It looks like any good, old sun hat – you know, the kind that provides shade for your face, neck, and shoulders from the blistering rays of the sun. More than a way to keep your upper extremities from getting sunburned while you lay around on a beach blanket, though, the EcoFlow Power Hat pulls double duty as an on-the-go solar charging device
That’s right, this sun hat has integrated solar cells that allow it continually generate power from light exposure, which it can output through the integrated USB ports on the hat’s brim. Want to charge your iPhone while walking around the beach? Just plug a USB-C cable on one port and stick it to your smartphone. Want to replenish your camera’s battery while you look for interesting scenes to capture? Yep, this will do the trick.
The EcoFlow Power Hat is a UPF 50+ rated sun hat, so it should provide adequate protection to keep the scorching sun from wreaking havoc on your face, neck, and shoulders. It has a mesh crown, enabling full ventilation, so air can circulate on your head the whole time you have it on. The whole brim, on the other hand, boasts zero percent sun penetration, so you get a proper shade to cover up all the sensitive parts of your upper extremities. Basically, it works like a real sun hat. It even has an adjustable hook and loop design that allows you to dial in how it wears to ensure a snug and comfortable fit.
Of course, what sets this hat apart is the integration of solar panels. Specifically, they put them everywhere along the brim, ensuring you get 360 degree coverage to maximize any available light exposure. There’s no integrated battery, so it won’t store up energy on the fly. However, you can plug in your phone, camera, or even power bank to the integrated ports to automatically charge them, so long as the sun’s out and it’s able to harvest light. According to the outfit, it can charge most mobile phones fully in three to four hours.
The EcoFlow Power Hat has a small box at the underside of the brim with two ports: one USB-C and one USB-A. When you need to charge a device, simply plug them into the ports. You can either take off the hat or keep it on, although you will need to put up with dangling cables the whole time if you opt for the latter. The outfit, by the way, claims it converts around 24 percent of the absorbed heat into electric power, so the hat itself ends up absorbing less heat, leading to a lower surface temperature and an overall cooler experience.
Since you’re likely going to wear this around beaches, boats, and other gatherings around the water, the hat is constructed to get an IP65 waterproof rating, ensuring all the electronic parts are safe to handle even when coming in contact with water. It’s foldable, too, with no risk of damaging the solar cells, so you can easily collapse it for squeezing into your beach tote.
The EcoFlow Power Hat is available now, priced at $89.