Solar-powered Handbag

karvind writes "BBC reports that a student, Rosanna Kilfedder, from Brunel University has designed solar-powered handbag to make finding keys and other items at the bottom of a bag easier. The handbag, dubbed Sun Trap, uses a solar cell attached to the outside of the bag to trap energy from sunlight. The energy is stored in an internal battery which lights up the lining. The lining is made from an electroluminescent material and is lit up by the bag's zip which acts as a switch. The bag goes dark when the zip is closed or after 15 seconds if it is accidentally left open. A secondary use of the portable battery is as an emergency charger for mobile phones and other wireless devices."

Comments

How very useful.

[hardcode57]

I'd like a rucksack like that

For my backpack

[Nf1nk]

I would love this for my backpack, so I could find the stray pencils or my long lost stapler that I know is lurking near the bottom.
Also I had a vision of the breifcase from pulp fiction.

Other places to put solar cells...

[pieterh]

- in the windows of cars parked in the sun, powering anti-theft alarms
- in the fabric of sun shades for the beach, powering a beer cooler
- on the backs of notebooks, adding to their pathetic battery life
- on rucksacks, powering the old ipod
- in the garden, keeping the gnomes warm

But for the handbag, why not simply make a material that is opaque from the outside and transparent from the inside, which lets light in but not out...?

Re:Women

[Asic Eng]

Actually, I think it's somewhat surprising that a woman thought of this. To quote from the article: Safety and usefulness were uppermost in Rosanna Kilfidder's mind.

Now if you look at handbags, they come in many shapes or sizes, but if you wanted to pick the two features which have the least bearing for handbag fashion, you'd probably end up with the two which Ms Kilfidder picked. :-)

For clothing and accessories, people don't consider extra gimmicks like this, just like no-one buys jackets with integrated mp3 players. The focus for the design of these items is primarily to make the wearer look better. A slightly differently placed seam or the right label has a higher importance than some technology feature.

The phasing in of solar cells...

[lpangelrob]

Sweet.

First, they went on camping gear. Then they went on radios. Now they're in purses.

This isn't so valuable so much for the money some people will save, or even the added convenience women will have. It's just that the more solar power and solar energy is in the mainstream, the better off more widespread adoption will be.

Sounds familiar

[narcc]

Back in mid-2000 I helpd a friend of mine add a light to her purse. The lights activated via a small switch mounted on the strap. The lights themselves consisted of two led arrays, mounted on either side of the purse, about a quarter inch below the zipper (stitched into the lining, only the ligths were visible -- poking through "button holes" also stitched into the lining). The whole business was powered by a 9v battery located in a smaller inside pocket.

She seemed happy with it -- it did what she needed it to do, and only when she asked. The solution presented in the article doesn't seem all that great.