Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Digicel’s put together a pretty smart design by adding a solar panel to the back of its newest phone, the Coral-200-Solar (manufactured by ZTE).  It appears to be a very simple phone, so I wouldn’t expect any fancy bells and whistles like a touch screen or camera. 

First the pros:  The phone is relatively sleek.  It can use solar power to charge the phone, and if you have access to an electrical source, you can charge it the conventional way.  It’s a good start.

The downsides:  The solar panel is on the back of the device which means you have to place your phone face down on a surface to charge up.  That probably means a scratched screen in the long run.  Also, since the panel is on the back, don’t expect to charge the phone while yapping unless you hold your cell phone differently than most.

I understand the reasoning for the solar panel placement.  Using the back of the device for a solar panel makes sense since solar panels require a good amount of surface area.  No details on talk time or pricing, but ZTE says it is “low cost” and will be available in June. 

Company Site: [ZTE.com]