Travel Gear of the year 2013 ~ Eco-Product of the Year Nominee

Portable solar power for your gadgets

This year’s crop of travel products will make your life easier, cooler and even a bit more fun. I am admittedly less peripatetic these days but I still travel internationally quite a bit and I have found the following gear notable.

This is blog post number one in a multi-part series of top travel gear of 2013. We begin with the environmentally friendly product of the year nominees, and other posts will feature nominees for best travel footwear, best travel clothing, best gear for air travel, best travel gadget and best travel photography gear. Then we will publish the award winners in each category. Lets get it started with our favorite green gear…

Eco-Product of the Year Nominee #1 ~ Portable solar charger

We are always on the lookout for innovative eco-conscious products and when PowerTraveller sent me their new travel solar charger for testing (see full disclosure below), I was like a little boy opening my “politically correct holiday” present. PowerTraveller certainly has some inventive solar powered products and their updated SolarMonkey Adventurer did not disappoint. The new solar charger has a built in battery that allows for charging your smartphone, tablet, camera, etc. anytime. The included 2500mAh internal lithium polymer battery can be fully charged within 12 hours in optimal sunlight and can charge not one but two smartphones on a single charge (iPhones require slightly more juice).

Don’t be mislead by the watt rating of three, as this lightweight powerhouse charges better than some of the seven watt solar products.

The SolarMonkey Adventurer was built to be just that, an adventurer. Every design aspect lends itself to travel and adventure. The clamshell design opens up to reveal 2 polysilicon solar panels that feature up to 17% photovoltaic efficiency. The unit comes in its own protective case and the manufacturers even included a carabineer to attach the device to your backpack, person, dashboard, window, etc. so you can charge on the go.

The only downside is that it cannot charge most laptops, but that’s wishful thinking as this unit is so light (9.3 ounces) and portable it could fit in a large pocket. We will be featuring another solar product that does have the ability to charge laptops in upcoming blog posts for The Travel Gear of the Year. I did want to mention that PowerTraveller does have other larger units that will charge a laptops such as the SolarGorilla. The SolarMonkey does a great job with smartphones and tablets and that’s what it is designed to do.

We can’t wait to display the SolarMonkey poolside at Floating Leaf Eco-Retreat to provide our guests with a convenient and eco-friendly charging station. We will also be taking them along on our treks, photo tours and adventure travel excursions to provide portable power.

Pros ~

• It is a complete solar power unit and it fits in your pocket!
• Comes with everything you need to get started
• Ultra-potable and well designed
• Holds a charge well and can charge and power at the same time

Cons ~

• Does not charge larger electronics like laptops
• A bit expensive (but again its a complete solar charging system that fits in your pocket!)

The SoloarMonkey runs around $125 USD and is available at PowerTraveller.

Here is some additional information from the PowerTraveller site.

Packed full with protection features including short-circuit protection, overload protection and low voltage protection and importantly, thermal insulation battery protection giving an operating temperature range of -10 to 90 degrees C, the solarmonkey adventurer adds an exciting new dimension to the existing Powertraveller range.

Kit Includes:
1 x solarmonkey adventurer portable charger
5 x adaptor tips for BlackBerry, HTC, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, LG & Motorola (including Mini & Micro USB)
1 x Apple monkeytail
1 x USB connection cable
1 x carabineer
1 x bespoke, technical travel case

Parameters:
Input: solar and DC 5v 600mA
Output: USB port: 5v 700mA
Internal battery: Lithium-ion Polymer
Energy: 9.2WH
Static Power Waste: <50uA
Internal battery protection voltage: 3.3v and recovery voltage at 3.7v when connected to device
Solar panel composite: polysilicon
Weight: 265g (unit only)
Dimensions: 170 x 96 x 22.75mm with 2mm safety gap between solar panels

Full disclosure: A mentioned above, Powertraveller sent me their product to test free of charge and with no stipulations. Financial compensation was not received for this post. Opinions expressed here are my own. Read our full disclosure policy. All images provided by Powertraveller.com

For past travel gear reviews please check our essential travel packing list and here is a great list of gear for photographers.