XPAL Solar Egg

Unlike many solar devices that require an abundance of intense sunlight to be useful, XPAL’s new Solar Egg does its thing even in “medium levels of natural light.” The magic SunBoost solar conversion technology is supplied by a company called Intivation from The Netherlands, a country that’s not exactly know for its tropical weather. XPAL claims that the internal 500mAh battery can be charged at over 90% capacity in just four hours of average sunlight exposure and can detect a “wide range of devices” like MP3 players and digital cameras to provide the appropriate level of power for charging. It’ll ship next month to select regions — where that is we can only guess for now.

XPAL AND INTIVATION LAUNCH WORLD’S FIRST HIGH
PERFORMANCE SOLAR CHARGER AT MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS
2010

BARCELONA, FEBRUARY 16, 2010 – XPAL and Intivation are launching the Solar
Egg, the world’s first high performance solar changer, at Mobile World Congress,
2010. The Solar Egg is based on XPAL’s outstanding battery expertise and Intivation’s
groundbreaking SunBoost solar conversion technology. Built by XPAL, with high
power consumption users in mind, the Solar Egg can reach over 90% battery charge
in just four hours of exposure during average charging conditions.

The charger is the first of its kind to recognise the power and convenience demands of consumers across the world and the challenges presented by less sunny places. Built to power a wide range of devices, from phones to MP3 players and digital cameras, the Solar Egg will reduce the need for multiple chargers and conveniently offer greater battery life.

“Solar power is a huge unrealised energy source particularly in the Western world which tends to have fewer hours of sunlight than developing markets,” says, Christian Scheder, President, XPAL, “As personal devices demand more energy and solar charging technology improves, we are making solar power available to more consumers and changing the way people world power their portable devices.”

Paul Naastepad, CEO, Intivation, added; “For years, people have been struggling to use solar chargers in the Western world with several issues. Either they simply don’t work with lower levels of sunlight, or they charge so slowly that it’s not worth it. Together with XPAL, we have developed a product that produces enough energy to power the numerous personal devices we all have today. The Solar Egg charges fully in four hours, in medium levels of natural light, and is compatible with the majority of consumer devices, bringing it one step closer to the
universal charger people want.”

The Solar Egg will be available in select regions from March, with further roll out expected globally later this year.

via engadget