Solar Technology Supercharger Review

Typical price:

£20

We like:

That it's weatherproof; that it charges the Freeloader battery incredibly fast; how easily it attaches to bags

We don't like:

That the USB cables and battery still aren't weatherproof; the Freeloader's flaws

SmartPlanet judgement:

Combined with the Freeloader solar charger, this solar panel makes the prospect of running your gadgets off the sun into a reality. While the Freeloader works fine on its own, its small solar panels and lack of weatherproofing means you wouldn't want to rely on it for power. The Supercharger fixes both of those problems.

Score:

Contact:

Nice Car Company at http://www.solartechnology.co.uk/
Telephone: +44 (0)1684 774 000

We love solar-powered chargers. These portable gadgets, such as the Freeloader, Solio Magnesium edition and more, offer us free, green electricity whether we're on a Cornish beach or in the back garden. What's not to like? Well, in the UK, our main gripe is speed, since there are so few hours of good sunlight in a day. Because these chargers are designed to be pocket-friendly, most of them have small solar panels and often take more than a day to power up from the sun.

Enter the Supercharger. Available in lurid green or shocking pink, it's a solar panel accessory that plugs into the Freeloader and theoretically halves the time it takes to charge the Freeloader's battery. How so? Simple -- it has larger solar panels. Where the Freeloader is rated at 0.66 watts peak (the potential power of its panels), the Supercharger clocks in at twice the power with 1.5 watts peak.

The official spec says the panel should fill the Freeloader battery to full in just four hours. Once full, the battery can then power an iPod for 18 hours or a mobile phone for 44 hours, though obviously that depends on the model.

As we've pointed out in our Freeloader review, the lack of a charge indicator on the Freeloader battery means it's impossible to see how much juice it has inside. Still, even without an indicator for carrying out accurate tests, our experience is that the Supercharger charges the battery much faster than the Freeloader's standard solar panels. After a weekend of charging, we had enough power in the battery to power up two Nokia N-Series phones from half full to full, and a 5.5G iPod from three-quarters full to full.

The Supercharger also lives up to its claims of being weatherproof. By weatherproof we mean it can hack the rain but won't thank you for being submerged in a bath. To test it out, we left our Supercharger on the SmartPlanet balcony for a weekend and it survived a day of unseasonal snow. Surprisingly, the battery -- which isn't deemed weatherproof -- lived to tell the tale, too, by being hidden underneath the panel.

Handily, the solar panel is also easy to attach to your existing backpack, bicycle panniers or, for that matter, any other bag big enough to take it. Built into the fabric are two crocodile clips that grip surprisingly firmly, plus a versatile Velcro strap that you can hoop onto a bag's straps or carry-handles.

We've given the Supercharger a higher green score than the Freeloader because its zippier charging time means, for much of the year, you'll be able to run gadgets without fossil fuels. Without this accessory, the Freeloader is only really practical for occasional use.

The main practical bummer to the Supercharger is the lack of weatherproofing on the Freeloader battery and the cable that connects the pair. Generally, we've found ways round this -- slipping the battery and cable inside a bag and clipping the Supercharger on the outside, for example -- but it's still a drag that the whole 'system' isn't weatherproof.

Ethics are reasonable rather than spectacularly good or bad. The Supercharger's made in China in a factory that's a member of the Sedex scheme. That means its factories set labour condition goals for themselves and let independent auditors check how well they're doing. In other words, it's a welcome self-assessment but shouldn't be taken as a guarantee of good wages or working conditions. Freeloader's UK team also visit the factory twice a year to inspect standards.

If you're in the market for a solar charger for your gadgets, this is one of the most powerful options you can buy. Check it out in combination with the Freeloader. The cheapest way we've seen to get both is to buy a £50 bundle pack called the Globetrotter, which nets you the Freeloader, Supercharger and a useful waterproof case for the Freeloader's battery.

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Read more reviews of green and ethical products at www.smartplanet.com