Tomorrow's news: Freeloader Solar Charger

By Sean Rosner

Thursday, September 25, 2008

With fall break quickly approaching and warm weather fading away, some students will use these next couple weekends to fit in one last campout with friends. But what happens when you’re in the middle of nowhere and your cell phone goes dead?

Well, if you have a Freeloader Solar Charger from Solar Technology, you’ve got nothing to worry about. The pocket-sized battery charger uses solar cells to create energy to power cell phones, digital cameras and many other electronic devices.

The Freeloader can power an iPod for 18 hours, a cell phone for 44 hours and a PDA for 22 hours. It can fully charge a device in as few as eight hours, though cloud cover and the position of the sun can increase that time to as many as 16 hours.

Sarah Chard, public relations representative for Solar Technology, says although the solar cells do degrade over time, they still give more than 90 percent of their original power output after 15 years. She says Solar Technology developed the product to give customers more convenient energy access, as well as an environmentally friendly way to power their electronic devices.

The Freeloader is available on Amazon.com for about $70. For more information, visit www.stuffjunction.com.

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