Google, the world’s most popular internet search engine, has invested $168 million into a solar farm – to be added to the $1.6 billion from the US government. A solar farm, that is, unlike most domestic generators of solar energy in that the site is huge. and looks set to be an indication of the future. Situated in the Mojave Desert, the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System (ISEGS) will be completed in 2013 (work started in October last year) and will be able to boast of 173,000 heliostats that concentrate the sun’s rays onto a solar tower. The towers (three, in total, on the site) will stand about 137 m (450 Ft.) tall and are expected to generate 392 MW of energy – enough to serve more than 140,000 homes in California during the peak hours of the day.

BUT HOW DOES IT ALL WORK?

The whole system works by mirrors turned to catch the sun and then focusing that power onto solar receivers. The ISEGS complex will reduce CO2 emissions by more than 400,000 tonnes a year and is set to be the example and prototype for many more such super solar farms worldwide. While it is the first such project in the United States, similar projects have been announced in other countries. The most notable of these is in Inner Mongolia in China where a facility is being built near Ordos City and will eventually be capable of producing 2.2 GW of energy – although the project will not be completed until 2019 when full capacity is reached.

The ISEGS project has found its site four and a half miles to the southwest of the town of Primm in California – unremarkable to most and unheard of by many outside of California, but now notable for its proximity to the Ivanpah solar power plant. The project is named after the Ivanpah dry lake near its location and the whole venture is being masterminded by the company BrightSource Energy (www.brightsourceenergy.com). Unlike nuclear power plants, any accidents will not have a hugely disastrous impact on the surrounding area.

This is not the first time that Google have invested in start-up renewable energy plans. Last year, the company invested $38.8 million in a wind farm – but the Ivanpah plant is its largest and most ambitious investment to date.

Until now, Europe has laid claim to most of the world’s solar farms – there are several in Spain, for example – but with companies like the US-owned First Solar rapidly expanding, perhaps this venture will truly become worldwide as people learn to rely more on solar power and less on fossil fuels. Solar power, unlike coal and natural gas deposits deep underground, is highly unlikely to run out any time soon.

Posted under Environmental News, News

We’ve all seen the television ad for EDF’s new energy saving initiative eco renew. But what are the power giants really aiming for? And has eco20:20 and climate change hit these companies like some kind of fever? Who really has the cure here? These questions may be at the back of our minds as we sit down in front of the box and watch as EDF’s logo pops up on the screen. So here is the information about how this company stays in popular public sight, and a few more facts that should move those question-marks from the back of your brain to the tip of your tongue.

 EDF and eco renew

Let’s get one thing out in the open eco renew is a product. EDF have manufactured a marketable package that appeals to the general public of homeowners. But why? Clearly the energy supplier must be offering us a range of benefits that are wide enough to include a broad and general sweep of their existent, or potential, consumers. These benefits can be summed up in one word: savings. EDF want to help save homeowners money by offering a service that can viably achieve this goal. As well as reducing your carbon footprint, EDF commit their eco renewservice to help reduce your energy bills. How? By using the emerging technologies of microgenerational energy units.

Microgeneration, in its popular and accessible form, consists of three basic but reliable units. These eco-friendly alternatives are based on renewable or more sustainable models of what is already being used in your home. By generating your own low carbon energy you will be making sizable savings on the unfortunately perennial Gas & Electricity bill. Existing users have said to save as much as a third off of previous statements. And with microgenerational technologies becoming ever emergent and popular, their efficiency will increase. This becomes a situation known as ‘a demand cycle’, one that our UK government have been anxious to establish: the more we utilise renewable power sources, the more the technology advances and integrates into UK homes, thus resulting in E.U. 2020 requisites being achieved (i.e. Britain has been set a target of producing 1/3 of its electricity from Green, renewable sources).

EDF are also setting themselves targets of low or zero CO2 energy production. After spokesmen announced their purchase of British Energy, the French powerhouse has turned its ecological eye to Britain; and have since set about development of four European pressurized reactors, in order to deliver even more clean energy into UK homes.

