I’ve always told myself that if I could get a reasonably priced, high quality, high efficiency solar panel, nothing else would matter, but it seems like many others disagree with that, as they look forward to aesthetically pleasing solar technology as well.

Over on Engadget there is a post that talks about a new solar powered cell phone charger that looks very rugged, and useful (pictured above).

Here are some details about it:

Solar Technology’s Freeloader solar charger was already a pretty attractive option as it was, but the company’s now looking to give the portable charger a bit of a boost, with its new Supercharger panel promising to cut the charging time in half. As you can see above, that’s possible in part thanks to its larger size, but it’s apparently also aided by some more powerful than usual photovoltaic cells (rated at 1.5 watts). All that should translate to a four hour charging time for the Freeloader, which can be done in any weather conditions thanks to the panel’s weather-proofing

The comments all quickly complain about the colour, design, size, and shape of the Supercharger.

“Following Motorola with you ugly-as-sin green, I see.”

“I would like a solar panel for charging my iphone, but I’m not sure I could bring myself to plug my gorgeous phone into that hideous green thing.”

The product, while not totally pleasing to the eye performs a function without polluting. It recharges batteries without taking electricity from the power grid or gasoline from your car. To complain about the design seems fairly trivial.

Are we really living in such a society where beauty is more important than functionality?

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