Earth Rated Products

Interestingly enough, sunny San Diego wasn’t so sunny yesterday for the final day of the public portion of the Solar 2008 show. Still, there was plenty of good information and lots of cool displays for anyone interested in a little eco-education on a gray Sunday afternoon.

I found a couple of really interesting products in the tradeshow’s vendor fair yesterday that I’d love to have. Items that are actually working TODAY and that can be purchased TODAY. That’s right. Solar-powered, consumer-ready products that you can actually use - no vaporware that “might” be ready in early 2011, not the things that just sit on top of your roof that you only remember when you get your power bill or loan statement, and certainly not stuff that might potentially cause bodily harm if some portion of it inadvertently gets punctured or torn open.

First, I found a notebook style zip-up case that hides two durable solar panels that can be used to juice up pretty much any of our take-along toys: laptops, cell phones, pda’s, DS/PSPs, mp3 players, cameras, camcorders, gps devices. Just think. Now you can go on that 4 week camping/sailing trip, and still have juice for your gps without lugging along extra batteries! Or, even, bring that DS to play Brain Age so your grey stuff doesn’t turn to mush after a month away from Google News and The Daily Show. You might even bring along that laptop, but only if you promise to use it for downloading pics/movies, and NOT for work! Best of all, this magic source of power is very affordable. 15W for $149!! Check it out at Innergy Power.

Second item that will likely find its way into our household is a solar power assisted bicycle. PERFECT for helping you get up that killer hill that is really the only obstacle between you and your plans to bike to work a couple of times a week…. Well, so this one isn’t quite available at your neighborhood bike store, but we were assured that it could be cobbled together by a competent bike enthusiast who had the right equipment. Check out Seth Masia’s write-up of the bike : University of Florida Solar Trike.