Sego Innovations, a Utah-based startup, has crowdfunded over €224,600 on Kickstarter for its latest invention, the portable solar power Sego Charger.
1. Sego Charger
An innovative solution for power on the go, the device is a foldable origami solar panel designed for portability – it can easily slide into backpacks and pockets. The Sego Charger, which weighs around 1.4kg, is designed to provide a convenient and flexible way to harness solar power for charging batteries, powering small devices, or even generating electricity for basic needs in off-grid situations.
“Origami, the art of folding paper into intricate shapes and patterns, provides engineers with techniques to create structures that are ultra-compact, strong and stable, yet light and flexible, which is ideal for applications in space or medical devices,” states the company’s website.
The team said they spent years researching alongside NASA’s engineers and understanding how they employ origami for deployable-space-based solar arrays and were inspired to completely rethink the method for earth-based applications.
2. Various power needs
The model is powered by SunPower monocrystalline solar cells, which provide 25 watts of charging in ideal sun conditions. The hexagonal-shaped panel is 19 cm2 and is more than 2.5 cm thick. When expanded, it gives a total surface area of 0.24 m2.
The panel’s backside features a USB-C port charger module, allowing users to connect straight to a charging device. The startup estimates that a smartphone can be charged in one to two hours, while a tablet in three to four hours — depending on sun conditions.
At the moment, Sego Innovations has only built a prototype of this small and space-saving solar panel and is working to finalize the commercial version. After the first batch, expected to ship in Q2 2024, the company plans to offer the foldable origami solar panel in several wattages, including 50-watt, 100-watt and over 400+-watt options, to meet different power needs.
Similar to Sego Innovations, the Canada-based company Aurea Technologies launched the Shine Turbine — a portable wind turbine — on the crowdsourcing platform Kickstarter, before putting it into production.
