Another twist on solar-powered charging (Green Gadget of the Week)
This week's item is about a product that you can pre-order via the Quirky platform, but the catch is that you won't actually get it until there are at least 2,000 of these products ordered. That's the whole idea behind the Quirky "social development" platform.
The device is called Ray, and it is a solar-powered charger (yes, another one) for various mobile phones, digital music players and other electronic gadgets. The twist on this technology (pictured) is that you can suction-cup it to a window or tilt it on a little "kickstand" to grab maximum sunlight. When I wrote up this item, Ray carried a price of $39.99, and there were slightly more than 730 commitments for the product.
Ray includes a small solar panel and a USB port to attach your devices. The battery stores enough power to charge a mobile phone fully (although the write-up doesn't which models). The anticipated size is 2.5 inches by 2.5 inches by 3 inches, although Quirky has a disclaimer saying the actual size might vary during production.
Past Green Gadgets of the Week:
- Eton's slim solar charger for iPhone 4
- Solio’s latest twist on solar charging
- EnergyHub measures home power consumption
- IDAPT i1 Eco charger shuts down when done
- Eaton UPS shuts down power-hungry accessories
- Logitech solar keyboard for Mac
- Suntrica SolarStrap
- SportsArt self-powered fitness equipment
- RainPerfect solar pump for rain barrels
- Philips LED replacement for 75-watt bulbs
- K3 Wind & Solar Charger
- Logitech solar wireless keyboard
- Voltaic Spark solar iPad cover
- Samsung Replenish smartphone (from Sprint)