In the past decade, advancements in solar technology have resulted in great strides in the technology industry at-large. First there was solar power for businesses, and then it became accessible for the residential market and now, the most recent innovation, the solar-powered cell phone. Developed by HiTech Wealth in China, the world’s first solar cell phone is now finally available for purchase after many after countless prototypes and years of anticipation.

Model S116 by HiTech Wealth is on the market for $510, a price comparable to Apple’s iPhone. The S116 solar cell phone comes with a 1.3 mega pixel camera and an MP3 player, but the solar panels are a feature never before seen on a mobile phone. With the solar power feature, battery life is increased to be 2.5 times longer than that of a traditional cell phone. The panels are rechargeable by trickle-light in any amount of light, whether indoors or outdoors, and even by candlelight. Just an hour of direct sunlight, according the HiTech Wealth, will give the solar cell phone 40 extra minutes of talk time. While this is their first solar cell phone, HiTech Watch plans to release six more solar cell phones this year alone, and plans to develop at least 30 additional models by 2009.

Although this is an international advancement, here in the US, the push toward utilizing renewable energy has become more abundant in recent years. Increasingly, states are offering tax credits to corporations that rely on renewable energy and businesses such as Apple, Wal-Mart and SANYO have all made pledges to “go green.”

For example, in accordance with the company’s brand vision, “Think GAIA”, SANYO U.S. is pushing to expand its solar business and seeks to become a top-level business in the solar industry by 2010. “GAIA” according to SANYO is a “term that encompasses the Blue Planet, ‘Earth,’ and the infinite varieties of “life” that live and breathe on it. It describes the world as a single living organism, where all life and nature co-exist independently.” As a result, the “Think GAIA” campaign in committed to the development of products that are essential to life and Earth, which is advocated for by SANYO’s threefold approach of environment, energy, and lifestyle.

Advancements such as these are the greatest contributors to realize a clean energy society and are one step closer towards total fulfillment of the “Think GAIA” campaign. Along with SANYO, HiTech Wealth’s advancements with the solar cell phone mark the beginning of what surely will result in many more advancements in solar power research, catapulting the movement to the worldwide use of renewable energy.

For more information on solar cell phones, visit www.htwchina.com, or on “Think GAIA” visit www.sanyo.com.