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Even if you swore off solar back in '87 after watching the sun-powered "Nuclear Man" destroy the planet, the Daily Planet, and the entire Superman franchise, you should consider preordering a SolMate: co-created by a Texas Instruments vet, it's an iPhone case that charges up your lifeline while you use it, through a mechanism impressive enough that it just took home a CES Design and Engineering award, then put it on its mantle, then on an end-table, then the bookshelf, and then back on the mantle.

The aluminum and silicon dioxide glass casing produces a charge from any light or "inductive power" source using naught but a charging chip, a powerful solar cell, and a proprietary solar power-maximizing technique called "SolCurve", which apparently isn't a Laffer-like representation of that point where taxes have made you completely SOL.

Ruling over all of that is a power-management app that'll increase battery life by up to 30%, and provide users with additional backup power 2% stronger than Mitt Romney's support of Ohio's move to limit public employee collective bargaining rights (112%).

Stake your claim to this shiz now, or call dibs on the iPhone 5 version -- 'cause if you miss out on that, you know you're gonna go nuclear, man, and everybody will hate you despite your awesome hair and even awesomer, probably not-solar-powered tan.

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