Lighten up

Bright prospects for solar gadgets Seen it all? Solar powered calculators are so last century. And solar mobile chargers spilled out of last year’s Christmas stockings. But what about a handbag that helps you find your keys in its dark recesses? Smart thinking - embodied in the Sun Trap, designed by Brunel University student Rosanna Kilfidder. A solar cell on the outside charges up its battery, which makes the electroluminescent lining light up when you open the zip. No more frustrating rummaging on the doorstep for the enviable owners of Suntrap Handbags! And it even doubles as... an emergency phone charger! At this rate there could be a gap in the market for a whole version of the Innovations catalogue given over exclusively to solar goodies. How long can it be till we can send off for solar powered:

• purses, whose insides shed light on your change
• hats which, when the heat kicks in, power a head-mounted fan
• t-shirts, whose batteries light up the smug slogan “I’ve been on the beach all day”
• PlayStations, storing just two hours’ worth of play time before demanding a recharge that’s only obtainable out of doors. A parent’s dream?

Roger East

18 November 2005

Roger East