Hand Warmers Use Eneloop Technology

Although winter seems to be coming to end in NYC (I’m sure I’ll eat my words next week), these eco-friendly hand warmers, dubbed the Eneloop Kairo, are good for those who find themselves outside more than they want to. The Sanyo device uses solar power technology called Eneloop to recharge its batteries. The hand warmers come with a solar panel, and even if you don’t want to use the warmers, the special AA batteries can be used in other products as well.

Update: It turns out that although these hand warmers do use clean power, they do not run on solar power, according to Aaron Fowles, a spokesperson for Sanyo. Eneloop is the name for a string of clean power products using “energy looping.” This includes batteries that are recharged via the solar panel in the photo above and devices like the hand warmer that contain a Lithium-Ion battery. Disposable hand warmers apparently are popular in Japan, and these devices can be recharged up to 500 times, effectively saving on 500 disposables, Fowles added.

Engadget has a post about the Eneloop solar panels, and Amazon.com also sells the batteries.

Eneloop Kairo [Cocolico via ShinyShiny]