Solar Hat Fan

Working outdoors during the summer months can be sweating, exhausting work.  Gardening, tending to your flower beds, mowing the yard, or even spending some time outdoors can quickly make you feel flushed and warm.  Getting indoors and in front of a fan feels so nice, but you hate to miss out on some of those gorgeous summer days just because it’s hot.  However, you can enjoy both with the Solar Hat Fan, a unique little device that anyone can use.

The Solar Hat Fan doesn’t come with a hat.  Instead, it’s a small fan with a solar panel attached.  Both are connected to a clip that attaches to any hat that has a stiff brim, such as a baseball cap The solar panel can gather up enough energy after just a few minutes in the sun, and then the little fan powers up and blows nice, cooling air right on your face.  While the fan does work best in direct sunlight, it can still power the fan even if it’s slightly cloudy.  The adjustable mount lets you aim the fan at the part of your face that needs the most cooling.

There are other little fans out there, but they all require batteries.  Why waste the energy when you can have one of these neat little Solar Hat Fans that powers itself?  It will keep you cool outdoors (or even indoors, if you suddenly find your air conditioning is broken) and it’s completely green.

Solar Island Fountain

Installing a nice, relaxing fountain in your garden or courtyard can add a nice touch of beauty and elegance, but some of these fountains use up a lot of energy.  While they’re a nice touch, are they worth it?  In the old days, the answer was pretty much no.  However, many of today’s fountains use solar power, including the Solar Island Fountain.  This little fountain provides everything that those old power-hogging fountains did but it does it all using a solar cell.

The Solar Island Fountain shoots water up to 17 inches above the sprayer when it has a full charge and is in direct sunlight.  The solar panel, which is fitted around the sprayer, provides all the energy this fountain needs.  As long as it’s in direct light, you’ll have a nice, relaxing fountain that also helps aerate your pond.  Once the sun has shifted, the fountain will still operate, but it may not have the power to shoot water quite as high.  Of course, once the sun has set for the day, the fountain will run down and turn off until morning.

The lily pad base sits low in the water, adding an extra dimension of aesthetics to the fountain.  It looks great in any pond, and its elegant look and sound are sure to get compliments from your guests.  There’s no pond too large or too small to make use of the Solar Island Fountain.  Also, since there’s no wiring or anything to install, you can easily set down two or three of these little fountains in a large pond to really make an interesting scene.

Wet Cell Battery Storage

Batteries come in all shapes and sizes, but it seems no matter what shape or size, we eventually throw them away.  Sure, rechargeable batteries are great, but few people use them.  Plus, there are very few large sized rechargeable batteries.  So what can you do?  Well, one thing you can do is purchase large capacity batteries, especially if you need a huge battery for a large electrical system or for an upgrade to one of those systems. Read more

Solar Powered Cell Phones

Previously, we discussed the innovations at Kyocera and the fact that they were working on a motion-powered cell phone.  Well, they aren’t the only cell manufacturer who is working on creating a green cell phone.  Sharp and AU have added a solar panel to one of their newest phones.  They aren’t the first company to add solar power to a cell phone—Ericsson and Motorola both have models on the market or coming out soon.  However, solar powered cell phones are still quite limited, even if they are becoming more popular.

Sharp’s newest solar powered phone will be debuting in Japan in June of this year.  The device features a solar panel embedded on the phone’s lid, making it easy for users to simply set the phone near a window or other sunny location.  Leaving it in the sunlight for around ten minutes charges the battery enough for it to last for about a minute of call time or around two hours of standby time.  That’s not a huge amount of power, so it’s obviously not a way of continuously charging your phone.

While the amount of power this solar powered cell phone generates isn’t really that much, the fact that it generates any power at all is impressive and a step in the right direction.  Someday, it may be completely possible to power your cell phone via solar energy.  If everyone invested in one of these solar powered cells, it would save a lot of energy every day.  Seeing how many phone manufacturers are already jumping on the idea is certainly a very hopeful sign.