Jim Edwards
One of the big themes at last week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas was electric vehicles, and new gadgets inside them to make them better.
The most eye-catching iteration of this was from Monarch Power, a solar panel company that stocked its booth with a bright orange Tesla (Elon Musk's electric sports car) that had a retractable solar panel umbrella coming out of its roof. The display suggested you could drive your Tesla around in the sun forever and never need to stop at a charging station.
Unfortunately, you probably can't buy one. It seemed to be a concept only. The Monarch Lotus Mobile unit will "supplement" electric car charging, the company says.
Monarch's solar panels are for sale as standalone devices, however. They will sell for $4,999. Each unit has 18 panels with 16 solar cells, which generate 1.2 kW of power.
Here's another look:
Jim Edwards