Sun-Powered Laptop Chargers

Netbooks and laptops continue to free workers from the restrictions of a traditional office, and the SolarGorilla Solar Charger takes this one step further by eliminating the need for electricity and access to electrical plugs entirely.

The SolarGorilla Solar Charger's water-resistant clamshell design opens up to two photovoltaic solar panels that plug into your laptop or netbook’s power socket; the set comes with an array of connectors, connector tips and even a car charger to ensure maximum compatibility with all of your juice-guzzling gadgets. An LED lets you see the strength of the charge you’re getting so you can shift your workspace configuration as needed.

With a retail price of $275 (incidentally, the SolarGorilla is on sale at the time of this writing for $249.85), this gadget isn’t necessarily a budget-friendly peripheral, but it is a small price to pay for free power. A piece in Monday’s Boston Herald discusses how coffee shop owners are increasingly restricting patrons’ access to electrical outlets to limit the time mobile workers camp out on the premises. Some independent coffee shops tape over the outlets; others turn off the breakers that power those areas entirely.

Pairing up a green electricity source like the SolarGorilla Solar Charger with a netbook amplifies an already-tiny PC’s portability even further. When combined with some of the other top gadgets for telecommuters that we’ve already featured, it’s plausible to have a fully functioning server with Internet access in the middle of the Sahara. At the very least, you’ll be able to stay productive far longer than the few hours your laptop battery would usually last—so long as you have access to abundant natural sunlight, that is.

Check out more images of the SolarGorilla Solar Charger above, and be sure to check out more netbook-focused features from our Samsung Resource Center to the right.