New solar backpack shines at budget price

Although there's hardly an abundance of sunshine right now, we do like the idea of this new £60 solar-powered backpack from Computer Supermarket.

The backpack has a small solar panel on the rear capturing the sunlight and the energy is then stored on an internal high capacity Li-ion battery for whenever you need it.

But it's on the price tag that this bag really shines, coming in at less than half that of Voltaic System's solar backpack and little more than standalone chargers such as the £50 Solio and Ethical Superstore's new solar juicer. 

The battery has different adaptors for a variety of gadgets such as mobile phones, iPods, laptops and cameras and, as it is possible to adjust the voltage output, it will work on almost any bit of electronic kit.

Ian Bird from Computer Supermarket points out an extra bonus for holiday-goers saying: ‘You can forget about lugging around different adaptors for different countries as the sun’s always up there.’

On rainy days the backpack battery can be charged off a standard mains socket and USB port, or you can, of course, just use it as an ordinary backpack.