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In the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s writers like Arthur C Clark, Phillip K Dick and other science fiction writers with initials where their middle names should be joined forces with television shows with ’space’ and ’star’ in the title to fill peoples’ heads with images of flying cars, energy created by the sun, phones that didn’t need wires, meals in pill form, robotic servants, cities on the moon and vacations to Mars. While solar-powered gadgets and e may have appeared some of the bigger concepts have not yet been delivered.

People realised this in the mid to late 1980’s, 1990’s as well as the current decade. Their visions of the future became much darker. At worst the world was a cold inhumane brutal place and at best it was going to be the same as it always was, epitomized by the lack of a flying car. An opinion best put perhaps by American stand-up comedian, Lewis Black: “The new millennium sucks! it’s exactly the same as the old millennium! You know why? No flying cars!”

It seems that, for the time being, people will have to make do with cell phones, the internet and a growing number of solar powered gadgets. An estimated 85% of the US’s energy production comes from fossil fuels according to the US Department of Energy, with approximately 80% of the world’s energy coming from the same sources. This is a statistic that has alarmed manufactures and consumers, who are equally concerned about the sustainability of the non-renewable energy source and the effects on global warming. Concern is so large that there has been a large push for gadgets with alternate power sources to electricity.

Solar-powered calculators are almost so commonplace now that you’d expect them to be giving one away with each Big Mac combo at the golden arches but it seems that manufacturers have not used the alternate power source for measuring devices, which have similar energy consumption requirements. That has all changed with the solar powered digital tire gauge. This convenient device is guaranteed to work at any time, even if it is left in the glove compartment for years before it is pulled out and used. The screen shows air pressure measurement in Psi, Kpa, and Kg/cm2 and includes a slide out tire thickness gauge to help drivers make sure their cars are shod with safe tires.

Private eyes and potential international espionage agents can be environmentally friendly too with this wireless spy camera pen. The transmitter looks and acts just like a normal pen but a simple twist of the cap will switch on a camera, which will transmit pictures to the MP4, which acts as the receiver, up to 20 meters away. Captured video can be recorded for later viewing and the entire unit has a solar-powered function, giving the user the ability to spend weeks on the field without ever needing to plug the device in for recharge.

This eco friendly MP4 player will never have to be plugged in to get any power, and with the ability to recharge 4.5V, 5V, 6.3V, 9V devices, you will be getting a mobile power station wherever you go. This personal media player has a massive 3.5 Inch TFT Screen with a 1.6 million colors, a NES, GB and GBC emulator, a E-Book that will read aloud for you, and even a built in LED flashlight. Who could ask for more from an MP4 player.

Professionals who are continuously on the go and contractors, who spend long periods of time outdoors would probably appreciate the charge function of the MP4, but wouldn’t want the MP4 itself. Numerous gadgets have been released onto the market that simply act as a solar-powered charging device. While there are many such gadgets to fulfill that purpose few look as stylish, or as conveniently packaged as the compact solar charger.

While the cities on the moon and the flying car may be some time away yet we can console ourselves with solar powered gadgets, and the little things which inventors have been able to come up with. Hopefully electricity providers and governments will follow gadget maker’s lead and view solar power as a viable alternative for large-scale electrical generation.