Solio Mono Emergency Hybrid Solar Charger

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Manufacturer: Solio
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List Price: $59.95
Sale Price: $58.95
Availibility: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description

The family of Solio the Universal "Hybrid" Chargers, Solio Mono, Solio Classic, Solio Hybrid-1000, the Solio Magnesium, are powerful enough to charge all handheld electronic devices at home or on the move, anything, anytime, anywhere. It is a Hybrid because it can accept power from either the sun, a computer, or the wall storing this energy within Solio's internal rechargeable battery.

Solio uses this energy to power gadgets at the same rate as wall adaptors and will hold its charge for up to a year and is the only solar charger of its kind that has a long-lasting internal, high-capacity battery which may be removed at the end of it’s life-cycle – returned to Better Energy Systems for responsible disposal, and replacement.

Solio limits the need to purchase and carry around multiple chargers and is a one-stop charging solution for all hand-held electronic products from cell phones and iPods, iPhones, to digital cameras, game players, and GPS, and charges these products from a Solio, at the same rate as plugging them into the wall.

About Solio
The sun’s energy is so powerful that in just one hour the amount of energy that falls on the earth equals the amount used by he world’s population in one year’. This realization with the increased demand for portable power, inspired the leadership of Better Energy Systems to design the Solio – a hybrid solar charger for most small, portable, electronic gadgets. It was introduced at San Francisco’s MacWorld in 2005 where it won ‘Best of Show’.

Solio quickly caught the consumer’s imagination and interest because it combined convenience, easy to use renewable energy, with cutting-edge, award-winning design and engineering. Efficient solar cells, a high capacity, integrated lithium-ion battery, easy to remove and replace from its durable recyclable shell, and a sophisticated internal circuitry, with a variety of interchangeable tips, enables compatibility with current and future portable electronic devices including mobile phones, iPods, Iphones, PDA’s music players, digital cameras, GPS systems, etc.

With this combined value and appeal, the company continues to receive prestigious awards and acknowledgements for its family of four Solio models, and has now sold more solar systems than any other company in the world.

Product Details

  • High capacity internal battery stores energy for up to a year
  • Adapter Tip System reduces waste and increases compatibility
  • Rechargeable from included USB cable or the sun
  • A full Solio Mono will charge a typical mobile phone 1-1.5 times
  • Durable and weather resistant

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Customer Reviews

pretty darn handy!
 
Review Date: February 13, 2010
Reviewer: D. M. Prestage, Chicago, IL
It does tale kinda long to charge it, but I got it to charge in my car easy, in the winter even. Your windows need to be clean (it won't charge under half of my back window because of this), and your car needs to be in the direct sun, but even driving, in my boyfriend's hatchback, we clip it to the cracked window & it charges fine.

It's great for trips, where I know I'm going to burn out my battery on my smart phone, as an emergency back up.
Best if you live near the equator
 
Review Date: August 3, 2010
Reviewer: Merryl Gross, Boston, MA USA
I received my Solio Mono as a promotion from my local public radio station. My box came with: a hemp bag, instructions, carabiner, AC cable plus 4 changeable prongs, USB cable (for charging the Solio), charging cable that connects to the charge tips, and 4 tips: female USB, mini-USB, micro-USB, and a Sanyo 6 tip. There are additional tips available from Solio's website if none of these will work for you.

The micro-USB tip attaches directly to my phone, and I use the USB female tip to charge my iPod Touch via its USB cable. You can use it to charge anything that has a USB charging cable, so that's really handy. My AC adapter came with interchangeable prongs for the USA, Australia/NZ, UK/Europe, and those round prongs possibly used in Asia, which is really neat. I have a trip to NZ planned, and I'll take the Solio instead of my devices' respective charging paraphernalia. While this means I can charge only one device at a time, I can charge one device overnight while the device is plugged in (and charging itself too), then charge the other device during the day while it and the Solio are stowed in my backpack!

Note: you can't charge a laptop or any heavy power usage items with the Solio. It's designed for "personal electronics" like cellphones and MP3 players. It will work with digital cameras that can charge via USB, they say on their website.

The thing that loses Solio points is solar charging. I've owned it for 4 days and it charges very slowly using just the sun. I've had it outdoors on my sunny porch for a couple of days and it's only gotten one "tick" of charge. Now, I live in the Northeast US, and that spot gets direct sunlight only in the afternoon. Both days have been partially cloudy, but this seems sad. At this point I'm ready to ask for some sort of protective cover for the solar cell and just use it as a charger/spare battery! Solio claims it takes 20 hours to get a full charge, but unless you're under ideal conditions it's going to take much longer. So can't recommend that anyone count on it for seriously charging a device using only the sun. If that's your need, you should go for Solio Universal Hybrid Solar Charger, which is heavier but has 3 collectors instead of just 1.

So I like it as a travel charger and emergency battery. I don't think you can expect to reduce your energy use and count on getting any significant charging from the sun, unless you live in a sunnier clime and can keep it in stronger sunlight more of the day. You might get enough charge for an emergency call, or to keep a device topped off, so it's better than not having a solar collector, I guess. But if you have multiple devices that you travel with, and you'd like to have some spare charge and not carry all those different charge plugs, then this might be useful for you.
Charges too slowly to be useful
 
Review Date: September 11, 2009
Reviewer: Matt Anderson, Harrisonburg, VA USA
Before I bought this product, my expectation was a solar charger that could be clipped to a backpack or left in a car under the sun and maintain enough charge to top off a cellular phone battery once every few days. My expectation was not met. The device does not charge whatsoever when left inside a car, even under direct sunlight (perhaps the windows block too much UV light). It requires several hours of direct, uninterrupted sunlight to charge completely, which means leaving it outside unattended. In an urban setting, this is not realistic.

Since buying it a couple months ago, I have left it at home and not used it since.
all gimmick no bite.
 
Review Date: February 14, 2010
Reviewer: Brad Bose,
before you buy this product check on the charging time. In order to actually use it to solar charge you need to leave it in the direct sunlight for about 5 days!!! If you plug it in to a wall socket or computer to charge it takes about 4-5 hours.If you are planing to use it as a practical extra battery or solar charger don't waste your money. I live in california with direct sun all the time it charges terrible!!!!

Solio Mono Hybrid Universal Charger><br />
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