A few days ago, the Costa Rica Star published an article about the CAT B15, an ultra-rugged smartphone made by Caterpillar that seems to have been custom-made for the active lifestyle of many expats and tourists in Guanacaste. Although the CAT B15’s battery offers an astonishing 16 hours of talk time; this feature can be extended with the Freecharge 12-volt mobile device charger, which generates power via a hand-crank.

More than 80 percent of the electricity generated in Costa Rica comes from hydroelectric sources. This is great from an environmental perspective, but it becomes a bit of a problem when the summer or dry season arrives in Costa Rica. Power outages and electricity rationing are not uncommon during the dry season as the water levels of rivers and dams supplying the hydroelectric plants decrease. This is even more common in Guanacaste, the most prosperous and driest province of Costa Rica.

Frequent water shortages in Guanacaste are usually a sign that tourists have arrived for the busy high season. Electricity shortages tend to follow, and they may last from a few hours to most of the day. Some luxury real estate developments and luxury resorts in Guanacaste are somehow able to escape electricity shortages altogether, but the rest of the population learns to deal with them.

With the Freecharge 12-volt charger by Freeplay, residents of Guanacaste and just about any other region of Costa Rica are able to endure the power outages of the dry season without having to worry about their smartphones, tablets, portable gaming systems, or just about any mobile electronic device. According to the manufacturer:

The Freecharge 12V provides power to a mobile phone, iPod, GPS, or any electronic device for which you have a cigarette-lighter adapter. Wind its hand crank, put power straight into your device, and never worry about running out of battery.

Here are some of the features of this charger:

• Powered entirely by human energy.
• Powers any device for which you have a cigarette lighter adaptor.
• Independent of all conventional power supplies.
• Standard cigarette lighter adaptor socket ensures compatibility for practically all mobile phones and personal electronic devices (iPod, GPS, PDA etc.) from obsolete older models to those yet to be released.

The Freecharge 12V is priced under $40 and is available at specialty retailers in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Interested shoppers in Costa Rica can arrange a special order directly with the manufacturer, subject to availability. Freeplay makes other hand-powered products ideal for Guanacaste; which could be coupled with rainwater harvesting systems for maximum preparedness and sustainability.