Following the introduction of generous government subsidies, solar panels are increasingly often to be found in the news
First up, and probably the weirdest item on the list, is the Tinyminds store at etsy.com – check out their solar powered Furby:
Apparently this Furby, costing a mere $90, came to pass because his owner decided to resurrect him when he stopped working. With features such as a mouth and eyes with “open earily”, who could resist for a present for a young child?
From the same shop, check out Trixie – who “first started life as a desk ornament… she was sweet and harmless… then the Zombi infection came and noone escaped”. Basically, it’s a terrifying doll which rocks from side to side using a small solar cell:
If using solar powered friends are your thing, an alternative is this skeleton-come-alarm-clock – probably something you’ll have already thought of from 724deal, which wobbles around when in direct sunlight:
So, strange characters aside, what else could you buy for a loved one which provides renewable energy for a useless purpose? A monkey who moves up and down a piece of string relying on the Sun’s rays alone could be just the thing, from technabob.com:
He is quite a cool stocking filler at just $20.42 – you build him yourself out of the miniature kit, so it’s quite a fun project for small kids or adults alike; you’d be bananas not to buy him.
So far, we’ve only covered relatively small gifts that can sit on your desk. For the more serious solar fans among you out there, the Odysseus from Aurora.aero is probably the world’s only aircraft entirely dependent on solar power.
The Odysseus was originally built as part of DARPA’s ‘Vulture’ initiative, which aimed to produce uninterrupted flight over a 5 year period. Sadly, it remained as a concept, but who knows if one day this will be seen in a sky near you?
From the crazy to the useful, solar powered plant pots are an idea that made it into reality – set them up along your garden path and not only will they hold your flowers during the day, but they’ll provide lighting at night, courtesy of pocket-lint.com:
Given that they only cost around $40 each, you can even splash out a few dollars extra for the changing color version in case they’re not already unusual enough to satisfy your no-carbon needs.
If you don’t have a garden, or you don’t want to fill it with what many may consider rather tacky plastic pots, and you hate getting into your car when it’s really hot outside – then try this instead from Sunshine Solar… it’s a fan which pumps the hot air out of your car with no need for batteries:
It’s the perfect solar gadget if you’re going to be at the mall all day, because you know it’ll never stop working.
The final option, is of course, to get solar panels for your home. This will cost you several thousand dollars, but it could be the best financial investment you ever make – after the system has paid itself off through reduced bill payments, you’ll be reducing your carbon emissions by 1,000kg per year whilst filling up your wallet!
