I know that designer bags and briefcases can be pricey, especially if they’re eco-chic. But this seems like a pretty elite item, no matter how handy.

This briefcase by OPTI-Solar will be available in the US later in 2008 for those with a spare $1500. The top half has an integrated solar panel, and the bottom half has Li-ION batteries to store collected energy. The briefcase can store up to 75 W and charge most any gadget, from phones to laptops to handhelds. I think it could be a great product for some New York business person who likes to lunch in a sunny park and collect Vitamin D and some electricity during their hour break (or, aHEM, a blogger who likes to work while sitting on sunny café patios…). But they’d have to be willing to lug around an 11 lbs. case that doesn’t actually hold any documents – it just LOOKS like a briefcase, I guess so that you don’t look like a dork carrying it around with your Armani suit? Hummm. I don’t know about you, but I like it when gadgets are multi-functional – like if this case could actually hold the gadgets you need to charge – but perhaps I’m being too demanding.

via TG Daily, BornRich

Comments (4)

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written by Christopher Reeve , June 16, 2008

Perhaps someone on a science experiment with no power plug for their laptop for miles about would find it handy, in which case maybe the funding agency would pay.

One general comment about the use of power and energy on this site. Power is a rate of energy that a power supply can deliver. Hence you store energy, not power! Energy is typically measured in J or kW hours.

thank you
written by Brian , June 16, 2008

to previous poster for pointing out the incorrect energy storage numbers. perhaps the suitcase can produce 75 W of power in peak sun exposure? I doubt it can get half of this though.

Another comment. I hate these sorts of products. They are NOT eco friendly. silicon based pv modules take a lot of energy to produce and I've heard that they take ~2 years on a roof to produce the energy consumed to manufacture them. Therefore, a product like this which is only sporadically in the sun will likely never produce the energy used to manufacture it.

Possible redeeming value
written by Nbdy Imprtnt , June 17, 2008

@Brian: this portable solar panel might take the place of a small gas generator (which would have an even higher manufacturing cost and energy demand) or a large number of disposable batteries. Either of these could help offset the manufacturing cost of the briefcase panel.

If anyone goes looking for this, it actually not from 'optisolar.com' (a thin-film solar cell company); rather, it's from 'opti-ups.com'. As I type this, the product is not listed on opti-ups.com's website, but here's a link to the product as shown at Computex: http://www.computex.biz/Headli...t_id=31234

www.opti-solar.com
written by opti , June 23, 2008

Product can be found at www.opti-solar.com

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