A trend I’ve been watching for a while now is the use of solar for devices that live outside away from electrical outlets.

Last summer, I bought an inexpensive device that keeps snakes away from our yard. It vibrates into the ground like the animals that hunt snakes and scares them away. I don’t really know if it works but we have not seen any snakes since we got it. The device is powered by a small solar device that is on top of it. Installation was basically pushing it into the ground.

This morning on my way back from getting coffee, I passsed this Citibike station.

I have noticed that most (all?) Citibike stations are now powered by solar. I imagine they also have a battery of some sort that stores solar energy for use at night.

Solar is slowly but surely making its way into all of our lives. It is a great way to power homes and offices, cars and buses, and, it turns out, all sorts of devices that live outdoors away from the electrical grid.