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What could be more annoying than your gadgets running out of juice while you are on the road? As the technology has brought forward a plethora of gadgets, our lifestyle has changed drastically and we completely rely on these devices for almost everything. These devices require a lot of energy in the form of electricity to keep them working. In order to make sure that you beloved gadgets never run out of battery on the go, wearable chargers seem to be a great option. Since, the chances are rare that you will find an electrical socket at every place you go, you might love to consider the idea of having an eco-friendly wearable charger for your electronics. Hit the jump to see some of the most amazing and stylish green wearable chargers, from solar panel vests to sound absorbing T-shirts, which will provide juice for your gadgetry the very moment you need it the most.
The CVFR-S09 Solar Vest combines technology with contemporary fashion. The vest is comfortable to wear and stores charge to power your gadgets, including your mobile, laptops, portable MP3 players, digital cameras etc., on the go. The big storage pockets on the vest can hold tools or camera equipments, and comes with cables and connectors for all kinds of portable devices of today. There are four detachable solar panels on the back of the vest, which absorb enough sunlight and convert it into efficient energy. This green energy is stored in a high-capacity battery that is placed in the front left pocket. The solar panels are laminated and so can endure any sort of weather. They can be easily detached and placed to soak up the sun and accumulate power while you work in some shady region. This “fashion- tech” canvas vest is a perfect accessory for those employed in field jobs like photographers, archaeologists, geologists etc.
French Telecom Company, Orange, has brought up a new way to recharge your mobile phones on the go. The ‘Sound Charge’ T-shirt, as the name suggest, makes use of the ubiquitous resource of sound energy to juice up the mobile phones. The fabric of the T-shirt is made out of piezoelectric film that harnesses the ambient sound in a disco –tech or a busy street and utilise it as a catalyst to generate voltage. The piezoelectric film absorbs the sound waves and converts them into electric current by crushing the tiny quartz crystals. The electricity generated by the large surface area of the T-shirt is stored in a battery that is used to power your cell phone. The battery can be easily detached from the T-shirt making it quite washable like other clothes. The T-shirt was unveiled at the Glastonbury Music Festival in Britain and was developed for the festival goers as a convenient and eco-friendly way of charging the cell phones while rocking away from the grid.
Finnish Solar Company, Suntrica, has developed two solar chargers called the SolarBadge and the SolarStrap. These two portable mini solar chargers are light in weight and enough flexible to be carried around easily and can store enough solar energy to power the gadgets whenever required. The SolarStrap that can be wrapped around objects like the strap of a bag or attached to a backpack consists of solar panel fixed to a flexible strap, behind which resides the battery that stores the sun’s energy. The SolarBadge is no different in function but instead of a strap it can be clipped on to surfaces. The two chargers are waterproof and can generate an output of 5.5V with each having a battery capacity of 3.7Wh. Thus, all small gadgets like GPS systems, cell phones, digital cameras etc can be charged while you are on the road.
Andrew Schneider, a Brooklyn, NYC based designer has fabricated a bikini called the iKini that charges small electronic gadgets like mobiles, Mp3 players or digital cameras while you take sunbath. The 30 year old designer stitched forty paper thin photo voltaic film strips with soft conductive thread to create the iKini. A 5 volt regulator passes the solar energy to the electronic device through a USB connection. The bikini is entirely handmade and takes around eighty hours to be completely woven. As the bikini is splash proof you can plunge into the water wearing this swimwear. After you come out of the water, make sure the USB ports fixed to it are completely dry before you connect any gadget to charge up.
The SIG (Self-Energy Converting Sunglasses) are glares designed by Hyun-Joong Kim and Kwang-Seok Jeong. This fashionable accessory integrates dye solar cells onto the lenses of the elegant sunglasses and reprocesses the radiation into electricity, so you can recharge your portable and small electronic gadgets like mobile phones, and iPods, while gazing at the sun. A power jack present at the back of the frame is used to transfer the green electricity to the device. However at the same time, these stylish glasses protect your eyes from the harmful sun rays.
