As a modern (read: green) road warrior I find my electronics are often in need of some juice but I have no place to charge them. Enter the Power Monkey Explorer. ThePower Monkey Exploreris a combination of two devices: a solar panel and a rechargeable battery. [caption id=”attachment_203” align=”aligncenter” width=”450” caption=”Using the solar panel directly with my cell phone at WWDC 2008.”][/caption]

The solar panel is about the size of an iPod Touch. Via a suite of dongles that come with it you can plug this solar panel into just about any cell phone, mp3 player, or other small electronic devices that needs charging. But what about those times I don’t find myself in the reach of sun light, I am, after all a programer and prefer the blueiridescentglow of the computer screen. This is where thePower Monkey Explorer’s rechargeable (weather proof) battery comes in. You can plug the solar panel into this, charge it up, and then use the juice whenever you need. The single best part of thePower Monkey Explorer is that it eliminated four chargers I need to take with me when I travel. ThePower Monkey Explorer is a rugged device and I plan on taking it with me on all my future travels. [caption id=”attachment_204” align=”aligncenter” width=”400” caption=”Charging the battery on a quick flight.”][/caption]