Changers Offers Redeemable Credits For Charging Gadgets Via Solar Power

The market has no lack of solar chargers for small gadgets, such as smartphones and tablets, but they often take longer than a wall charger and are less convenient, needing full sunlight in most cases. Such negatives aren't much incentive for gadget owners to go green, but the startup Changers hopes to change that. Those who use the company's solar charger will earn credits that can be redeemed for goods.

The company, which offers a few different solar charging-based products, hawks a small 4-watt solar panel, battery, and charger that work in conjunction with small devices to provide power straight from the sun above. The device itself, featured above, has a clean design, and simplifies the process of utilizing a solar panel sans any wiring or tweaking.

When using the Changers solar charging kit, one collects charging data that can be uploaded to Changers' website, being converted from charging data to credits for redemption with retailers who have partnered with the startup. For every one watt-hour of charging, the owner will score one redeemable credit.

Using the solar charging kit, one could expect — with full sunlight — to charge a smartphone once or twice, depending on needs, using the battery, which takes approximately 5 hours to charge back up. At the end of the day, the goal is to give consumers a bit of incentive to be more environmentally friendly — whether it'll work is yet to be seen.

SOURCE: Forbes