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I have good results with Brunton Solar

There is a wide variety of sizes and shapes and Brunton has a pretty good rep.

Adding the benefit of non-flamable base compund?
Wait a minute... Paraffine/wax does not burn without a wick either and as such are safer than alcohol burners or gas containers for camping.

White gas liquid fuel stove:
http://www.brunton.com/product.php?id=619

More on fuel types:
http://stovecollector.tripod.com/fuel_types.htm

http://www.brunton.com/product.php?id=256 "Editors' Top Product Picks 2004"--Outdoor Photographer "...this solar charger may end your battery woes for good." --Backpacker Magazine "If you can't bear to leave your gadgets behind, pack this waterproof solar panel to power them. It rolls up like a poster and charges like a cigarette lighter."--Newsweek "A boon for off-the-grid campers, the 18-ounce, 57-inch-long Brunton SolarRoll 14 can harvest enough solar energy to power a mobile phone or laptop-or even recharge your car battery. --Men's Journal "Drape it over a tent in full sun and the 12-by-57-inch Brunton SolarRoll 14 will power a sat phone, GPS or laptop-it'll even recharge a dead car battery in a lonely corner of Death Valley. Best of all, the 19.5-ounce solar panel and adapter plugs can be rolled up and tucked away in a foot-long, three-inch-diameter tube that'll slip covertly into your pack or kayak." --Outside Magazine "Gear Of The Year"- "Brunton's new line is a genuine breakthrough...Brunton, a company renowned among outdoor types for first-rate optics,personal navigation, and (especially) camping gear, has now pioneered a line of portable power equipment that can generate, store, and convert electricity so many of us opt to use in our hunting pursuits. This line is so ingeniously conceived and versatile in scope it can keep the power on for anything from teeny AAA batteries to sat phones to portable ice chests (and even my ravenous laptop)." --American Hunter "Now you can be a day's horseback ride or a ten-mile hike from civilization and still have power."--Sports Afield "The need to recharge batteries is a serious issue for expeditioners and other see-you-in-a-month travelers. The best of the several solar chargers available is the Brunton SolarRoll. It cranks out (surprise!) 14 watts, which is enough to run a small device (camera, ipod) or chargea large one (laptop, car battery). What really distinguishes it, though, is the way it can be stored - in a tube. Unfurled, the Brunton is one by five feet; rolled up, it's a three-inch thick burrito. It weighs just over a pound." --National Geographic Adventure

http://www.brunton.com/product.php?id=256

> Backed by glowing reviews in every major magazine and newspaper in this country and others, the SolarRoll has officially taken its place as one of our most talked about products.

It seems the best of these ($399) will satisfy the great-grandparent post's need for 20 W (well, assuming that he can get close enough to its maximum output of 25 W). And, for only $150, he can get one that will extend his battery life as he's requested, with a maximum output of 15W. Of course, the cheaper one's not flexible, but it's not as big (in surface area), either.

It seems the best of these ($399) will satisfy the great-grandparent post's need for 20 W (well, assuming that he can get close enough to its maximum output of 25 W). And, for only $150, he can get one that will extend his battery life as he's requested, with a maximum output of 15W. Of course, the cheaper one's not flexible, but it's not as big (in surface area), either.

That's already available with current technology. It would be nice if a better material could bring down the cost or increase the power of these units.

Dang. I DID think of Hokey Spokes about 18 months ago when a friend was describing adverts on the walls of the Tokyo subway as you fly past. I was bicycling to work everday, and the thought sprung immediately to mind. Once again, I didn't act on my incredible intelligence. So, I guess I'll have to ask for them for Christmas.

In the meantime, I want a DraganFlyer III R/C helicopter with wireless video and a Brunton Pocket Transit (100 year old high tech). I will be getting a Dell Axim X5 for my b-day on Friday.

My wife and I keep discussing the "no-gift" idea, but the grandparents always foil our best efforts...

Man, it's BRUNTON, not Burton...

Here's a page with a listing of 'em...
http://www.egeology.com/brunsolpow.html

However, I think the Unisolar flexible "panels" are the best plan, and they can put out one hell of a wollop, for a "tie it to the backpack so charging's going on while we're walking" solution...
Note that the middle-sized one will wrap 'round a backpack nicely, and it's got the internal diodes so it doesn't matter if it's partially shaded ( like by one's sleeping-roll, or something )...
Dig these people: they've got 'em, and prices, too - $148 for the 11-watt version! ( that's the middle one, I'd mentioned )...
http://www.e-marine-inc.com/products/solar_panels/ flex.html

*sigh*

Brunton are professional dolts:
Their site requires scripting, or you can't navigate the thing sanely, and
their little rigid solar-panels are aimed at the yuppie crowd ( rigid, corporate dinky-toy look, anemic ), and
they appear to not bother keeping up with the ones who really innovate...
http://www.brunton.com/catalog.php