SoloBucket: A Power Plant You Can Roll Up and Take Anywhere You Want

Imagine a pail that contains anything you need to set up a power plant within 2 seconds and weighs only around 20 pounds. SoloBucket is a power plant that comes with flexible solar panels, lighting, connectors, battery, and chargers all fit inside. SoloBucket's design allows you to take it anywhere you want. You can just roll it up and set your solar panel in a few easy steps.

Solopower Systems Inc. is a pioneer company that manufactures flexible ultra-lightweight CIGS photovoltaic products and a leader in the science of high-performance thin film solar materials. USA based company has come up with a new solar system kit that contains everything to set a power plant in a few simple steps. SoloBucket is specifically designed for off-grid areas in rural Asia or Africa, where instructions or tools are not found easily.

[Image Source: SoloPower Systems]

The design of SoloBucket

According to the Robert Campbell, CEO of SoloPower Systems, the design of SoloBucket aims to be settled in the easiest way possible, hence the system doesn't even include an instruction manual.

"Each cable can only attach in one way, so just simply by trial and error at the beginning, it would set up correctly. So literally instructions are not even needed for the product. The concept was to make it as simple as possible and to make it secure it would always be attached in the right sequence, so you'd always have the correct installation."

Technical specifications

Fitted in a 25l bucket, SoloBucket is a portable power plant, weighs less than 10kg, featuring flexible PV technology with a Lithium Iron Phosphate battery storage, lights, and other accessories. The bucket also features a strong CIGS SoloPower SP1 solar panel that can produce energy in almost all daylight conditions at any angle. Use the included DC lights, connect any 12VDC appliance or connect a DC/AC inverter to supply power to AC devices.

It is very easy to integrate SoloBucket with a large variety of tools by a supplied 12VDC car lighter receptacle. Also, an AC inverter can be attached to the rear of the battery enclosure to make it simpler to transport.

[Image Source: RecycledGoods]

Key benefits of SoloBucket

Besides all, being easy to pack up is a great advantage of SoloBucket, when sudden weather changes, such as unexpected rain, are taken into account. SoloBucket lets users wrap the system and store it whenever and wherever they want to. Carrying a bucket might not be the best fit for backpackers, but it is a great option to have while camping, or working in the field. SoloBucket has a great importance in some regions in African and Asian countries, where running electricity is not accessible. According to Campbell,"When we compare it to other technologies, what stands out is the extremely lightweight nature of our technology compared to other more traditional technologies. And the fact that we can roll it up, and transport it."

Surely a single little panel can't provide power as much as roofs covered with them. But the lithium iron phosphate battery can fully charge itself in only three hours. It can supply enough energy to run LED lights for 10 hours, fully charge five smartphones or power a TV for three hours. The company plans to work with nonprofit organizations to let families buy the system for around the price of a mobile phone.

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