Originally published February 23 2006
Solar charger hard to use in winter, reviewer writes
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
A technology writer for The Mercury News writes that the Soldius1, a solar-powered battery charger for cell phones and iPods, is a worthwhile product, however it works best outside in natural lighting, making it tough to use during the winter when it may be too cold to expose yourself and your electronics to the outdoors.
This is kind of depressing: I tested the Soldius1, a very cool new solar-powered battery charger for iPods and cell phones, only to find it tough to use in a New England winter.
That's because the Soldius1 seemed to need direct sunshine to function indoors.
While my apartment gets a decent amount of natural light, none of the windows faces south so the sun doesn't stream in this time of year.
I could see it coming in very handy on car trips and camping excursions or during daytime power outages.
When closed, the Soldius1's twin solar panels are slim enough to slide easily into a bag or jacket.
It comes with seven different plastic adapters that let it feed electrons into 250 different devices, including power-hungry iPods, Zen Micro MP3 players, BlackBerrys and mobile phones from Nokia, Siemens, Sony Ericsson, Samsung and Motorola.
It should take two to three hours to fully charge a cell phone, the company says, and I found nothing to dispute that.
The compatibility sheet I was given with the Soldius1 said its panels would charge both new and older iPods.
But while I used it to energize an iPod Mini and an iPod Nano, I got essentially zero results with a third-generation iPod I've had for the tech eternity of 18 months.
On one unseasonably bright and warmish January day at the edge of Boston Harbor, I plugged three different Soldiuses into my iPod, and got nothing.
Aside from the iPod predicament, the only downside, ultimately, was simply that it drove home the wintertime rarity of a juicy beam of sunlight -- the full-on variety that warms you as you stick your face in it and close your eyes in relaxation.
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