Lately, I have been on the hunt for gadgets that utilize natural resources for power. I figure it’s the least I could do to give back. With oil dependence out of control and electricity consumption rising we all should be doing our part, right?

I recall being at the Consumer Electronics Show, the largest gadget-fest in Vegas last year and seeing all types of startups presenting what was called “green electronics”. One of those products, the Solio, has been around since 2006-7. Recently, I had some time to finally take it out and give some real tests. Now, I’ll be the first to tell you that many products promise much and deliver considerably less. However, I found the Solio charger delivered.

So what exactly is it?
A universal charger (well not everything) that utilizes the sun to power your gadgets. The Solio as they call it is a Hybrid charger because it can accept power from either the sun or the wall, storing energy in it’s internal rechargeable battery. They claim it can hold a charge up to a year. That part I haven’t tested. What I did test I liked. I wanted to see how fast or rather how slow it might take for my gadgets to charge, to my surprise the charge for my ipod was about the same speed as if it were in a wall charger. When I tested it outside I laid it out for the sun for about 25 mins. and was able to charge my cell from a dead battery, to long enough to make a 12 minute phone call. Now, if you live in cloudy environments, don’t worry you can use the wall charger feature, it’s pretty straightforward and should get you a full charge in about 6 hours - that’s fast.

Bottom line:
It works! It takes about 5-7 hours to keep my iPod fully charged and it’s a small size unit that’s easy to carry. Some of the downsides are that not all the adapters it comes with will fit your devices so check their website before buying. I do wish that it had some sort of stand, without that it makes it tricky at times to get all 3 of it’s solar panels to absorb the suns rays. Solio’s makers promise you’ll be able to fully charge the device with 8 to 10 hours of direct sunlight. Keep in mind, though, that a cloudy day will make charging more difficult.

The cost:
$99-$169 depending on model.

This product may or may not be for you and that is fine BUT do us all a favor and in some way start utilizing natural resources.