natty gadget for charging phones

[NorthernRaider]

[Geordie_Rob]

Looks pretty nifty

[Highlander]

Its just a solar panel under another name isn't it

[NorthernRaider]

Its just a solar panel under another name isn't it

naa its a mini stirling engine.

[Scythe13]

Its just a solar panel under another name isn't it

Kind of, but works using the heating or cooling system. Kind of like inducing a part of the fridge, whether the coolant tubes inside, or the radiator tubes on the back, and using that to excite electrons and thus creating electricity.

There's a really cool fridge system that you actually put in a fire. Uses the same basic principles. You put it in a fire to heat it up, then the function of the vessel is reversed naturally, once out of the fire, and thus creates a nice cooler inside to the unit.

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Just read the article properly, says it uses a sterling engine in it to create electricity.

The mechanism is pretty clever. Never heard of a sterling engine before (if I have then it didn't stick in my mind).

Pretty cool really.

[bigpaul]

i've got a charger that works off the car cigarette lighter, i believe there are ones you can get on a wind up radio that will do the same thing.

[BeardyMan]

A thermocouple / thermopile would do just as good, if not better job. That works on heat difference between its sides, so one side near a fire and one pointing away and it will generate electricity.