Known alternatively as the pocketbook, city sack, Manbag, and European Carry-All, the purse is undeniably the most fashionable, and arguably the most useful, of all shoulder-bag products. A random emptying of purses anywhere in the world will reveal treasure troves of hygienic necessity, useful gadgetry, snacks, and random whatnots that might very well be enough to keep a person alive in the most desperate survival conditions. In 2002 a new company emerged that realized that purses had the potential to be used as generators for alternative energy as well.

Noon Solar has come up with one of those great ideas that makes you slap your hand to your head and say, “why didn’t I think of that?” By outfitting purses with solar panels, the company has found a way to allow anyone who carries a purse to simultaneously charge their electronic gadets such as cell phones and ipods.

According to the company’s website, the outside of the bags are outfitted with a paper thin, flexible solar panel. This solar panel charges a battery pack located inside the bag to supply enough power for a cell phone or iPod, day or night. Unfortunately the technology is not advanced enough yet to be able to power a laptop.

The two founders of Noon Solar, Jane Palmer and Marianne Fairbanks, who started the company after becoming frustrated with the war in Iraq, met in the graduate MFA program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The women have backgrounds in fibers and textiles.

[Via: Noon Solar]