peachfuzz
fuzzy member
http://www.courant.com/technology/hc-object702.artjul02,0,1425817.story?coll=hc-headlines-technology
Face it, this little device is not going to save a lot of that pricey juice we call electricity.
But will it save some? Yep. Does a little bit of electricity saved by a lot of people add up? Sure.
Is this thing cool? Yes.
It works, and it has its place.
It's a solar cellphone charger. And it will charge many MP3 players, too.
There are competing models out there, but I tried one made by Solar Style Inc., specifically its model SC003, which is about the same size as a flip phone and looks like one. You flip it open, and there are two little solar energy collectors. It retails on the company website, Solarstyle.com, for $35.99 and is expected to be available in some stores in Connecticut shortly, the company says.
There are times when this little gizmo could be very handy. Backpacking in the mountains, camping in remote areas and long-distance canoe travel come to mind, as long as there is cell service, of course. Interestingly, I've seen a cell call made from the remote summit of Mount Katahdin in Maine, and I had a strong signal one day last fall atop a peak in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, miles from any electrical outlet (and, far as I could see, miles from a cell tower).
And perhaps in the days after a major hurricane, when power is knocked out, one of these solar chargers could be most welcome. They even work indoors.
On a recent sunny afternoon, I hooked my cellphone to the charger with a little cable about 6 inches long - included - and set the pair outdoors. The phone battery monitor was showing two of four bars. Slightly more than an hour later, the battery was fully recharged.
So how much electricity does a cellphone charger use, anyway? One recent estimate is 1 kilowatt hour a month. To keep things in perspective, the average Connecticut Light & Power Co. customer uses about 10,000 kilowatt hours a year, at 16 cents a kilowatt hour.
Small potatoes compared to an air conditioner. But there are a lot of cellphones being charged every day of the year. "All efforts to be energy efficient add up, even phone chargers," said Albert L. Lara, a utility company spokesman.
Face it, this little device is not going to save a lot of that pricey juice we call electricity.
But will it save some? Yep. Does a little bit of electricity saved by a lot of people add up? Sure.
Is this thing cool? Yes.
It works, and it has its place.
It's a solar cellphone charger. And it will charge many MP3 players, too.
There are competing models out there, but I tried one made by Solar Style Inc., specifically its model SC003, which is about the same size as a flip phone and looks like one. You flip it open, and there are two little solar energy collectors. It retails on the company website, Solarstyle.com, for $35.99 and is expected to be available in some stores in Connecticut shortly, the company says.
There are times when this little gizmo could be very handy. Backpacking in the mountains, camping in remote areas and long-distance canoe travel come to mind, as long as there is cell service, of course. Interestingly, I've seen a cell call made from the remote summit of Mount Katahdin in Maine, and I had a strong signal one day last fall atop a peak in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, miles from any electrical outlet (and, far as I could see, miles from a cell tower).
And perhaps in the days after a major hurricane, when power is knocked out, one of these solar chargers could be most welcome. They even work indoors.
On a recent sunny afternoon, I hooked my cellphone to the charger with a little cable about 6 inches long - included - and set the pair outdoors. The phone battery monitor was showing two of four bars. Slightly more than an hour later, the battery was fully recharged.
So how much electricity does a cellphone charger use, anyway? One recent estimate is 1 kilowatt hour a month. To keep things in perspective, the average Connecticut Light & Power Co. customer uses about 10,000 kilowatt hours a year, at 16 cents a kilowatt hour.
Small potatoes compared to an air conditioner. But there are a lot of cellphones being charged every day of the year. "All efforts to be energy efficient add up, even phone chargers," said Albert L. Lara, a utility company spokesman.
