Charging your ipod from a clean green source of energy

I realise that every time I charge my ipod I am using electricity which is most likely coming from a coal burning power station.
So after doing a bit of research/surfing on the internet I discovered you can buy a Solio solar panel, http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/search?search-alias=electronics&field-keywords=solio%20charger
which can not only charge your ipod but also your mobile phone. The only thing I don’t like about it is the cost at $100 £49.00 it’s a bit pricey. So what alternatives are there?

1. Don’t use my ipod?
2. Change my power supplier to a green energy supplier?
3. Try and find a cheaper solar panel?

Going through my options, well 1. Don’t Use my ipod - I seriously can’t live without my ipod now that I have one, so that’s not an option, but 2 and 3 sound good.

So though further investigation I discovered I can switch my energy supply to a renewable source of energy for free. I use powergen and they have something called green plan

“GreenPlan
At Powergen we recognise the importance of conserving our environment and electricity as a fundamental part of everyday life.
What is GreenPlan?
· GreenPlan is Powergen’s renewable electricity product.
· We guarantee to match every unit of electricity supplied to GreenPlan customers with one from a renewable source.
· What’s more, every unit of electricity you use is also matched by a contribution from Powergen to the GreenPlan fund.
· The GreenPlan fund is solely dedicated to supporting renewable energy generation projects with a strong community theme, such as solar panels for churches, ground source heat pumps for homes etc

So I have now changed to greenplan

I know this blog could be read by people living outside the United Kingdom, so It would be cool if people can leave comments that live outwith the Uk about renewable source of energy in your own country.

I have also been looking into cheaper solar panels and the cheapest USB solar panel I can find is ….

http://www.gadgethub.co.uk/shop/detail.asp?ProductGroupID=11848 taking into consideration this is only a 6v supply and I live in Glasgow (very little sun), how long will it take to fully charge an ipod?

Maplin sell a ‘scotty solar charger’ which can charge your mobile phone, mp3 player I quote from maplin
“The Scotty is an advanced, compact solar charger for you to collect and store FREE energy from sunshine or daylight. Scotty smart-charging technology then converts the collected energy to charge a huge range of portable appliances! Scotty uses a pair of Ni-Cd battery cells as a power reservoir and is the essential compact charger for people on the move@
http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?TabID=1&criteria=solar&ModuleNo=48396&doy=11m4

I guess another thing I should take into consideration about solar power is how environmentally friendly is it to make a solar panel in the first place? The production of silicon crystals as far as I’m aware is very energy intensive, then you have to include shipping petrol/diesel to get the solar panel to you, and the production of the packaging it comes in.

So I guess a solar panel charger is more an item to make you feel like you are doing something good for the environment when you are probably not, and at the prices they charge for one how many times would you need to use it to get your moneys worth?

Certainly the biggest opportunity for an individual to reduce their environmental impact is through increased power efficiency and reduced power usage. So not leaving my ipod on the charging dock after it has finished charging is a start and changing to a green supplier of energy is another?

It would be great to hear from anyone that has had any similar experiences what have they done, I would be interested to know, why not leave a comment.