All I want for Christmas are my solar powered gadgets. Well, this doesn’t have the ring to it like the “my two front teeth” song, but several photovoltaic manufacturers are rolling out interesting products one can give as gifts this holiday season.
Upon any green tech’s Christmas list may be items such as a solar-powered kayak, carrying bag or toothbrush. The solar-powered kayak is actually an outrigger attachment that fits onto a single vessel to use the sun’s rays to power a small trolling motor. Granted, this may defeat the purpose of exercising in the great outdoors, but if you’re feeling lazy on a Sunday afternoon and just want to float aimlessly on the pond while napping, this may just be an ideal choice.
A company called Noon Solar has come out with a carrying bag that has photovoltaic cells built right into it. The cells provide power to the bag so that consumers can recharge their cell phones, iPods or other small electronic devices. It’s kind of geeky and nerdy, but then again you’re reading this aren’t you? Yeah, me, too.
And, last up on the green tech’s holiday shopper list is the solar-powered toothbrush. The cool aspect about this toothbrush is not that it uses photovoltaic cells, but rather, no toothpaste is needed to achieve optimal oral hygiene. The brush actually uses a chemical reaction in the mouth to kill bacteria and plaque.
So, there you have it, a short list of solar gadgets for this holiday shopping season. Perhaps, next year, Rudolph’s red nose will be powered by solar as well.
How about this for a Christmas present. A company called Citizenre is trying market a complete solar system with an approach similar to satellite TV, cellular telephones, and alarm systems. That is to provide the customer a complete solar system with no upfront charges and make money from a service contract. In this case the service contract would be a rent agreement. They intend to put a complete solar system on clients home. When the system produces electricity, it will lower the bill from the current utility provider. In most cases the savings from the lower bill will more than cover the rent fee that the company intends to charge. The company currently has no product available but intends to deploy in the middle of 2008. They are currently taking reservations and have 25,500 takers so far. I have written several articles on this company in my blog and even have a couple of videos that I have recorded at http://www.solarjoules.com. Feel free to take a look. I welcome comments. As in any start up business, a chance exists that they may never get off the ground and fulfill any preorders, but if this is the case – the potential client has not lost anything. If you cannot afford the upfront cost of solar today, this may turn out to be a great alternative.
This solution would mean that we could produce at least a little less pollution and would be a great step “just in case”.
If anyone would like company information you can go to http://www.jointhesolution.com/razmataz.
So pull up some information on this product and stuff it in an envelope for your Christmas stockings.
Thanks for the reply, the information and the resources. It’s good to know a program like this is available to homeowners with little risk. Also enjoyed the Ed Begley, Jr. video.