We humans are extremely hard to please, but then again that could be a great trait that helps us pull through the rough times. Take for example, our need to do things much faster – it has led mankind from living in caves or foraging in forests to stay in huge metropolises over the millennia to where we are today, and in our quest to always better ourselves, new innovations and breakthroughs are occurring every single day. Same goes for gadgets and gizmos that are in the market – surely we won’t be content with just an iPod that plays music and comes with a black and white screen! See what we have today? The iPod touch in all its sleek glory. Well, the same goes for notebook bags as well – instead of offering a place that just totes your notebook and its accessories around, Voltaic Systems decided to take the plunge by unveiling its Generator solar bag that is able to harvest solar power to charge a notebook with less that a day’s worth of sun rays.

Of course, I wouldn’t recommend anyone to leave their expensive notebook in the Voltaic Generator solar bag outside on the garden all day long, baking under the scorching sun. You never know just which conniving thief might make off with your precious notebook and all the data contained within, nor will you have an inkling of whether the notebook’s innards will be fried after being left exposed under the sun for hours on end. The $499 Voltaic Generator features a solar panel that is able to generate up to 15 watts of power via 20% efficient cells, which ought to be enough to juice up the entire Voltaic battery within 5 hours. The included battery pack is able to store a typical notebook charge that will deliver the required output voltages automatically, and nice to see Voltaic throw in an array of common adapters that allow you to juice your cell phones and various portable devices as well.