EcoFlow's Power Hat is a floppy, phone-charging solar panel for your noggin

Wes Davis, Aug 3, 2024

EcoFlow’s new Power Hat must be the dorkiest piece of headgear I’ve ever heard of — and I think I love it? It’s a wide-brimmed floppy-ish sun hat full of solar cells that you can charge your phone with. EcoFlow says it can charge a 4,000mAh smartphone to capacity “in as fast as 3–4 hours.” Sounds ideal for casually scrolling feeds at a campsite or surviving in a sun-blasted, Mad Maxian desert wasteland.

According to EcoFlow’s specs, the $129 Power Hat’s solar cells are made from a thin, flexible material called passivated emitter and rear contact (PERC) monocrystalline silicon. It offers roughly 12-watt charging via the USB-A and USB-C connectors on the underside of the brim. The whole thing weighs 370 grams.

Oh, and the Power Hat is IP65 rated, meaning it’s dust-proof and can withstand water jets from any direction (although I question whether that holds true if you’re pointing a super soaker at the USB ports). Here’s a promotional video, complete with an inoffensive, vaguely Kings of Leon-sounding soundtrack, which is perfect floppy hat music if my past music festival experience is any indication:



https://www.theverge.com/2024/8/3/24212686/ecoflow-power-hat-solar-powered-hat-usb-c-charger-smartphone