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FRIDAY 03 JULY, 2009 |

The Solar Vest

Mark Twain said that clothes make the man and one wonders what he would have made of the solar vest.

Touted as a "fusion of fashion and technology", the vest may be a solar gadget geek's dream. According to the manufacturer, the solar vest allows you to keep your cell phone, portable media player and other portable electronics fully powered while you are working outdoors.

The canvas CVFR-S09 Solar Vest comes with large storage pockets for holding tools or camera equipment and includes a battery pack plus cables and connectors. The vest has 4 laminated solar panels and the panels are also detachable.

While the description for the solar vest says you can use it to recharge your laptop; given the total capacity of the panels is 6 watts, depending on the type of notebook, it would take between 5 to 10 hours of exposure in order to generate enough power for one hour of use. However, it would probably work quite for smaller electronics with lesser power requirements.

The solar vest comes with an 8,800mAh battery pack with indicators showing charge level. Inputs and ports include an AC input port, USB power input and 2 DC power outputs. It offers all sorts of connectors for a range of gadgets and provides 5V, 6V, 9V and 12-20V power output.

According to China Invasion, a store selling the vests, an added feature is: "..in case your friends think this is only an ultra-fashionable vest, the words "SOLAR VEST" in big stitched lettering on the back let them know this is really a high-tech solar battery."

Yes, they do ship to Australia. Be the first on your street to get one and remember while wearing it to always walk with the sun to your back.