Solar power represents mankind's best bet for an alternative, renewable power source, and this is the reason why solar-powered devices have become extremely popular over the past few years. That and the fact that they are charged completely free of charge and in an eco-friendly manner. And one such item is the Universal Solar Power with USB, presented by the people over at USBGeek since the second half of 2007, a charger that works with a very wide variety of portable devices.



Thus, the device is capable of charging just about any portable electronic product the user might think of, as for example cell phones, PDAs, MP3/MP4 players and more. And since we've listed cell phones among the device's possible "targets", it's also worth mentioning the fact that the Universal Solar Power with USB works with some of the most popular cell phone brands around, namely SonyEricsson, Nokia, Samsung, Motorola ... etc.



Basically, this device is a rechargeable charger, which features an 1800mAh internal battery. However, it allows users to recharge the battery in 2 ways: either by using a normal AC adapter (takes around 2 to 3 hours for a complete recharge) or by using the included solar panel, which requires around 10 to 14 hours for a full recharge, depending on the intensity of the sunlight (the photocell can provide a maximum power level of around 0.77W).



The charger also sports a built-in LED torch, powered directly by its battery, and has a power output of 5.6V, 600mA. Moreover, it can be carried around quite easily, as it measures 120 mm x 72 mm x 15.5 mm, at a weight of around 107 grams.



The Universal Solar Power with USB is available for around 37 US dollars, which is quite an OK price to pay for such a device, taking into consideration just how useful it might prove to be when there's no other source of power available at hand.