So why use EDF? The energy supplier have made it very simple for its customers – call, confirm, install. Just like that. The power corporation have a call team that will be able to advise on whether or not your home is suitable for eco renew,and talk to you about the costs involved in the entire procedure. EDF then send a local surveyor, free of charge, to visit your home in order to confirm that the estimations given over the phone are both accurate and viable. And then once it has been determined what type of microgenerational program suits your home, the installation can take place.

There are three renewable alternatives that EDF offer for your home: Solar Photovoltaic, Solar Thermal, and Air source heat pumps. Basically, it will depend on the location and infrastructure of your current location as to which service you’ll receive. However, all have their benefits.

Solar Photovaltaic technology, put simply, is solar panelling. Arguably one of the most popular and integrated solutions for homeowner looking to do their bit for the environment (as well as their bank accounts!). Solar Photovaltaic panels use PV cells to soak up the sun, harness the natural energy stored in its rays and then converts this – with the aid of electrical generation systems – into longwave energy, which can be stored for those not so sunny days, night time emergencies, and black-outs! It is a great step towards becoming sustainably self-sufficient.

Solar Thermal works under the same premise as Photovaltaic, utilising PV cells. But in this instance it is used to convert sunlight into energy, which then heats your water. This will seriously reduce the need to use your boiler in the summer months, and also cut a chunk out of those weighty winter bills. Whereas Photovaltaic is designed to supply clean power for electrical appliances, Solar Thermal is dedicated to heating your water systems, and can provide 5.5% of energy related savings.

And the last (but not final) solution EDF are offering with their standard packages is the Air source heat pumps. This is another low carbon alternative to gas and oil boilers. It sucks air from outside and channels the inherent warmth to heating outlets, such as radiators.

Whatever their solution, EDF are committed to providing accessible, integrateable, and renewable alternatives to help homeowners make the change the entire nation is committed to. That’s why eco renewis one of Britain’s most popular and reliable power packages, and another reason to help out in the race for climate control.

EDF and eco renew

Posted under Articles, Climate, Corporate, Eco Reviews, House & Home, Renewable Energy

The power source is free, and as far as man is concerned, endlessly renewable. I refer of course, to the sun and the booming solar panel industry.

Most people are unaware that the amount of solar energy intercepted by the Earth every minute, is greater than the amount of energy the world uses in fossil fuels each year – so we have to ask why all of us don’t harness solar power in on our homes yet? Unlike wind turbines, which are reliant on consistent wind flow to work in cities, Solar Panels work on almost every roof, regardless of wind flow and even if they aren’t pointing South or it is overcast. Technological advances mean that Solar works in all weathers, except, of course, when it is snowing.

Technically, converting solar radiation into home-use power is not rocket science. For those with an eye on either cost or the environment, or both, solar power allows homeowners to lock into an uninterrupted and virtually unlimited source of power.

With the numerous Government led financial incentives available, particularly in countries such as Australia and Canada, it now makes economic sense to harness the sun. Even in the UK, there is a Low Carbon Buildings Program which was formerly name the ‘clear skies’ program. A list of approved products and installers will shortly be available within the Renewables Category of EcoSwitch.com. Depending upon the supplier you choose, you may be eligible for a grant.  If you need further information immediately, please contact us for a list of approved products. The Renewable comparison category on EcoSwitch will be available during July 2009.

Solar Photovoltaic and Solar Thermal Panels

For those not familiar, there are two alternative methods to harvest solar power: solar photovoltaic panels (PV) that convert sunlight into electricity, and solar thermal collectors that use the sun’s energy to provide heat for your home hot water supply. Both types of solar heating are effective and efficient.

Solar thermal is particularly good if cost is a major consideration. Pre-heating hot water for your bath, laundry or dishwashers can save up to 50% of the home heating bill. If a home has radiant floor heating, savings can be even higher.

Solar PV panels are rated in watts and based on maximum power output in ideal conditions of sunlight and temperature. It is relatively easy to determine how many panels are required for a home by reference to the rated output of each panel and looking at seasonal and weekly power usage on your electricity bills. As a rule of thumb, plan to install panels that produce double the wattage required. This will take care of battery and wire loss, poor weather and the like. If batteries are installed, unused power can be stored for use at night time. In the absence of batteries, power supply has to come from the grid at night time or when the sun is obscured, which naturally cuts into cost savings.

