It might be a bit too feng shui for comfort but the bonsai inspired Electree could make charging all your gadgets a far greener prospect.
By Leo Stiles
This one has a suspicious feng shui vibe about it but there is no denying that the Electree has a certain appeal to green thinking gadget owners out there.
The creation of French designer Vivien Muller, the Electree was inspired by photosynthesis and bonsai trees and is currently in the concept phase. The ‘tree’ is made up of 27 solar panel ‘leaves’ which can be independently positioned to capture the optimum amount of sunlight to charge the 35,000 mAh battery inside the base.
Muller claims that 36 hours of sunlight are sufficient to charge the battery which can then be shared with other devices such as smartphones with USB connections. Considering that the battery in the iPhone measures 1500mAh, there would appear to be enough power generated for a number of gadgets, as long as the sun keeps shining.
Even though the design is still in the concept phase, a pre-sale has been launched to allow you to buy one in time for Christmas if 400 pre-orders are filled. For the price of €299 you can be one of the first to own one of these fancy green phone chargers and each Electree will be individually numbered and come with a certificate.
We like the idea and the actual design is beautiful and innovative, but we’re not sure we’d be jumping at the chance to pay €299 for the pleasure of having one in our home.
But don’t let us sway you away from it: if you want to be among the first to have this visually stunning piece of kit you can head over to Ulule where you can see a few more images and an video interview with Muller, which will give you an idea of what you will be getting into. If you can understand French.
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