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 THE STAT 26Percentage of wireless customers who use their cell phones to take picturesMore Vitals
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SEPTEMBER 20, 2005
Ultraportable Power Charges Ahead A slew of new products will let you keep your cell phone or MP3 player running with energy from the sun -- or even a vigorous hike Joe Hynek loves the solar bag he designed. The fabric incorporates tiny solar panels, which can collect enough electricity from sunlight to charge a cell phone or an MP3 digital-music player while you're on the go. But as cool as the bag is, Hynek won't wear it. His prototype looks like a purse. "It takes a lot of confidence for a guy [to carry it]," says the Iowa State University PhD engineering student. But that's not stopping Hynek from peddling the purse to women. With his female friends ogling his solar purse, Hynek plans to start selling the bag, as well as a Chinese-style hat outfitted with solar panels (cables at its back go down to your jacket pocket, to power that MP3 player), within a year. He hopes to sell both for less than $300. He dreams of producing a line of fashionable purses that come in variety of sizes and colors. Perhaps, he says, he'll create a model for men, too, so they'll be covered on those days when they forget to charge their cell phone the night before. PENTAGON-TESTED. That's a headache familiar to most consumers, so it's no wonder that Hynek is far from alone in his pursuit of the portable alternative-energy market. The ideas various entrepreneurs are pushing range from the practical to the sublime, including a solar-powered camping tent, a backpack that produces electricity as you walk, and a wind-up charger for cell phones (see "Charging Up on the Go"). Much of this gear has already been tested by the Defense Dept., which has given out millions of dollars worth of grants to these alternative-energy startups. Now the consumer market is getting juiced up. The first portable consumer products are selling well amid rising electricity costs and concerns over reliability of the country's power grid -- and that's before you take the effects of Hurricane Katrina into account. "We expect our sales to reflect the rising price of oil and [the aftershocks of] Katrina," says Rory Stear, CEO of London-based Freeplay Energy, which makes wind-up chargers and foot generators for everything from cell phones to boats. "Alternative energy is hot." Of course, solar-powered calculators have been around a long time. But thanks to recent advances in nanotechnology and materials science, engineers have been able to develop portable energy sources that pack a powerful punch in a tiny package -- and at a price that's attracting consumer interest. These new products can charge devices much more electricity-thirsty than a calculator, such as cell phones, personal digital assistants, and even laptops. SOLAR UPHOLSTERY. Another important advance has been the newfound flexibility of solar cells, which used to be rigid and highly breakable. Startup Konarka, based in Lowell, Mass., uses nano-engineered materials to create flexible plastic solar cells that can be sprayed or printed onto a surface. That allows for a myriad of new applications. Konarka has already developed a solar charger about the size of a deck of cards that can unfold and charge laptops even from indoor lighting. Better yet, the charging happens at the same speed as if the device were plugged into a wall socket. In June, Konarka began collaborating with Germany's Leonhard Kurz, which prints foils for household items ranging from electronics to furniture. The two companies have yet to announce specific products. The possibilities are limitless: This solar plastic, which can be printed in different colors (the Army recently ordered a camouflage-patterned version), can be used to upholster a tent or to create a solar coating for a cell phone. Because it's easily printed, the material should cost two to three times less than other types of solar cells when it becomes available, says Daniel McGahn, chief marketing officer at Kanarka, which remains mum on exact dates for product rollouts. VCs LINE UP. With so many opportunities, investors are seeing green -- startups say they're having an easier time raising money than in the past. In May, Konarka secured $7 million in venture financing from Lighthouse Capital Partners. And Freeplay went public on the London Stock Exchange in February, reaching a market cap of about $20 million. Sales of Freeplay's newest products, recently introduced in the U.S., have been doubling each week, says CEO Stear. Some companies are having to boost production to meet rising demand. Today, Iowa Thin Film Technologies sells all the flexible solar panels it can make, says Chief Operating Officer Michael Coon. It's raising money to build a new plant that would, each year, manufacture solar panels capable of producing 30 megawatts of electricity. While it disclose its current capacity, the addition will be "a major expansion." Iowa Thin Film's solar film has been used to power everything from watches to Army tents to Hynek's purse. The beauty of this film is that it can be integrated into fabric. And it's so durable, solar panels made of it can function even when studded with bullet holes, says Coon. A LIGHTER LOAD. In the future, Iowa Thin Film's customers might also use its products to power so-called smart cards, which can be scanned from a distance at toll booths and other locations. One potential application might be bank cards that feature a display showing your current account balance when you take the card out of your pocket and expose it to light. Encouraged by commercial and investor interest, more university researchers are starting companies, hoping to revolutionize alternative-energy charging devices. "We're at the beginning of development of these technologies," says Ron Pernick, co-founder of alternative-energy forecaster and researcher Clean Edge in Portland, Ore. Take Larry Rome, professor of biology at the University of Pennsylvania. He just formed Lightning Packs, which within a year or two will start selling special backpacks that generate electricity as you walk. The backpack's load is suspended from the frame on springs. So as your hip moves up and down (from five to seven inches), the load rises and falls. The mechanical energy generated when a backpacker carries 80 pounds of gear -- a standard Army load -- at four miles an hour is enough to charge a cell phone, a global positioning system, and a night-vision device, says Rome. SELF-CHARGING NEXT? "In theory, you can throw away all your batteries," Rome says. That would be a welcome change for soldiers who, on average, carry 20 pounds in batteries alone. When made available commercially, Rome says his backpack will only weigh two to three pounds more than your average, five-pound pack. One way or another, researchers want "to get to the point where that iPod or that cell phone just charges itself," says Mark Bryden, associate professor of engineering at Iowa State University who has been supervising Hynek's solar-purse work. Judging by the number of products about to hit the market, that time may be drawing near.  By Olga Kharif in Portland, Ore.
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