Has your solar charger been to Everest and both poles? Goal Zero’s has

Has your solar charger been to Everest and both poles? Goal Zero’s has At the recent Outdoor Retailer’s show, Goal Zero showcased its impressive line of photovoltaic (PV) chargers, batteries and inverters geared toward outdoors adventurers. The company’s chargers have been used at Everest and both the North and South Pole. In fact, two of the world’s leading polar explorers, Lonnie Dupre and Eric Larsen, left the show with Goal Zero systems in their bags.

The company’s chargers range from the small, like the reintroduced Guide 10 Plus Mobile Kit—capable of charging a cell phone or powering an iPad or other tablets—to the large, like the Extreme 350 Base Camp kit, which includes 700 watts of battery storage and a foldable solar array.

The company introduced its product line last May, but its products were being field-tested prior to that, according to Goal Zero’s Head of Consumer Marketing Scott Sorensen.

“Our products outperform all other portable power gear. Eric Larsen took them on his world record trip to the top of Mt. Everest, North and South Pole and they performed flawlessly,” he said. “Before we released our first power pack to the public, it was on its seventh generation of upgrades. Our products are made to perform in extreme conditions.”

It makes sense that the company’s modules are designed for outdoor use. The company was inspired by Founder Robert Workman’s experience in the Democratic Republic of Congo, for which the first prototypes were developed. The products are being introduced there through a non-profit he founded named TIFIE (Teaching Individuals and Family Independence through Enterprise) and Jamaa Energy, which was created by the nonprofit.

The company’s test bed is its home state of Utah.

“Being based in Utah has its advantages. We have high cold mountains and hot dry deserts,” Sorensen said. “Aside from testing locally, we all so have a team of ambassadors and engineers all over the world that test our prototypes as new products are developed and invented.”

But since not everyone’s going to run out to the poles to test the functionality out, or even need a 40-plus pound mobile charging station, the company also offers smaller chargers like it’s Guide 10 charger.

“The Guide 10 Adventure kit has been the most popular product,” Sorensen said.

The kit contains a Nomad 7 solar panel and a Guide 10 battery pack.

“Before the Outdoor Retailer’s show,” he said, “it was our smallest and lightest kit.”

Based on customer response, the company introduced a new model at the show.

“They wanted the Guide 10 to charge their gear faster and have the capability of charging tablets like the iPad. So we made it for them,” Sorensen said. “We expect the new Guide 10 Mobile kit to be our biggest seller in 2012, that should be available September of this year.”