Issue 2, Vol 1 - April / May 2007

Battery flat in the middle of nowhere? Then you need a portable solar panel! Investing in a portable solar panel may be the best thing you buy this year by Jon Mitchell One problem with all this digital equipment we almost all use these days is batteries. While Lithium Ion batteries offer a good 500 shots or so, that is that. You either need to recharge the battery or use a spare. Lithium Ion batteries cost quite a lot of money and buying several is very costly. So perhaps better to buy a portable solar panel for charging your equipment's batteries up wherever there is enough sunlight. Naturally, this is more appealing to those working in bright countries (this is generally at certain middle latitudes), in regions such as Asia and Africa. I was born in Manchester, where it rains a lot, where it may not be so useful! You can also use it at home to keep your electricity bill down by plugging appliances into it when you are not using it to charge batteries. Small, lightweight and packing enough power-generation capacity to easily recharge your camera or phone batteries or even AAs. And why stop there? You could make your office a lot greener by installing solar panels and even earn money from re-selling electricity to your national grid, so in some countries, you would get a cheque from the electricity company, rather than you sending them one! If you live in a windy area, then you may also want to consider a Micro Wind Turbine, which is basically a small windmill that generates electricity. If you live near a river, a waterwheel can also be a reliable way to generate power. Solar technology has improved leaps and bounds in recent years, a company in USA produces flexible, wearable solar panels, which could be handy for sports photographers covering long events. Some companies offer roll-up solar panels which are even more portable and probably lighter than those advertised here.