summer recreation

 

Go toward

the light

DEAD BATTERIES, rolling blackouts or power failures can be particularly frustrating for vacationers, RV owners, cabin dwellers and boaters who rely on portable power for lights, appliances and other gadgets.

One clean, quiet, safe and environmentally friendly energy source that has continued to gain in popularity is solar. Solar-panel kits— easy-to-as-semble, plug-and-play units—can provide all the their homework when shopping for solar panels. Solar panels let the sun shine power you need to keep charging your deep cycle Don’t be fooled by cheap imitations.” in and keep your small elec- batteries to operate radios, lights, small pumps, VCRs, Peress says that consumers need to look at how tric appliances running while stereos, lamps, computers and cell phones. much power is provided per solar panel, which you camp or travel.

Weekly energy output varies depending on the relates to“purchase cost per watt”; whether the pan-amount of sunlight the panels receive, but a battery els are weatherproof and maintenance free; and that’s exposed to five hours of sunlight daily (most whether the kit includes a charge controller, which panels charge on cloudy days as well) will have an prevents the battery from overcharging.

average weekly output strong enough to run several Potential buyers also need to be con-

12-volt appliances. scious of their energy needs and consump- The Costco Connection

“Solar kits are an easy and cost-efficient way for tion. “You shouldn’t depend on a portable Costco.com carries 45-, 60- and 160-watt consumers to reap the benefits of the advances in solar kit to power your entire house,” solar-power backup kits. Several Costco solar-panel technology and production,” says Sass Peress says, before adding, “but you’re warehouses in California will hold Special Peress, CEO of ICP Solar, one of the leading manu- most likely not going to run disco lights Events featuring installed solar products. facturers of solar panels. “But consumers need to do in your cabin anyway.”—T. Foster Jones See page 83 for dates and locations.

EX-S600

6.0 Megapixels • 2. 2'' LCD
Anti-Shake to reduce
blurry images

Summer Fun

EX-Z850

8.0 Megapixels • 2. 5'' LCD Super Bright LCD

Keep up with summer by taking along an Exilim digital camera. Slim enough to fit anywhere and stylish enough to take everywhere.

The EX-S600 and EX-Z850 both offer incredible technology that’s easy to use. Go beyond beautiful photos with high-quality MPEG- 4 movies. Shoot high-quality movies without any jittering or shaking, thanks to image stabilization. Shaky hands and moving subject matter are no longer a concern, ensuring that your movies always look great.

Visit a Costco near you to see firsthand how you can improve your summer with an Exilim digital camera from Casio. Also available on costco.com. Preshop online for more info and to see the full Casio line of digital cameras.