The next time you head out to the beach to get a little bit of tan, why not bring the Scosche solBAT II with you? It won't be able to massage your entire back with suntan lotion, but it is able to keep itself juiced up simply by basking under the sun, thanks to its built-in solar panel. The solBAT II improves on its predecessor by charging devices at a much faster rate, and can be mounted onto a window using suction cups (a clip is included just in case you want to hook it up to other places). Needless to say, while solar charging is an option, hooking it up to a USB port is a much faster method. The solBAT II will retail for $30 a pop.

Looking for a small solar-charger for your next camping trip? Well, this solar powered charger case might be just what you’ve been looking for. It’s small enough to not be obtrusive in your bag, and can keep a bunch of your favorite toys juiced, including cell phones, MP3 players and compact digital cameras. With its built-in 2500mAh lithium battery, it’ll offer you up to 100 minutes of cell phone talk time after a 1-hour charge. In case you’re in some place that you won’t be able to see the sun, you could always hook it up to the wall for an AC charge. For $32.99, you get the solar charger, a USB cable and a bunch of connectors to hook into an outlet with 10 different adapters for cell phones. Will it become your new camping companion?

Honda has started to operate its next generation solar hydrogen station prototype at the Los Angeles Center of Honda R&D America. Meant to be a single, integrated unit which can be installed in any garage, the Honda Solar Hydrogen Station might be much smaller than its predecessor, while being capable of producing enough hydrogen (0.5kg) through an 8-hour overnight fill which is enough for the average daily commute (roughly 10,000 miles annually) for each fuel cell electric vehicle. This allows you to refill your vehicle overnight without having to worry about hydrogen storage, resulting in lower CO2 emissions since you take advantage of the more affordable off-peak electrical power rates, while daytime charging is done through the use of solar power.

With so many young people these days listening to their iPods at very loud levels, it won't come as a surprise that many years from now, these same once-young people will have a diminished sense of hearing, which is why the market for hearing aids has plenty of room to grow. How about being more eco-friendly in the future as well by starting today with the Solar Ear? This is the first solar-powered hearing aid rechargeable charger in the world, featuring a couple of rechargeable Ni-Mh AA batteries that take up to 8 hours of direct sunlight to charge. When fully juiced up, just place the hearing aid batteries inside and you're good to go. The unit’s batteries are touted to have a lifespan of 2 to 3 years, which is the equivalent of 300 charges.

Apple has filed a patent application for a portable device in the line of an iPod or iPhone which will feature solar cells that can harness the power of the sun to keep it juiced up so that you can make that extra phone call to close the multi-million dollar deal that you've long gone after. The system is also capable of monitoring the current battery state to decide whether it needs some recharging or not. The solar cells' position can be flexible, being placed on the front as well as back so that it will have a larger surface area to harvest more potential power. Could this feature be included in the new iPod or iPhone sometime down the road?

If your dog can pull you along on a sled, then chances are you've got a green mode of transport although picking up after its poop could prove to be on tedious affair especially when you are on a long trip. The DIY Solar Dog Charger prototype by Erik Schiegg makes the entire arrangement greener as it comes with a solar panel that is attached to a dog sweater. Hopefully your pooch won't overheat while wearing a sensor and walking under direct sunlight for long periods of time. Hopefully the solar panels are efficient enough to juice up your connected devices within a short period of time, while you and Fido get a really good workout instead of staying at home and binging on chips and video games.

[CES 2010] Too lazy to make a camp fire so that everyone can sit around it while sharing ghost stories? The Energizer Solar Folding Lantern will come in handy then, as it can illuminate all around, albeit it does not give out heat like a standard fire would, rendering it useless to ward off nasty creatures if you're on Pandora at night. Good thing it can be powered by normal D-sized batteries as well as solar power as an alternative. Even better news would be ambient lighting being able to juice up the device as well - now how about that for being cutting edge. The next thing you know, this thing would even come with its own built-in wind mill in the future.