A 100 watt PV panel can produce about 400 watt-hours of power per day. If an average sized home uses 25,000 watt-hours per day, the requirement is for 62 panels. That is quite a lot and it will take time for the investment to make sense. One reason that not more rooftops are covered with PV panels right now! The good news is that technological improvements are moving forward rapidly, and soon a 1 kilowatt panel will be available, so less space is needed and with fewer panels needed the cost should also fall.

Payback

There is still a lot of debate about solar panels and especially concerns about the payback period for green building technologies such as PV and solar thermal and whether the installation cost can be recovered if the house is sold. In the absence of Government offsets, solar power can still be expensive. However, perhaps one should look beyond the cost of solar power and focus on the long-term advantages in terms of overall quality of life and lowering the impact of your home on the environment.

Installation

Should you decide to install solar panels, there are some do-it-yourself kits on the market – but it is worth speaking to a few companies to identify the best way forward. Most don’t have enough expertise to do it all themselves, unless of course, you read a lot of manuals and speak to the right people. We recommend getting a suitably qualified solar energy installer who will thoroughly check out your existing system before determining your requirements. Many solar companies now do everything for you.

If any readers know of any good solar operators, please use the comments section below to provide information or visit our new forum. In the UK, we are informed that Smart Energy UK and Solar Century are the market leaders.

Posted under House & Home, Renewable Energy

SCOTLAND

Tomorrow, the 6th of February, Dundee Sun City Conference of 2009 opens – with a mix of interesting speakers and workshops with networking opportunities. What is called ‘a fair and local conference dinner with eco-entertainment’ is held in the Scottish city of Dundee that in partnership with the association Solar Cities Scotland [SCS] has adopted the sun as the future of energy. Offered a Sustainable Action Grant of between £26,000 and £39,000 by the Scottish Government, SCS have created the Dundee Sun City project. SCS was established in 2003 to

1. advance the education of the public concerning renewable energy and energy efficiency through a programme of training, publishing, demonstration projects, seminars and any other means for providing public knowledge and information
2. encourage and participate in research and development in renewable energy for the public benefit.
3. conserve and protect the physical and natural environment through the promotion of sustainable energy practices.

These three points are all present in the Dundee conference which is part of  the ‘participative awareness-raising campaign’ to foster changes in habits and outlook while creating a collective responsibility towards energy efficiency and renewable energy. The result is an urban community ‘that aims to develop a strategic approach to maximise use of renewable energy technologies, in conjunction with improved building thermal performance and carbon emissions reductions from the built environment.’ Aha. Aiming to develop a strategic approach is nothing for the weak of will power. But in Scotland it seems to work. The UK’s first eco-store opened on Hope Street in Glasgow ages ago and in Dundee there is more than just round table discussions.

The public is encouraged to get involved and come up with ways in which they can reduce building energy use, developing an approach which can be adapted and promoted to other communities throughout Scotland. The campaign was publicly launched in April 2007. A problem with some of these initiatives is when they are too well made. One or two features of the Dundee Sun City website catch the eye. First is the online footprint calculator. 944 households have until today completed a full carbon footprint audit. Still far from the initial target of 5000, the numbers are valid. Annually, these almost one thousand homes total an estimated energy use of 34,971,042.90 kWh and emissions of 36,027.04 metric tonnes. The site also tracks the impact of renewables in the Dundee inner city area. 414,530.60 kWh have been generated from wind, solar, hydroelectric and through which only 172.35 tonnes per year were offset, approximately 5 houses worth. Which could have been pretty good. But the problem is that more than half, 87.8 tonnes, comes from Green energy tariffs. What have we learnt? That three years of government funded and highly targetted campaigning in a well-defined and local context seems not to have achieved very much at all. Or is something coming about?

