I’ve had the chance to spend a good bit of time with one of the Solio solar-powered chargers, the H1000 Hybrid. For people on the go or with a lot of different electronic devices to lug around, having a Solio means that you don’t need to also lug around the chargers for all of these things. Before I continue, I’m sure you’re at this point thinking, “What the hell is a Solio?” Let me explain.

The Solio is essentially a battery that is powered by the built-in solar panel (or panels, depending on which one you get). You hook this thing to your backpack when you go hiking or just sit in in the dashboard of your car — the Solio sucks energy from the sun, much like the villain in Superman IV.

All of this energy is stored in the internal battery, which you can then use to power other things. After a full day sitting on my windowsill, the Solio Hybrid allowed for about 3 hours of playtime on my Nintendo DS. I sat it in the windowsill again the next day and then used it to fully charge my cell phone.

Here is the futuristic sci-fi commercial that seems straight out of Demolition Man:

I like how they refer to the PSP as a game console, but I digress…

This is all well and good, but then I started to wonder about how fragile these solar panels must be. Solar panels are one of those things that seem like they would break pretty easily. I first started by purposely knocking it off of my windowsill, which could easily happen. I then put it in the dashboard of my soccer-mom-mobile and then slid it out the window (not while driving, of course).

After these two relatively likely scenarios, I didn’t notice any visible damage to the device so I put the Solio back on my windowsill for the day. In the evening, I plugged it in to my DS and again played for about 3 hours. Seems pretty durable to me.

The only real downside to the H1000, and all Solio models, is that you will need to have the appropriate adapter tip for each device you plan on using it with. While that’s somewhat obvious if you think about it, it is kind of a pain to look at something and say, “Shit, now I need to order a new tip to use with my blackberry.”

The tips themselves are fairly inexpensive (the DS tip was about 4 bucks), and the Solio comes with a few common ones in the box. The relatively low price of the tips makes the Solio a cheaper alternative to buying a charger for all of your devices, depending of course on how many you have. My wife and I, for example, have two completely different cell phones, and car chargers for each one run $20+. Add in the cost of a car charger for an mp3 player and the fact that the Solio doesn’t have to stay in your car, and the price for a Hybrid doesn’t seem that bad.

Again, the Solio doesn’t seem like something an average person would really need, especially if you’re the type of person that doesn’t leave the house very often. An on-the-go gadget whore will likely find plenty of use for it, and it is a nice thing to have in an emergency if your cell phone dies and you need to call for help. How many movies would be a lot shorter if people just brought one of these with them?

Overall, I was impressed with how well the Solio H1000 Hybrid did what it claimed it could do. I was still kinda under the impression that solar power isn’t that useful because if it were, why aren’t we using it more? Technology is a bitch like that, and the Solio changed my view a bit and made me want to stop paying my electricity bill. Thanks a lot.

The Solio version I had, the H1000, was the cheapest one of their models, running about 80 bucks. I’m not entirely sure what is better about the more expensive models, but you can check out the “official” line on Solio products at their website. Either way, it remains significantly more portable than a solar-powered Wii.

Tags: charger, hybrid, portable battery, solar power, Solio

• Wii Outside with Solar-Powered Game Station
• Make a Solar-powered DS
• Psyclone Wii Recharge Stations Break Wii-Motes
• Brit Tele Presenter a Character in Assassin’s Creed
• Left 4 Dead Maps Resurrected in Left 4 Dead 2
• Ripten Radio Presents: Ripcast Episode 15
• Project Natal Rumored For November 2010 Release With $50-$80 Price Tag and 14 Launch Titles
• Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars Trailer

1 Comment » Dr. Muhbutwiches on October 25, 2008 7:16 pm I have the Solio Classic and I don’t know what is different about the two but this review is pretty spot on. I play my PSP on the bus a lot and this thing makes sure that my batteries pretty much never die. It’s awesome. RSS feed for comments on this post. Comment Now Note: Commenting on Ripten does not currently require registration, however to be eligible for contests on the site, you must be a registered user. Name (required) Mail (will not be published) (required) Website Commenting Rules: No hate speech allowed. If you must argue, please debate intelligently. Comments containing selected keywords or outbound links will be put into moderation to help prevent spam. Ripten reserves the right to delete comments and ban anyone who doesn't follow the rules. Thanks. Notify me of followup comments Tired of the Goomba? Upload your own custom comment avatar.