Solar Powered Cell Phones - Do They Make Sense?

Before too long, all cell phones will be solar powered cell phones. It's an inevitability, but do they make sense and are they really as green as the marketing people would have us believe?

Samsung's Green Blue Earth Phone

Every marketing person knows that words such as: solar, solar panel, green, eco, earth, recycled ... sell products. Any product or service that doesn't have an environmental pitch is disadvantaged.

It should be no great surprise that not every "eco-environmentally-friendly-recycled-green" product actually stacks up. The people who write the copy are also masters at explaining the science behind tooth paste, laundry powder, fast food, non-stick frying pans, motor vehicles, home finance .... They know the words that get our attention and are not about to let a few inconvenient truths derail a good pitch.

Some Inconvenient Questions

1. If you carry your solar powered cell phone in a pocket, bag or some other place where the sun doesn't shine, how does your phone get charged?

2. If you are able to conveniently leave your cell phone on a sunny desktop, dashboard or window ledge; how many "hours" does it take to become fully charged via the inbuilt micro-solar panel?

3.What is to stop solar powered cell phones from becoming cooked in the sun? Millions of us have had first hand experience of this when we have left our phones in a car on a hot day.

4.With the best intentions in the world, will people actually use these phones? How many of us can afford to leave our cell phones lying in the sun collecting a charge during day light hours?

5. Will the reduction in green house gas emissions resulting from the use of solar powered mobile phones off-set those created when millions of micro-solar panels are manufactured?

Portable Solar Battery Charger

A portable solar charger with an inbuilt rechargeable battery is a better solution for most of us. We can retain our existing cell phones and continue to tuck them away in pockets and bags. At night we can recharge by plugging them into the solar battery charger, that can be located in a convenient sunny spot. If the sun doesn't shine for a day or two, we can resort to power from an AC socket in the wall until the weather improves.

Another advantage of a portable solar charger is that many of them have the ability to charge just about any handheld electronic gadget or cell phone. When armed with an appropriate tip they become a universal phone charger. They eliminate the requirement for dedicated solar panels and the additional costs that go with them.

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