Literally constructive and very much more to the point is this very interesting and welcome ingredient Dundee does add to the green building debate: the Sun City House. Where the clever twist is? It is not a new build. Instead it is a major refurbishment and remodelling of a poorly constructed and thermally inefficient janitors house built in the 1960s. It is intended to function as a ‘showroom for technologies, materials and methods of construction that can be retrofitted to existing housing stock, where the major challenge lies in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the domestic sector in the UK.’ We do not need the latest and most eco-friendly alternative of every category of our consumption checklist. We need to understand how we can adapt both our houses and our lifestyles to a changing world. This is one of the lessons that Dundee Sun City Conference 2009 has in store for its participants.

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Visit the Dundee Sun City web site here.

See the Scottish Government’s page on Solar Cities Scotland here.

Leif Ahnland

Posted under Environmental News, Gas & Electricity, How To's & Guides

The government today issued a warning to charities and public sector organisations such as schools and hospitals that ‘time is running out’ for them to access grants intended to support the installation of onsite renewable energy equipment. This money is available under the government’s Low Carbon Building Programme, which offers charities, public sector bodies and homeowners the chance to apply for grants that help towards covering the cost of small-scale energy-generating equipment, such as wind turbines, solar panels and biomass boilers.

The often criticised programme is being phased out, and the UK government is now committed to drafting a feed-in tariff (FIT) system, where the aim is to better motivate organisations to invest in micro generation technologies by providing an above-market price for any energy sold back to the grid.

The new system holds much promise as it is considered that ‘FIT will play a big part in getting people interested in micro generation, along with new incentives for renewable heat.’ It is now probable that these tariffs are to be modelled on the system employed in Germany. An FIT-based programme with its potential for long-term viability rather than complicated application for a one-time grant is something that is welcomed by groups lobbying for renewable energy. In addition to providing incentives, in Germany it has created approximately 100.000 jobs.

Back to the inefficient and criticised grants. A spokeswoman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said there was still £24m in grants waiting to be dished out to successful applicants. ‘That is why we are telling public sector bodies and charities to come and get the money,’ she added. And indeed, time is of the essence. While homeowners will have another year with possibilities to apply for grants until June 2010, other hopefuls -like organisations, schools and other public buildings- will have to move now and apply before the June this year. In either case, we say ‘Get to it.’

For more information or getting help applying for grants, check out The Low Carbon Partnership here.

Read our previous article on the Low Carbon Buildings Programme here.

Leif Ahnland leif ahnland

Posted under Eco Build, Environmental News, House & Home, Renewable Energy

Time is flowing, yet the sun is still at rendez vous! Amazingly, current technologies and engineering bodies have not given up on the sun but are boosting the utilisation of solar power in every possible dimension. A priori, powering our gadgets with a shot of sunlight is amongst the most ethical and environmentally friendly resolutions we can encounter.

The Solar Centre is a remarkable online business conveying success and purpose. It offers the largest selection of solar products accessible on the market. The company understands that the use of solar energy addresses the problematic limitation of fossil fuels which are costly to find, extract and produce. In the same run, the usage of solar products undermines the emission of carbon dioxide and Global Warming.

At the Solar Centre, which is, in my opinion the Alibaba’s cave for solar products, you can find:

* Solar gadgets such as solar powered torches, solar powered wind turbines, solar picture frames, solar shavers, solar radios and even solar insect killers

* Solar chargers

* Solar toys

* Solar powered calculator

* Solar panels

Eco Switch’s primary purpose is to inculcate to you the optimistic future of solar products, powered entirely by the sun’s rays. Below I will highlight the description and importance of both solar panels and solar charges:

SOLAR PANELS and SOLAR CHARGERS:

Solar panel: A solar panel is a device which collects energy from the sun. It is segregated into two categories: solar photovoltaic which uses solar cells to convert sunlight into electricity and solar thermal which uses solar energy to heat water or other types of fluids.

Solar panels can be domestically installed, therefore unveiling an ideal alternative to electrical energy sourced from oil, gas, coal and nuclear. When we assemble all the globally existing solar panels together, guess the outcome? They save an equivalent of 35 million tonnes of carbon dioxide gas each year! Fascinating, but we must even forge further!

Solar charger: The solar charger imbibes the power of the sun which then undergoes storage until further use. The functionality of the solar powered charger, albeit located in the middle of nowhere or experiencing bad weather condition, is not affected. It is highly efficient for cars, boats, etc… and most importantly, extremely energy efficient!