[CES 2010] Ah, when all else fails, at least you can always rely on good old crank power to juice up your device. Having said that, this isn't waterproof although we wish it was, as it would be perfect to bring on your camping trips. After all, should we survive from a nuclear fallout in the future with no sunlight in sight to power it, there is always the hand crank to keep it going. We hope to see future iterations that come in a more durable form factor as that's what a gadget on-the-go ought to be all about.

[CES 2010] Energizer and Duracell seem to have this thing going on at each CES, unveiling strikingly similar products simultaneously. This time round, we have the Solar Spot Light that offers you a waterproof and powerful flashlight for outdoor enthusiasts. It is lightweight enough to bring around without bogging you down, while boasting a solar panel on the side that allows it to juice up during the day. Guess if you're always up and about or live in a flood-prone area, this would be worth considering. Also, it looks rugged enough to clobber someone over the head - useful for knocking out uninvited guests.

[CES 2010] ioGear knows that green is in (can't you tell by their corporate color?), and their Solar Bluetooth hands-free car kit is pretty self-explanatory. It allows you to hook up with any Bluetooth-enabled device, letting you have both hands on the wheel without compromising on passenger safety. Just don't get into any heated arguments now lest you miss that divider right in front of you! It can support up to 2 handsets simultaneously, and you have a choice to mount it on your widshield or visor. A full charge offers between 11 and 13 hours of charge time, but we think you're better off charging this using a cigarette lighter outlet via microUSB than rely on the sun (unless you live in the desert, of course). Features include echo cancellation, noise reduction, Bluetooth 2.1 +EDR, dedicated volume and mute buttons. Available for $69.95 a pop, you might think twice about exposing its plastic parts to extreme heat since there is always a chance of it melting.

[CES 2010] Casio's bread and butter also includes making timepieces for folks all over the world, although they have failed to combat tardiness (as with any other watch manufacturer regardless of how expensive their timepieces are). Well, their latest effort would be the Edifice EQW-M1000DB-1 watch that will see action at the Innovations Design and Engineering Awards Showcase at CES 2010 next week. The 3D Chronograph EQW-M1000DB-1 will run off solar-powered, and is a radio-controlled watch with a dynamic, dual layer face design and moving disk-shaped indicator. Boasting a skeleton look to keep up with the times, you get a dual layer dial that looks as though part of the watch has been peeled back to expose the watch’s interior. You won't find yourself lagging behind time with others thanks to its Multi-Band 6 Solar Atomic timekeeping ability which results in self-charging, self-adjusting performance regardless of where you travel to. Such technology will adjust for leap years and daylight saving time without having you to think about it, making sure you arrive on time and in style. Each $450 pruchase also comes with a 24-hour countdown timer, tachymeter and world time for 29 cities for the discerning global traveler.

We're pretty sure that most of you who travel have luggage tags for easier identification, but somehow the idea of the Keystone Eco Tag solar charger does not sound that appealing to us. After all, how much time does your luggage spend under direct sunlight? Most of it will see it left in the hold of a plane or on a conveyor belt and vehicle trunk. Well, we're guessing that whatever sunlight it manages to register will be enough to power tiny compatible devices. It takes around four hours of direct sunlight to fully charge the luggage tag, but at least it helps you reduce your carbon footprint by a size. Expect the Keystone Eco Tag solar charger to ship next February for $35.

Iqua's BHS-603 SUN solar-powered Bluetooth headset is pretty self-explanatory - you will be able to carry out all of your conversations hands-free, with its battery offering up to 9 hours of non-stop chatting with a 200 hour standby time. Of couse, another advantage would be prolonging its in-between charge time thanks to an external solar panel which ups the juice levels by some bit each time it is exposed to the sun, working in a similar manner to the SolarVoice i908 Bluetooth headset we reviewed last month.

They say that a cockroach is able to live off the glue on the back of a postage stamp for months on end, making these critters one of the most durable species on earth to survive a nuclear fallout. Well, couple their natural hardiness with the idea of turning it into a mechanical pet, and you get a solar-powered cockroach, scurrying around while scaring the heck out of people whenever there is sunlight. $15 for a non-nocturnal cockroach to terrorize the office and home? We'll consider one for little Johnny this Christmas.