A woman’s handbag is the one accessory that no woman can do without. The bigger the better; it needs to carry all our essentials in an organised manner and it must look good. Imagine a bag that is also a source of clean energy. Wouldn’t that be something? With simple sun exposure the bag produces enough energy to recharge your mobile phone or blackberry. It is not a fantasy, this unique bag exists, but it doesn’t come cheap although the takings are intended for a good cause. The coolest handbags this summer will be available for auction on Elle.com and the proceeds will benefit Portable Light’s charities. They are revolutionary designer bags fitted with a kit to recharge your phone or blackberry. Leading American designers such as Diane von Furstenberg, Tommy Hilfiger and Loeffler Randall, to name but a few, have worked in collaboration with Elle magazine to produce 8 solar panel designer bags as part of the Portable Light Project, a non-profit organisation aimed to tackle energy poverty.

 These high tech handbags are fitted with a kit that consists of a special solar panel and control unit with either a USB port or a small light. The solar panel bag is the brainchild of Boston based architect Sheila Kennedy who is also the director of the Portable Light Project. Kennedy came up with the idea while she was travelling in Mexico and now she provides training to women so they can integrate the technology into local textile materials and their sewing and weaving skills to produce blankets, bags, and clothing that generate clean, sustainable energy and light, while supporting local economies. Five hours of exposure to direct sunlight give eight hours of bright white light. Portable light has been serving indigenous people in the Mexican Sierra Madre since 2005 and more projects are underway for Nicaragua and the Brazilian and Venezuelan Amazonias.

Source Reuters