Solar Technology Freeloader Review
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If you own a mobile phone or an iPod -- or more likely, both -- chances are you've been in a situation where a solar charger would've been welcome. So far, though, the price of solar power may have been putting you off. The Solio typically costs £60 and solar backpacks from the likes of Reware or Voltaic Systems typically cost £100+, while the Freeloader costs just £23 if you shop around online.
The concept's simple. The folded-up charger opens into two teeny solar panels that you attach to a battery in the middle. Stick it on a window sill in the sun or, even better, outside, and it'll start converting the sun's light into electricity.
The Freeloader's makers claim the battery can top up to full in five hours, but we found in winter sun behind a window it took more like eight to nine hours to power up around half-full. Still, that was enough to bump a 5.5G iPod battery from half- to fully-charged in the evening. Generally, we were impressed with how much electricity the Freeloader generated, even in gloomy conditions.
The folded-up Freeloader opens into two teeny solar panels
Obviously, powering via the sun is the greenest option, but the other road you can take is to power up using a computer. Just plug in the supplied USB cable and you can top the battery to full in three hours, creating a handy source of power for most nearby gadgets.
This solar lovely comes with a decent bunch of adapters for most phone names (Nokia, Samsung, Moto), plus games consoles like the PSP and DS, as well as anything that charges via USB, like an iPod. See here for a full list of adapters.
Although sod's law says you won't have the Freeloader on you when you most need it, the charger is fairly portable. It's about the size of an old-fashioned chunky phone like the Sony Ericsson P990i, but is surprisingly light and pocket-friendly at just 185g.
We do have a few gripes. The biggie is that you can't see how much charge is stored -- there are no indicator lights or display screens, so you just have to guess. The design of the Freeloader is also no match for its gorgeous rival, the Solio, and assembling and packing away the solar panels can be a bit fiddly. For storage, you have to snap the two panels together, then insert them into the battery.
Last but not least, there's the eco impact of the battery, which like any rechargeable has a shelf life. In this case, about two years of typical use, at which point you'll need to buy a new one (£13) and recycle the old one. For recycling, you can post the battery to Solar Technology or use your local recycling centre.
The Freeloader is -- as you'd expect -- made in China. The factory is a Sedex member, which means factories and companies set themselves labour condition goals and let independent auditors check how well they're doing on those goals. In other words, it's a self-assessment and shouldn't be taken as a guarantee of good wages or working conditions. On the plus side, Freeloader's UK team do visit the factory twice a year to inspect standards.
Despite these flaws, the Freeloader is hard to dislike simply because it's so cheap. If you can't bring yourself to buy the pink version -- whose garish hue we find oddly charming -- there's also a discrete silver edition. You can buy yours directly from Solar Technology or through other online eco stores -- we got ours from Natural Collection.
Quality
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