Ripple: The Next Generation Solar Technology is going to be on Your Wrist

Nov. 2, 2015 - PRLog -- Ripple, a Pebble Time watch strap launched on Kickstarter on October 28, 2015. It has raised more than $30,000 within its first day. With the latest waveguide solar technology built in, Ripple is made to provide up to 13 hours of battery life with just one hour of sunlight when laid flat under the sun, or up to 7 hours of that for one hour of normal wearing to sunlight exposure. This is the very first watchstrap that manages to maximize the usage of solar power to charge a smart device directly from your wrist.

Orchestrated by Taiwan’s leading design company GIXIA Group and collaborated with a new start-up Flexwave, Ripple is the exemplar of perfect marriage between design and technology, which aims to make a breakthrough on wearable solar device. “According to The US Department of Energy, every hour the sun’s energy falls upon our planet is equal to the amount of energy for the entire population to use for a year. And we wish to harvest this natural green energy at a personal level.” said Jung-Ya HSIEH, the designer of Ripple and one of the most robust advocate for design-driven innovation in Chinese-speaking world. The team wishes to bring the emerging waveguide solar energy to everyday-life application. While other smart watch users have been painfully struggling with battery power and relying on power-saving mode to prolong battery life, Pebble Time watch users cannot be more delighted to have this new gadget which simply makes traditional cable charging obsolete.

What makes Ripple a significant milestone in solar application is its adoption of smart structural design and unprecedented material technology. Its watchcase not only provides protection but also contains a pair of hidden solar cells and serves as a charging dock. Ripple’s watchstrap is made of Polydimethylsiloxane- also known as PDMS- an organic polymers whose extremely light-weighted, flexible, optically clear, non-toxic, and nonflammable features delivers a trendy outlook and comfortable skin contact. PDMS’s waveguide module enables light enter easily and remain in Ripple without being reflected. With its high absorbance and wide-angle collection (up to 160 degrees) from both scattered and direct sunlight, Ripple’s newly structured solar module can make better usage of natural lighting than traditional ones. Thereby, Ripple users can charge Pebble Time in a far more efficient way and with no bound to external charging accessories whatsoever.

Ripple revolutionizes the way people use solar power in everyday nuance of life. The potential use of its waveguide technology wearable, if not merely portable, devices is yet to see the limit.

Ripple’s Kickstarter Page: http://kck.st/1Gx9Y4z

GIXIA Group
Founded by the most awarded Taiwan-based industrial designer Jung-ya HSIEH, is acknowledged as the most innovative and influential creative consultancy in Chinese-speaking world. With more than 20 years of extensive design experience, GIXIA Group has served its clients for a wide spectrum of industries from the Greater China area, the United States, and Europe. In addition to numerous honors granted by iF, Reddot, IDEA and G-Mark, GIXIA Group has also been recognized by iF as one of the top 100 creative companies in the world since 2011.