Solar Panel Trousers
Are those solar panels in your trousers or are you just pleased to see me? Because first in the list of Glad I didn’t get those for Christmas we have solar powered trousers. Oh yes.
For the low, low price of $920, you can own a pair of Go Urban Cargo Pants, which boasts “fly front, low-slung drawstring waist, and two back patch pockets with button down flaps” on the company’s website. But the main reason you might pay nearly $1,000 for a pair of trousers: “two side cargo pockets each comes with independently functioning power supply.”
This really quite disturbing ability to charge your MP3 players and mobile phones on the go can also be achieved with a really quite hideous looking hip-length jacket. Any of them can be topped up with extra solar panels at $20 each. A pdf of the technical specs and other assorted nonsense is here.
Screaming “rob me, I’m carrying expensive electronics” you’ve got to wonder what’ll happen the moment you have an absent-minded moment and put them in the washing machine.
“Solar panels do not produce constant power because sunlight illumination
varies, such as when cloud cover changes.”
Yes, they got that bit right. I can confirm it from my own observations and measurements. I will also say that anyone buying one of these garments needs their head examined. If the bloody things won’t work in Spain or Australia they have NO chance here…
Damn things certainly wouldn’t be working in Spain this week, I can assure you of that. Stupid, stupid idea. Which is why they deserve a post here on ASE 🙂
I’m left wondering if the trouser mounted units would attract bird shit in the same way that my fixed panel does?
That’s another cause of poor output. Since panels are made up from series strings of individual cells, it only takes an enterprising seagull (of which there are plenty round these parts) to drastically reduce the output…
“Maintenance Free” – Bollocks!!!