The Littlest Utility

Bits and Pieces: The Solar Power Pack that can be carried in a backpack has provided energy to light the deck of a Caribbean dive boat, sterilize drinking water in India and power the laptop computers of students travelling in Africa.

June/July 2001
By Monica J. Smith 
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Since its debut last January, a $549 utility that can be carried in a backpack has provided energy to light the deck of a Caribbean dive boat, sterilize drinking water in India and power the laptop computers of students travelling in Africa. A handy gizmo, undoubtedly - but its inventor Toby Kincaid believes the Solar Power Pack's most important role could be that of economic equalizer. "Right now the entire industrialized world treats energy like a commodity," Kincaid says. "If you need energy, you have to buy it from a provider. What's beautiful about solar and wind technology is that once you purchase it, you're done."

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The Solar Power pack contains a folding solar panel, a DC plug for 12-volt appliances and a 300-watt inverter. After six hours of exposure to peak-hour sunlight, the pack can provide 120 watt-hours of energy. This will run a 30-watt laptop computer for three or four hours, or an 8-watt lamp (included with the power pack) for 14 hours. It is also enough to jumpstart a car engine, which is why the pack includes jumper cables.

Perhaps most significantly, the go-anywhere utility can provide enough power to run an ultraviolet water sterilizer. "Water quality is one of the first things that gets compromised," says Kincaid, when an area is subject to man-made or natural disasters.

Kincaid came up with the idea of the pint-sized power unit when he was travelling in the Maldives, an island nation that relies upon diesel generators for power and hosts a dumping ground graveyard of spent batteries. In order for the people of this remote area and others like it to achieve a level of 21st-century well-being, Kincaid reasoned that they would need a non-polluting power supply. "This can let people in remote places live like we live, but independently and without toxicity." For more information, visit www.solardyne.com .

-Monica J. Smith

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