Sanyo Eneloop Solar Charger: charges your iPod too

Ready to get your eco on Jack? Meet the Sanyo N-SC1S Eneloop Solar Charger. Not only will the device charge 4x of their hottastic Eneloop (and presumably other) rechargeable hyrbids in about 2.5 hours, but it'll also juice-up your USB-equipped gear. That's right, the device features a USB port capable of a DC 5V and 500mA output. Oh sure, it takes about 6 days for the internal lithium ion batteries to reach a full charge in order to charge your cellphone, PSP, MP3 player, whatever, but hey, it's good for the kids, hear? Available in Japan starting November 21st for an expected ¥20,000 or $170 of that green, green.

[Via Impress]

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 31st 2008 10:15PM]

Excellent comments about the iPod.
http://www.1-satellite-tv-facts.com

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 31st 2006 10:27AM]

6 days? Good thing I invest in oil stocks...

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 31st 2006 11:50AM]

At first glance I thought it said six HOURS, and I thought "Great Odin's raven!"

:-|

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 31st 2006 1:40PM]

is the internal battery replaceable when it eventually dies? I hope so. At half the price and a smaller size it would be a more realistic option for travellers.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 31st 2006 4:10PM]

Right, because when I travel, I like to leave my phone tethered to something in a sunny spot for six days.

What's this thing for, again?

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 31st 2006 4:06PM]

If you are looking for a good USB solar charger I highly recommend http://www.cetsolar.com/sc150.htm. It's like $30. I have had this for about a year and it works great. It takes about 10 hours of direct sun to fully charge the batteries, longer if behind glass. I have replaced the 1500mah batteries with Engergizer 2500mah batteries. On a full I can recharge my DS and PSP once and my Cell phone serveral times during business trips. The unit is really nice cuz it uses regular AA batteries, so in a pinch I can just grab some alkalines if need be. You can get USB charging cables for about anything, and you can reuse them with your laptop so you don't have to carry extra wall warts.

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 17th 2008 11:47AM]

With a solar collector that small, I wonder if over the lifetime of the lithium ion battery (which will age and die over a few years regardless of load or charge-discharge cycles) the solar cell will actually collect more energy than was consumed in the total energy cost of producing the lithium ion battery in the first place.