It is clear that the majority of us leave our mobiles to charge all night unnecessarily. When we consider the average of 16.6 Billion charging hours which are wasted in Britain, topping with the amount of electricity going down the drain, don’t you agree that it is a seducing opportunity to begin using solar chargers instead of electrical ones?

Available at the Solar Centre is the solar Freeloader charger which chargers several devices, including mobiles phones, digital cameras, gaming machines, iPods and so on! It is a must-have device handy device which can be used at any time.

Solar products can be funky, stylish, handy and ‘cost cutters’. Visit the website http://www.thesolarcentre.co.uk/ for more ideas on the umbrella of solar products available to you.

Posted under House & Home, Renewable Energy

‘The Sahara Forest’ project is an ambitious proposal to turn areas of the dry arid desert into real-life oases. A team of architects and engineers are aiming to combine huge seawater greenhouses with solar power plants in the desert to provide food, fresh water and clean energy. They will use mirrors to focus the sun’s rays and generate heat and electricity, and eradicate the need to dig for fresh water creating lush areas of vegetation.

The vast majority of plants cannot grow in the desert due to the extreme temperature and lack of water, the seawater greenhouse can make these arid environments vegetation friendly. Charlie Paton is part of the Sahara team and the inventor of these greenhouses.

“So we’ve got conditions in the greenhouse of high humidity and lower temperature,” said Paton. “The crops sitting in this slightly steamy, humid condition can grow fantastically well.”

Paton said that the greenhouse produces over five times required for watering the plants so after cleaning the mirrors, the excess can be released into the local environment, creating a local microclimate outside the greenhouses for hardier plants such as jatropha – an energy crop that can be turned into bio fuel. The ability to create these microclimates has been shown by Paton’s demonstration greenhouse.

To purifying the seawater and cool the air of the greenhouse, solar energy is used to power the evaporators and then pump the damp, cool air through the greenhouse, reducing the temperature to 15c less than outside. At the other end of the greenhouse from the evaporators, the water vapour is condensed. This fresh water can be used to water the crops and clean the solar mirrors.
Demonstration plants are already running successfully in Tenerife, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, producing lettuces, peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes. The designers are confident that virtually any vegetables can be grown in the greenhouses depending on the climate maintained in them. The nutrients to grow the plants can be taken from seaweed or the seawater itself.

Both the CSP (solar power) and seawater greenhouses are proven technologies so the cost of this project should be relatively low. The designers estimate that building 20 hectares of greenhouses combined with a 10MW CSP scheme would cost around £65m. Groups in countries across the Middle East, including UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait, have shown interest in funding demonstration projects.

These projects are useful due to the production of extra crops, but most importantly will benefit the environment. Hopefully these seawater greenhouses can be used instead of, or to counteract the environmental damage caused by greenhouses already built. In Algeria, southern Spain, more than 40,000 hectares of greenhouses have been built in this desert region over the past 20 years, taking water from the earth around five times faster than it comes in, so the water table drops and becomes more saline. To convert them all to the seawater greenhouses would make sustainable

“The beauty of the Sahara Forest scheme is that you can reverse that process and turn barren land into biologically-productive land.” Charlie Paton.

Posted under Articles, Environmental News, Gardening & Outdoors, Renewable Energy

European scientists have said that through harnessing the power of the desert sun and feeding it into an electricity super grid, the energy collected could produce enough to meet all of Europe’s electricity needs, and cut CO2 emissions dramatically – all by using the latest in photovoltaic cells and the intense desert heat to boil water and power turbines.

Arnulf Jaeger-Walden, speaking at the Euroscience Open Forum in Barcelona, said that by capturing just 0.3% of the sunlight falling on the Sahara and Middle East deserts Europe’s energy requirements could be met. The expansive solar farms that would harvest this energy would produce electricity either through photovoltaic cells, or by concentrating the intense desert heat to boil water and drive turbines. These measures, combined with power from other renewable sources, such as wind or geothermal, would be channelled into a 5,000 mile super grid, stretching from Siberia to Morocco and Egypt to Iceland.

