Green Apples

by Dawn Marie Fichera

Can’t part with your iPhone or iPod but feeling guilty about the energy drain? Relax. Novothink has a solar solution for everybody. Super sexy and uber sleek Hybrid solar chargers for a clean green energy source.

Novothink’s state-of-the-art, smartly designed hybrid solar-charger enables you to harness the energy of the sun wherever you are to charge either the iPhone 3G or iPhone 3GS. Outdoor enthusiasts rejoice.

The durable, lightweight and ergonomically superior “Surge” charger fits both iPones and iPod Touch and has a built in certified Apple 30 pin connector, speaker ports to prevent against sound dampening, and comes in a a variety of colors. It’s a hybrid charger because when the sun ain’t shining, you need an alternate energy source, the good-old fashioned wall charge. So it does come with a USB, which has its usefulness. The USB connection allows you to sync to your iTunes without taking your iPhone out of its case.

Basically, the hybrid charger acts as a soft-touch non-slip skin you never need to remove, that sucks up energy from the sun. Novothink even offers a free Solar Planer application that estimates your solar energy needs based on your usage. So you can see just how much energy you are draining from the environment, slug.
Here’s how the charger works. The hybrid solar chargers collect the sunlight through solar panels that slide over-top your iPhone or iPod Touch, which it turns into electricity. If your iPhone is not fully charged, it transfers the charge to your iPhone. If your iPhone is fully charged the hybrid charger transfers the solar charge to its internal battery. The charge from this reserve battery will transfer to your iPhone's battery as necessary. The four LED lights o the bottom of the panel indicate when your charge is full and when you need a refill. It even tells you when sunlight is too dim and you should switch to USB charging.

It may not be the end-all-be all of chargers but it’s a great start.