Guest Author - Colleen O´Malley Weber

Our family is doing a great job of supporting our choices to live more naturally and sustainably. In fact, this past Christmas, we received a fantastic gift that we have used so much I have to share more information with you about it. It’s a wireless amplified speaker that runs on solar power made by Golden Sun Solar Technic Co, Ltd.

Why is this such a great product? Imagine you are working outside in the garden, having a picnic or a party down by the lake and you want some music or to listen to your favourite motivational speaker on a Podcast. You can now listen to any audio broadcast outdoors with extraordinary sound quality while lessening the burden on the environment. All you need is some form of a source: MP3 player, car radio, portable radio, computer, TV, or any other device with an audio output. Before we received this gift, we had to run extension cords out to the deck or park the car near the garden if we wanted to listen to music.

The speaker is housed in a weatherproof container, so you can use it rain or shine. You only need six hours of sunlight to charge the seven AA rechargeable batteries (included with the unit). If you happen to run out of battery power, you can use the standard DC power adapter that is included. As long as the solar panels are receiving sunlight you can use the speaker as long as you want without worrying about getting new batteries or plugging in the unit.

By attaching the wireless transmitter to the audio output jack of the source (TV, car stereo, computer, etc.) you can then take the speaker up to 150 feet (50 meters) away from the source. The music or audio is transmitted at a 900mHz frequency to wherever you place the speaker. There is a remote control that comes with the unit that allows you to turn it off and on and adjust the volume.

For those of you who have electrical sensitivities or are concerned about EMF pollution, another option (which is what we do) is plug our MP3 player or iPod directly into the speaker and take that wherever you want. That eliminates the need for transmitting the wireless signal and contributing to the already congested electrical airwaves. And, if you want to be completely green, in addition to using the solar charged batteries in the speaker, you can put rechargeable batteries in your MP3 player and the remote.

The retail price is about $150, however, my mother-in-law found them at Wal-Mart for half of that price. EBay also has them listed for auction.

This system does have some drawbacks which I mentioned such as using the transmitter and EMF, however, it is a great ‘green’ solution for our outdoor lifestyle, and now that we have a little one running around, I prefer to be outside with the freedom to hear her and not be tied to a headset and my MP3 player.

If you have any other suggestions for ‘green’ replacements to every day living products, please post to the forum or drop me an email. THANKS!