SunCat batteries boast built-in solar charging wrappers
Solar chargers are a dime a dozen, but who honestly feels like carrying around rechargeable cells and a recharger? Guru Knut Karlsen has conjured up a far superior idea, and rather than just working up a few drawings and making us all feel dumb for not thinking of this first, he went out and proved that solar-charging batteries are definitely ready for production. In essence, he wrapped four C size NiMH rechargeable batteries with a few samples of flexible solar cells; by using a conductive silver pen and some flat wires from a broken Canon lens, he made a connection solid enough for trickle charging to occur. Moving forward, he'd like to install a capacity gauge as well as a method for faster charging, but we'd say this ain't half bad for a first attempt.
[Via Inhabitat, thanks Sarvesh]