The super grid has become a central focus for EU summits deliberating solutions to the energy and fuel crises. The idea remains in its fledgling stage, but supporters have highlighted the super grid’s ecological serviceability to help Britain make the ‘green’ switch – however, critics have drawn particular attention to the substantial costs estimated by developers. But despite such financial considerations, the proposal has already answered a more conventional criticism of solar power.

Winning the backing of Gordon Brown and Nicholas Sarkozy, the grid proposal has already answered the most frequent criticism hailed at renewable power – that it is uneconomic because of the unpredictability of the weather. Grid-supporters boast that by drawing power from wind and solar farms across a large strip of Europe, there will be a consistent flow of power being generated.
The design of the grid itself has been evolved to a highly efficient module. Forming the main arteries of the electrical super grid would be high voltage direct current (DC) power lines. These heavy duty cables emit less energy loss over long distances than traditional alternating current (AC) lines and are three times as efficient.

These alterations are a part of what the EU scientists argue to be a more effective and economic way to meet the renewable energy targets of 2020. Scientists argue that because North African sunlight is an intense stream of consistent energy, solar photovoltaic panels set up in the Sahara could generate up to 300% more electricity produced by equivalent panels in northern Europe.

However, before the proposal can help the EU meet its target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2020, much time, planning and investment is needed. But the scientists working on the project are estimating that with an investment of around £356bn it could produce 100 GW by 2050, which is more than the combined electricity output from all sources in Britain.

Despite any reservations over the project, one thing is already for sure. Britain is more than willing to look for alternative methods to help meet their 2020 requisite. Being set to miss the EU target, the Sahara solution is just one of many foreign affairs that can be hoped-on to solve the UK’s domestic dilemma.

Posted under Articles, Environmental News, Renewable Energy

The solar industry is poised for it a sharp reduction in costs that will make secure it as a mainstream power option in the oncoming years, according to a new assessment by US Worldwatch Institute in Washington DC.

International production of solar photovoltaic modules (PV cells), which convert the sun’s light directly into electricity, which grew 41% in 2006, has continued to rise. Propelled by booms in German and Japanese markets, since 2007 the technology is also being implemented by less developed economies such as Spain, who have set up solar initiatives on regional and national levels.

However, this rapid growth has been constrained by a shortage of manufacturing capacity for purified polysilicon, the same resource that is used for the production of semiconductor chips. But this situation is expected to be reversed within the next two years as more than a dozen organisations in Europe, China, Japan, and the United States will initiate an exceptional level of global production and market activity. With more than half the world’s supply of polysilicon being used to produce solar PV cells in 2006 and the increase in solar technology over the subsequent years, the increase in polysilicon supply will undoubtedly bring costs down dramatically. This price drop is expected to exceed a 40% reduction in the next three years, according to estimates.

Janet Sawin, a senior researcher at Worldwatch, said: “Solar energy is the world’s most plentiful energy source, and the challenge has been tapping it cost-effectively and efficiently,” she says “We are now seeing two major trends that will accelerate growth of PV: the development of advanced technologies, and the emergence of China as a low-cost producer.”

Last year, China surpassed US production, which first developed modern solar cell technology a Bell Labs in New Jersey in the 1950s, to become the world’s foremost producer of the technology – but despite these efforts Germany and Japan still head production rates.

Suntech Power, China’s leading PV manufacturer, grew from the world’s eighth largest producer in 2005 to fourth in a year later, and is still climbing in 2008 – making Suntech’s CEO China’s richest man. Experts believe that China, with its growing need for energy, large work force, and strong industrial base, could drive dramatic reductions in PV prices, helping to make solar competitive with conventional power, even without subsidies. And with renewable energy at the central focus of Beijing’s Olympic ceremony, it is abundantly clear that China has announced its arrival to the world.

“To say that Chinese PV producers plan to expand production rapidly in the year ahead would be an understatement,” says Travis Bradford, president of the Prometheus Institute, who assisted Worldwatch in the assessment. “They have raised billions from international IPOs to build capacity and increase scale with the goal of driving down costs. Four Chinese IPOs are expected to come to market this month alone.”

