As solar enthusiasts, we see a lot of solar-powered products come across our desk at the Museum of Solar Energy. To help make your gift-giving simple this year, we’ve narrowed the search by creating our short-list of 2022 solar-themed gift ideas.
This list includes solar-powered products, solar-minded books, and some old-fashioned solar swag. These items would make excellent gifts for the solar enthusiast, the eco-minded person, or just someone who forgets to charge their devices.
If you have any products that you think we forgot, we’d love to hear your thoughts!
‘Sol’ Solar Powered Headphones by Adidas
Available from Adidas, $229
We LOVE these headphones because they have excellent sound quality and truly endless power — thanks to the seamless integration of the Powerfoyle™ solar technology by Exeger. Not only does this product look sharp and work well outside, but it also excels at harnessing indoor ambient light to continue playing your favorite tunes — indoors! This is solar product design done exceptionally well in our opinion, and should be a model for future solar product innovation.
‘LITTA’ Solar Bike Light
$20
This solar-powered bike light allows your safety lights to always be with you and charging up en route. The sleek design is aesthetically attractive, but our favorite feature is the effortless lifestyle choice that a solar bike light offers. From a practical standpoint, just 4 hours of full sun provides up to 20 hours of light — so you can ride all night and feel confident in this product. We believe this makes an affordable and thoughtful bike-friendly gift.
‘Casagami’ by Lithogami
Lithogami, $9
Made in France, is paper solar lantern comes flat packed and is assembled as a kit. The white paper allows for the additions of your own artistry or designs. This product creates a creative opportunity to interact with solar, and decorate a solar product first-hand. This would be a great gift for a child (or a curious adult).
‘Little Sun’ Light
Littlesun.org, $30
A good product for a good reason. Designed by artist Olafur Eliasson, the iconic high-quality portable solar lamp is the perfect introduction to personal solar-powered light. As a bonus, purchasing a ‘Little Sun’ light is supporting humanitarian aid, and providing light around the world. Learn more about their work at LittleSun.org.
‘Electrify’ by Saul Griffith
MIT Press, $25
If you are curious about how the world will be in 10 years, this is a great read to understand why everything is being electrified. The author, Saul Griffith, is the founder of Otherlab and has worked on projects for the US Department of Energy. While this gift doesn’t include a physical solar panel, we felt this narrative is compelling enough to deserve a place in our solar-themed short list.
‘Solar Futures’ by Marjan Van Aubel’
Jap Sam Books, $40
We are excited about the publication of this book — partially because we had a hand in the historical content! ‘Solar Futures: How To Design A Post-Fossil World With The Sun’ by Marjan Van Aubel talks about the past, present and future of solar energy and how we need to incorporate solar into the new designs of everything.
‘Luci Core’ by Mpowered
$20
We love elegant solar lights, and this is no exception. Luci Core by Mpowered is a rechargeable solar light with a bendable yellow wire stand, so it can adjust to any situation or solar charging circumstance. With 3 brightness + strobe settings, it’s easily adjustable to fit your mood.
‘Window Solar Charger’ by Group Hug
Available From Group Hug, $149
As seen on Shark Tank, this easy-to-install, stylish solar panel hangs in the window and charges your devices with the power of the sun. A simple gift that is immediately useful.
‘Solar Powered RainbowMaker’ by Kikkerland
Available from Kikkerland, $37.50
A rainbow makes every day so much better! As a personal favorite of the founder, this little Solar-Powered Rainbow Maker easily attaches to your window and creates an explosion of rainbow patterns when the sun hits it. So much sun-powered joy!
‘MOSE Mug’
$15
Last but not least, buy our swag! A Museum of Solar Energy mug is an excellent gift for anyone that’s excited about solar history and wants to support our ongoing mission to gather and preserve solar artifacts. You can proudly use the same mug we use! (…Not literally the same, but you understand.)
Need even more ideas? Check out our other Solar-Powered Holiday Guides