It must be the year of the solar laptop. Or something… Earlier this month, we relayed a few images of a solar-powered laptop concept by Italian designer Andrea Ponti. Not to be outdone, Samsung yesterday confirmed that it will soon offer a solar-powered netbook in the U.S., parts of Africa and Russia. Equipped with solar [...]

We’ve seen a slew of solar-powered chargers designed for use with personal electronics. Here’s but one example. But how about getting rid of all the plug-in peripherals and instead go with a laptop that runs entirely on solar power? That seems to be the goal of Andrea Ponti, an Italy-based industrial designer.

In our four years as a blog, we’ve seen just about every solar-powered gadget out there, including solar surfboards, solar suitcases and a solar helmet. So, when Ralph Lauren recently announced the release of a solar-powered backpack, we weren’t exactly surprised. The bag is part of the designer’s RLX line, which offers buyers “exceptionally luxe lifestyle [...]

It’s late in the day here in California, but we thought we’d relay this solar-related news tidbit coming out of Consumer Electronics Show (CES) being held this week in Las Vegas. A maker of “portable solar power systems,” Goal Zero, took the opportunity at CES to unveil a new product: Image courtesy of Goal Zero [...]

The U.S. Department of Defense has developed two different types of portable renewable energy systems for frontline soldiers in Afghanistan to use.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) SENSEable City Lab revealed its oil-sucking robots – named Seaswarm Robots – for the world to see. The robots are capable of spotting oil completely on their own, and when the oil is found, they use a GPS system to coordinate with their robots teammates to gather in one area and decide the most efficient way to clean up the mess.

Solar shavers. I never would have believed they were necessary, but they do give guys freedom to get a close shave without plugging into the grid. Ecouterre describes the target demographic for this gadget perfectly: “Whether you’re a jet-setting business traveler or a mountain man who doesn’t shy away from a 5-’o-clock shadow, solar shavers [...]

Three days ago, Vodafone Essar Ltd. revealed a new product in Mumbai, India meant to serve the millions of mobile subscribers living in rural parts of the country with limit access to electricity.

Here at GetSolar, we deal mostly with putting solar panels on or beside buildings. Occasionally, however, we talk about putting solar on other things, like luggage, radios, ipods and iphones, bluetooth headsets, helmets and even summer vacation. This next one, I have to admit, is especially cool and intriguingly practical. It’s a solar-powered camera strap [...]

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