Green Daily

Backpacks and messenger bags with a few solar panels for charging your gadgets are nothing new. But Voltaic Systems has announced the first bag I'm aware of that can pump out 14.7 watts of energy, which should be enough juice to power a laptop.

Voltaic's new Generator bag needs to be exposed to sunlight for about a day to build up enough of a charge to pump that kind of power. So while this might be a great job for a camping expedition or a tropical vacation, don't expect it to provide you with enough electricity to run your computer on a daily basis unless you spend a lot of time outside.

The bag comes with a laptop plug and adapters for cellphones, USB devices and a car charger. No, that doesn't mean you can use the bag to recharge your car battery. Rather, the bag has its own battery which stores reserve electricity. If you need more juice than you can gather from the sun's rays, you can use that battery charger to help fill up your battery pack.

The Generator will be available this spring for $599. Yep, the bag costs more than the laptop you'll likely be carrying around in it, but nobody ever said it was easy being green. And just think of the pennies you'll save on your electric bill!

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