Last Christmas (or maybe the one before…can’t remember), Tim received a portable solar panel. You should have seen the look on his face when he opened it. While it wasn’t a large solar panel, it was a solar panel none the less. Specifically, he received a Solio Rocsta portable solar panel which costs around $80. It is designed to charge your small portable devices when you are on the go. The unit came with a several different adapters so that it could connect to popular portable devices.

The solar panel charges a battery which in turn charges the portable device. It is designed to to hook on backpacks and other bags so that it can be charging the battery while you are out and about. When we had the terrible storms come through in April and we were without power for 6 days, we used the charger to keep one of our phones and our iPad running. I had honestly never paid attention to this device before last month, but when Tim broke it out to charge our phones, I was overjoyed. It was so very cool to keep our phones running courtesy of the sun.

There are several other options out there for portable solar power. The device Tim had was small but companies also make larger portable solar panels that are great for camping or other outdoor uses.While installing solar panels on your roof may still be too pricey for most of us to consider, there are ways to start letting the sunshine do a bit of work for you. So exciting!

Disclosure: I am participating in a blogger campaign and was compensated. However, the opinions expressed here are strictly my own.