Super Sleek Solar Products for the Modern Treehugger

Solar tree: it’s a name used for everything from solar paneled carports to more literal applications like boulevards lined with solar panels that actually mimick trees in appearance and function. A new innovation from Paris has managed to lessen the scope of the solar tree while increasing its style and sleekness.

Bonsai Solar

Introducing the PhotoSynthese. It brings (quite literally) the concept of the solar tree down to the level of the solar charger. It’s what you might call a solar bonsai tree. You can recharge a cellphone or camera with this elegant device comprised of 54 tiny photovoltaic cells acting as leaves on a tiny, lustrous tree.

PhotoSynthese comes with a built in battery hidden along with any and all wires beneath an “electronic bonsai tray,” so portable devices can be recharged at any time. Even more interesting is the fluidity of this solar tree. Its leaves are photovoltaic cells, and its branches are interchangeable and connected by jack converters, allowing owners to rotate each part of the tree to create any number of different shapes and alignments.

The Solar Orchid

If trees aren’t your thing, PhotoSynthese designer Vivien Muller also offers the Orkys, or orchid-style solar plant. This unique flower is more for decoration than function (i.e. not a solar charger) but is a special product all its own. Its “leaves” are flexible PV cells that, stemming from a small base pot, collect solar energy to light up the Orkys’ petals. Those same petals are adjustable so that light intensity can be altered however you like. Orkys is a stylish and modern addition to any sunny deck or patio, creating an ambiance one might expect from Parisian designers.

Posted on September 4th in Solar Products by Dan.