“The conventional energy industry will be surprised by how quickly solar PV becomes mainstream” says Sarwin “Cheap enough to provide carbon-free electricity on rooftops, while also meeting the energy needs of hundreds of millions of poor people who currently lack electricity.”

Posted under Articles, Environmental News, Renewable Energy

What else is there to ask for apart from the Great Outdoors and the great British Summer to make this years camping trip the best ever? What about the latest eco friendly solar powered camping equipment and gadgets.

The first gadget we would recommend is a solar torch it may not be the most exciting

gadget out there, but with a good torch you wont get lost in the dark, and with the Solar Torch there is no more need for spare batteries or fumbling about to discover that the power has run out.
The Solar Torch retails at £6.50 from www.selectsolar.co.uk. With three PV cells down its spine and sides, and a flat sturdy base for placement, this robust torch can be left outside in the sunshine all day to feed off of the sun’s energy. The energy converted by the solar panels is fed into a transmitter and stored behind 5 super bright LEDs. The Solar Torch comes fitted with a miniature compass on its base and is great for any outdoor adventures, at home or away.

The next gadget makes camping that little bit more appealing for all. The Hi-Gear Solar Shower is an essential accessory for camping in comfort. This travel shower makes sure that an early morning cold water wash is something of the past. Simply fill the bag with water, leave it in the sun for approximately three hours to warm through, and then hang the shower to enjoy freshening up in comfort.
The Hi-Gear Solar Shower is a multi use shower device that can provide up to seven years of use. The dimensions of the bag are 55cm deep (including handle) and 40cm wide, with a 20litre capacity – which equates to about three showers a bag. The hose is approximately 67cm and the device itself is capable of reaching temperatures of up to 48 C – so it is always best to test the water before using and add cold water if required. The Hi-Gear Solar Shower can be found at www.ethicalsuperstore.com with a retail price of £8.99.

Continuing from the make-shift shower room, the next gadget is a reminder that being away from mains power is no reason to end up looking like a grizzly bear. The Solar-powered Rechargeable Shaver means that a clean shave and feeling fresh is always at hand – just remember to leave it in the sun.
The innovative shaver will take 8-12 hours to fully charge and comes with a beard trimmer, brush and drawstring travel bag – which means it is ready to travel with you anywhere under the sun. The rechargeable shaver works in the same way a traditional shaver will, but is fitted with a discreet miniature solar panel. It retails at £24.99 and is also found at www.selectsolar.co.uk.

The penultimate gizmo – which is a must-have for any gadget enthusiast on a camping holiday this summer – is the Maplin Electronics’ Scotty personal solar charger. The personal charger clips onto your clothes or bag allowing it to bask in the sunlight whilst you move about, charging your iPod and other portable gadgetry on the go.
The Scotty personal solar charger costs £34.99 with larger panel kits from £69.99 and can be found at www.maplin.co.uk. A full charge from the Scotty charger will provide enough energy for one hour’s talk time on a mobile phone or 60 minutes stand-by time. The universal connector means that the charger can supply power to a range of devices from Sat Nav systems and beyond – you can even use it to power household lamps when you get home.

Finally, the last and probably most advanced gadget is the UNI-PAC charger. This solar charger uses United Solar Systems Corp. Triple Junction Technology to convert sunlight into electricity. The UNI-SOLAR UNI-PACs can be dropped, stepped on, packed and re-deployed; they can even provide power with bullet holes through them or in partial shade – so to any secret agents, this is the charger for you.
The UNI-PAC 10 offers dual voltage charging for 12v and 24v, and can be wired together with other UNI-PAC panels. This is not so much a gadget as it is a piece of kit. The UNI-PAC was designed to meet charge Laptop or Notebook computers under military requirements for durability, performance and reliability – retailing at a rather costly £451.63 from www.unlimitedpower.co.uk it is no surprise that this technology is built to last.

There are many other eco-friendly ways to set out on an adventure this year. But with these five of the markets latest, you can be sure that solar power can supply the solution for any type of camping quandary.

Posted under Articles, Product Innovations