Reware Vs. Voltaic: Battle Of The Solar Messenger Bags
By Jillian Polaski
Filed Under Sustainable Style |
It’s a real bummer to have your iPod die mid-anthem in the middle of your morning run. Or your cellphone mid-conference call, or your digital camera mid-mountain climb. Unless of course, you’ve purchased a solar powered messenger bag from either Voltaic or Reware. With one of these cutting edge carriers, you can charge your 12 volt handheld electronic devices (sorry-no laptops yet) without a problem. The only question is, are all solar bags created equal? Reware and Voltaic, the two leading solar bag makers, don’t seem to think so.
Round 1: Reware Juice Bag
If you ask Reware about their Juice Bags, they say that solar bags most definitely are not created equal. Juice Bags, they say, are the most sustainable, highest quality line of solar charging carrying products in the world.
For starters, Reware messengers are available in a wider variety of colors and styles than other solar bags. Their fabric is guaranteed to be 100% post-consumer recycled soda bottles. Reware also works with local mills and independent vendors to produce twelve of their thirteen bags in the USA, ensuring fair labor practices and supporting the American job market.
As for the power in the bags, Reware says they pack a punch. They don’t come with a battery because there is no need for one. “Other products need a battery to ‘boost’ power because their solar technology is so weak, so in reality what you’re doing is charging your battery at home, then drawing off of that when you plug your stuff into your bag and ‘topping off’ your battery with a bit of solar. That’s a cheat,” says Jamillah Echeverria, Reware’s Communications Manager.
Reware’s technology is straight out of the NASA program and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. They were the first company to license the technology for commercial use. Their method gets you 6.3 Watts of pure solar power in 2.5 pounds worth of bag. All you have to do is connect your handheld electronic device to the same adapter you’d use in your car and plug it into the bag. You can purchase a Reware Messenger Juice Bag for $248-258.
And for our next contender…
Round 2: Voltaic Systems Bag
Voltaic also uses recycled soda bottles in the manufacture of their bags, though they only have one color of bag to choose from-black. You can, however, choose from several colors for the solar panel on the front of the bag: silver, orange, green, and charcoal. Their bags are made in China, and according to creator Shayne McQuade, manufacturing there makes complete environmental sense. “By working with these factories, we have a hope of changing the manufacturing systems and making those materials and that fabric available through mainstream channels,” says McQuade. “And that’s where you change the world. If I’m doing some artisanal project in the U.S., it’s not the same.”
Voltaic bags do, as opposed to Reware, come with a battery pack. Voltaic views this as an advantage because you don’t necessarily have to be in the sun to charge your electronic device-a great option for a cloudy day, or night time charging. The battery can be charged by storing excess solar power, or by plugging it in to either a wall socket or a car adapter. “We have concerns about the inconsistent power charging by solar directly on a device such as an iPod that was not designed with that in mind,” says Jeff Crystal, who heads operations at Voltaic Systems. Besides the battery, Voltaic bags come with a set of eleven standard adapters. “You don’t need to have a DC car charger for every single device you’d like to charge,” Crystal says.
Voltaic bags gather their solar juice through the use of mono-crystalline solar cells. The bags generate 4 Watts of solar power and weigh in at 3.5 pounds. How much will a Voltaic Solar messenger bag set you back? Ordinarily you can purchase a Voltaic for around $229, but you can find deals on the Voltaic Messenger for $219.
So which bag is better? It depends on what’s most important to you- style, size, price or power. You be the judge.
Posted on July 7, 2008 |
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5 Responses to “Reware Vs. Voltaic: Battle Of The Solar Messenger Bags”
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eCo "Friendlier" Products
Help — you please be the judge.
So. Darn. Complicated. I just want a bag that charges my cell phone — is that so hard???? ; >
Is the NASA / NREL technology better? It would seem so. Does the China argument hold water? I don’t know — mmmmmmmaybe not?
Should we just abandon our technology altogether?
Is anyone making a bike-mounted pannier-cum-solar-charging-station?
When will I be able to charge my laptop?
I long for the days of a naive belief in infinite resources…
Greg-
The Reware one is more powerful and doesn’t have any batteries.
Laptop charging bags are coming very soon I heard.
Solar bike charging etc, try the Thera-P Products solar bike. I’m not sure if you can hook it up to your devices, but I bet you could get someone to rig it up for you.
The Reware bag is NOT more powerful. By not having a battery, the bag’s only useful when it’s in broad daylight, which sucks. Also, most devices don’t want 10 volts of power - by plugging your device right into the panel, you’re subjecting your device to overheating/power surge - voltaic’s bag lets you control the volts that fit your device thanks to the battery. it’s also freaking stunning reware is to microsoft as apple is to voltaic: FACT.
Voltaic finally launched their Generator bag which will charge a laptop.
And in regards to bike mounted charging, you might want to check out the HYmini. It’s a gadget charger with a wind generator built in, and with the option to attach solar panels. It also has a bike holder so you can attach it directly to your bike.
I was reading the battle of the solar messenger bags, and I notice that that only Reware and Voltaic always seem to be the star. In this an many other articles. I came across a bag by innergy power http://www.innergypower.com/solar_comp_bag.php I been looking for more information on this bag. I mean i seen reware sure they boast their 6.3 watts of output and voltaic being able to power things out of the sun with their battery pack. I even been looking at the Voltaic Generater which generates up to 15 watts… but that seems so puny in comparison the innergy powers 30 watt solar bag and it’s cheaper than Reware and Voltaic I seen it priced at $240 for all that power! It has a detachable panel and rechargeable battery. But I never see anyone talk about this company