Solar Charger and Solar Panel Roundup – Part 2

[Las Vegas, Nevada USA]

Charging up 2007 International CES

Continuing where Solar Charger and Solar Panel Roundup – Part 1 left off, there were additional solar surprises from small companies at CES in the Sands Convention Center.

Looking like a secret weapon from a 1960’s vintage James Bond film (the label in the photo has PVM007 as the model name), the SC-PSPS01 Portable Solar Power Station is part of the Onlink Portable Solar Charger series from YII CHERNG INTERNATIONAL LTD. This metal suitcase detaches into two parts: a 20W (Watt) moncrystalline silicon solar panel (product versions go up to 75W) and a base control unit with a plethora of DC and AC charging and powering capabilities.

While the solar panel rapid charges the internal battery in normal operation, an AC input option enables charging from 100-230V 50-60Hz AC sources.

Once charged, the internal battery can power a 100W AC device for up to 2 hours via the integrated inverter. DC power output options include a 12V car battery jack, 5V USB socket or 3/5/6/9V universal 1A (Ampere) maximum DC jack, and an integrated AA and AAA rechargeable battery charger.

Weighing in at 4.2 kilograms (about 9.3 pounds) and sporting an LED light, battery capacity indicator, and overload protection, the SC-PSPS01 delivers on its moniker as The best solution while AC power cannot be reached! This product should appeal to remote maintenance and construction personnel in Telecommunications and, dare I say it, the Oil and Gas industry. YII CHERNG is exhibiting at CeBIT through March 21, 2007, in Hall 20, Stand C42, (B07) at the Taiwanese Pavilion.

At the GP Tech Industrial CO., LTD. stand located in the CES Taiwanese pavilion, I found interesting solar charger designs branded Tachima, Green Power Group. In reality, the SOLAR U and M SERIES appear to be marketed by SolarFocus as the SolarUno and SolarMio as shown in the above photo. In Taiwan, cooperating companies tend to have the same owners or a friends and family type business relationship.

The SolarUno is designed to trickle charge AAA NiCd or NiMh rechargeable batteries or Bluetooth devices (headsets?) and flash based MP3 players over USB through an integrated DC to DC converter. SolarMio specializes in charging a wider range of portable devices through a rear mounted DC to DC converter with internal Lithium Polymer batteries using USB or a 6V DC output. Both devices use trimmed 195mm x 55mm base strips of UNI-SOLAR Triple-Junction thin film solar cells from Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENER) and appear to correlate to the SolarFocus 1SC1 Standard SolarCard.

At the Chinese pavilion, Ningbo Qixin Solar Electrical Appliance Co., Ltd. (not to be confused with Ningbo Solar) offered the widest range of solar products from solar cells and solar lights to solar modules and photovoltaic production equipment including laser scribing machines, laminators, and solar cell and module testers. Per Marketing Manager Lui Xiaobo, the company produced about 2.5MW of solar modules in 2006 and plans to double output to 5MW in 2007.

I haven’t seen much solar product news flow from CeBIT 2007. CeBIT’s online Exhibitors + Products directory is horrible and has sparse product descriptions making search next to useless. It looks as though the CeBIT folks are trying to cash in on Catalogue and CD-ROM sales. I did manage to find a company called Sunload GmbH promoting a new line of solar messenger bags along with solar briefcase, backpack, and carry on luggage product lines. New Sunload products are on display at the CeBIT smartTextiles Village in Hall 9 at Stand C 07.