A Solar Device I Wanted in 1998

 Mother Earth News published an article of mine in August 1998 (https://www.motherearthnews.com/sustainable-living/renewable-energy/portable-solar-panel-zmaz98aszraw/) about the solar device I wanted for Christmas:

"I want a silicon on silicon sandwich, a portable solar panel with an integrated computer chip power controller. Modular, so that I can clip them together and power a house. Or a vehicle. Small enough so that I can carry one in a backpack. Or a pocket...

"It should be solid, but not too heavy, a chunk in my hand, smaller than a paperback book, and include the PV cell with a clear, unbreakable cover, the power controller, and a battery. The power controller should be built on a chip, and the controls would look like a multitester so that I can monitor amps/volts, AC and DC, input and output. The removable battery would be light, rechargeable, and recyclable. It would have a charge indicator so that I could see how close to empty I am running and a set of connectors to adapt to as many kinds of plugs and sockets as possible."

It's still something I'd like to see but now there's solar on the roof of my early 20th century double triple-decker rental apartment and I have had a solar light and charger on my backpack for over 20 years.  

This kind of modular solar/battery system could also fit in with e-bikes&scooters and other electric micro-mobility devices, some with regenerative braking too.

As the poet Lew Welch wrote, "We remain alert so as not to get run down, but it turns out you only have to hop a few feet to one side and the whole huge machinery rolls by, not seeing you at all."

There is an ad hoc basic emergency electrical system if we just recognize it and make that hop.