SUNPOWER, WHERE EVER YOU ARE

How do you know when a technology is becoming a viable commodity? When it starts popping up everywhere.

Solar power goes portable; Energy from the sun, now in a convenient backpack size
Todd Woody, May 21, 2007 (CNN Money)

WHO
Xantrex Co., product manager Grant Dunbar

WHAT
XPower Powerpack Solar, a 10-amp battery with a 5-watt solar panel.

WHEN
XPower Powerpack Solar is expected to be commercially available this spring.
WHERE
Xantrex is a Canadian company. The product is available nationally.

WHY
- Xpower carries enough charge to power consumer electronics: 20-inch color TV: 45 minutes, 60-watt lightbulb: 1.5 hours, Laptop computer: 3 hours
- Xpower cost: $169
- Xantrex, which specializes in solar power system and wind turbine inverters, is entering this market because it sees a $100 million market in personal renewable energy. It also sells the PowerHub 1800, an $899 backup battery run off of rooftop solar arrays.

QUOTES
- Dunbar: "People who have a recreational lifestyle want cleaner, greener products…It takes 40 hours of sunshine to fully charge the XPower, so most people will charge it up from a wall outlet at home and then use the solar panel to top it off while outdoors.”
- “Consumers could be mixing margaritas at the beach this summer by plugging their blenders into boom-box-size solar-powered battery packs.”