If the roof of your house is not equipped with solar panels yet, what prevents you from wearing them on yourself? Since all the gadgets are mobile, it is time to learn how to produce energy directly from the environment, and more specifically, from our eternal energy source – the sun. This is the principle SolSol project is based on. Photovoltaic panels have appeared on garments, mainly on jackets, coats and even on headwear with the help of Kickstarter and Indiegogo startups.
“The first sign” of the trend was the baseball cap, presented by the development team from Los Angeles. It is much heavier compared with its classic prototype, but it provides clean and – what is more, important for many – free electricity.
Of course, it is wonderful and very practical, but, unfortunately, the “baseball cap” project has certain disadvantages. Firstly, the “cap” does not contain a battery, which could accumulate the charge. However, it is not difficult to explain: silicon solar cells produce extra weight, and if the battery is connected to them, one would need an iron head to carry such a load for a long time.
Secondly, the very process of charging the smartphone will put a cap owner in a rather awkward position. He will have to either remove the cap and place it in the sun until the smartphone is charged, or walk with a cable hanging from it. However, the public is already used to wires hanging from the ears, so why can’t they hang from the cap?
According to the developers, the cap will have to stay in the sun for at least an hour before the smartphone charges at least 200 mA/h. So, their main focus is to ensure that the charge can be sped up as much as possible.
The pluses of the baseball cap with integrated solar panels include the fact that it only uses the most stylish and fashionable cap models. The price of this gadget is about $56.
