Tag: solar

A totally solar-powered server. The conclusion.

I’ll be straight with you. I’ve had a long career in IT. I’ve done some proper geeky things in my time, including having an old server in my garage running VMware. That means that I can run a stack of machines, test things out and generally be a …

Random strange shed project. Day 4

OK, a quick update on this geeky shed insanity then. Basically, I grabbed an old solar charger and wanted to know if there was enough daylight coming through my shed window to keep an Android phone alive constantly. I’ve detailed the various stages in Day 1, Day 2 …

Random strange shed project. Day 3

A man’s shed should never be questioned. My “man den” was originally supposed to be the garage, but that’s filled with all manner of stuff and I struggle to even walk through it at times. Apparently we “need” everything in there, even though I don’t know what half …

Random strange shed project. Day 2

I didn’t have a great deal of time last night so here’s a very quick update on the weird solar-powered shed / phone project. If you read the first post then you’ll know that I basically want to create some sort of home server which isn’t powered by …

Random strange shed project. Day 1

Publishing this in the middle of IFA is just insane really. If I was one of those click-bait websites, I’d add this to the site at some point in the next couple of weeks, but.. Nah, can’t be bothered. So, off the back of my rather epic ultra-cheap …

HTC U11 now in solar red

HTC has just reached out to us to give the news their flagship device; the HTC U11 is now available in a brand new ‘Solar Red’ colour, and it is available from today. The HTC U11 has some great standout features, from the DxOMark-leading camera to the unique ‘squeeze’ …

OxyLED SL07 Solar Sensor Light – Review

Well now, I’ve got me an LED light which fits on the wall and shines when you walk past it in the dark. It charges via the sun and has a solar panel on the top. On the current US Amazon listing it’s $16.99. First up, it’s waterproof, …

Archeer Solar Charger – Review

Doing a review of a solar charging system at this time of year isn’t perhaps my wisest decision, especially not here in the UK on a cold and wet November day. It’s going to be dark by 4PM, but I’ve got a solar charging device from Archeer. This …

Koopower Solar Fairy Lights – Review

KooPower have been in touch again and, following on from the wireless doorbell we reviewed, we now have 12 metres of LED fairy lights. Now, I’ve had these in the back garden for quite a while as I honestly thought that they wouldn’t work. Why? Well, solar powered …

Super solar smartphone spark solution

We’ve all seen those portable chargers. You boost them up from your wall charger, put them in your pocket and then you can transfer the charge to your smartphone to keep those much-needed tweets and Facebook updates rolling in. However, if you stick a solar charger onto one …

Give your garden some colour – the new MiPOW Playbulb Garden

Our garden was OK until we realised that the previous owner had decided to fill in an old pond pretty badly. Over the years it’s developed into the Himalayas and I’ll probably need to get someone to roll over it with something. I’m no gardening expert, but I …

Harness the power of the sun via your smartphone

The press release on this one starts off with quite a positive vibe… In case you hadn’t heard, it’s currently hotter than Barbados outside Well, yes. According to the news this morning it is, but I’d still rather be in Barbados. Never mind though, you’ve got my attention …

Rugged rukus – Solar powered Bluetooth music

A Bluetooth speaker powered by the sun? That sounds pretty cool. The makers tell us that 5 hours of sunshine will keep the battery going for 8 hours too, so when the sun goes down you can still listen to that classic Rick Astley tune. OK, at £89.99 …

Solar Charger app pokes fun at those daft enough to believe

Browsing around the Android Market Google Play last night, I couldn’t help but notice this Solar Charger app. It’s had hundreds of thousands of downloads and converts your screen into a solar panel. Magic eh? Well yes. It’s actually more of a trick really. The app doesn’t actually …