks cool – by making a solar powered can cooler!

It is easy to make one yourself and this DIY project is detailed in simple steps in the tutorial here.

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How to make a solar powered laptop charger


This is a project where you will create means to provide power to electronic gadgets like laptop with the help of solar energy. These kinds of gadgets are portable, but the chargers can’t be carried along with us in the outdoors. Suppose you are in the outdoors and you don’t have the charger with you and at the same time it is quite urgent for you to use it. How will it be possible? In this kind of situations, solar powered charger comes handy.

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SteriPEN Freedom offers USB-powered water purification

Water purifier manufacturer SteriPEN has updated its lineup of portable products, with a UV-based unit called the SteriPEN Freedom. Billed as the smallest, lightest and first rechargeable UV water purifier on the market, it disinfects up to 16 oz (0.5 L) of water in 48 seconds.

We’ve previously covered numerous water purification solutions for the developing world, with LifeStraw, Moringa tree seeds, or even banana peels being notable examples. The new SteriPEN device, however, is defined as hiking and camping equipment by its manufacturer, rather than as a life-saving tool.

The Freedom features a germicidal UV light which destroys 99.9 percent of bacteria, viruses and protozoa. Forty-eight seconds is enough for the Freedom to deal with half a liter of water, while a liter simply requires repeating this operation. A green light gauge indicates when it’s safe to drink the water.

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We use lots of electronic gadgets that run on a battery. When you are using these gadgets for longer duration, you need to charge the batteries more often. If you the gadget for longer duration, then you have to spend more time on charging the batteries. There is a solution to this problem. You can create a solar charger that can help your e-reader to work continuously.

And this will help you to reduce the charging time. Here, we will see how to make such solar charger.

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Quirky's Ray solar charger with suction cup goes up for pre-order

Designers of solar chargers need to deal with a certain issue: how to build a charger so that it had easy access to maximum sunlight, without much effort on the user’s part. One clever solution was to combine solar cells with a bikini, but unfortunately that’s really only useful on the beach. The Quirky community, a social project based around product development, has come up with another solution – it’s the Ray solar charger, and it features a suction cup and a kickstand.

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10 Solar powered gadgets every earth lover should have

Aren’t you tired of complaining about the sun’s harshness, yet? Well, if you aren’t, switch to praises because the supporter of all life forms – the sun – has provided immense benefits to the technology that you so love. The sun has blessed us all with an alternative energy form that can protect the natural resources from depletion. Solar energy or solar power can be used to make life mobile and a lot hassle-free. Imagine how convenient it will be to move about without cords or to take your laptop on a trip without charger. That day is not far when almost all the electronic gadgets that we use today will run on solar energy, making life fun and comfortable. Have a look at the 10 wonderful gadgets we bring to you.

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How to make an inexpensive solar powered charger

Building a solar powered charger to fuel small appliances can be structured by using some basic equipments. Increased use of solar panels has made its availability easier. Solar panels are available in all possible sizes from bigger to a smaller one and that too at affordable prices.

It is not a very complicated procedure to structure a solar powered charger.

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Ford Focus Electric will offer solar home option

Running an electric car on the power of the sun is many an EV enthusiast’s dream. Ford isn’t the first company to combine EV charging with solar energy, but it is trying to make it as easy as possible to go from driving on imported oil to extremely local energy.

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