Imagine this: Before rushing off to work in the morning, you leave an absorber outside the balcony to absorb sunlight. Then at night, you simply place a table lamp atop the absorber and voila! let there be light!

The bamboo PC is a new green initiative from Asustek, as more companies in Taiwan are hoping to cash in on the rising awareness on environment preservation.

Asustek’s chairman Jonney Shih (right) together with a model showing off the Asus Eco Books.

This CD player from Tsann Kuen is powered by solar energy.

All this is done without any electric plug – the table lamp is completely wire-less.

The sun-kissing lamp is one of a few “green” offerings introduced in Taiwan of late, as companies hope to cash in on the green wave sweeping across the globe, thanks to heightened awareness on global warming.

Tsann Kuen Enterprise, the nation’s largest home appliances and electronics retail chain, is a case in point. It not only introduced the above-mentioned table lamp, but also a CD player powered by sunlight.

“Pumping more resources into developing high-end offerings, including these environment-friendly products, will enable us to phase out products with lower value,” said Jack Chien, general manager of Tsann Kuen.

A plant’s photosynthesis process inspired the concept for the company’s Fora brand of solar-powered electronics.

The workings is simple. The user will need a specific electricity storage base, which is rechargeable either by solar energy or conventional household electricity. Just insert the table lamp or CD player on the base, and the reading and partying can begin.

The base, which has a light sensor to detect the best spot to absorb sunlight, needs some eight hours of outdoor exposure for a full charge, or three hours if plugged into household electricity.

But these green alternatives come at a price. The table lamp and CD player cost around NT$7,000 (RM745) each and the solar storage base goes for NT$7,000, so the bill easily comes up to NT$14,000.

Not surprisingly, consumers like Chao Yi-Chien, 23, have found such ideas fresh, but will not bring one home just yet.

“Judging from the escalating utility costs, I could save lots of money over the long term,” said the sales specialist at IBM Taiwan. “But the prices are steep.”

Tsann Kuen is not the only company eyeing the pockets of environment-conscious consumers. Asustek Computer is all geared up to debut its bamboo PC in September. The Asus Eco Book, which will carry a price label of some NT$50,000, has a casing covered by bamboo strips available in different shades.

Harvesting bamboo – an abundant, flexible, durable and fast-growing grass – causes less harm to the Earth than processing wood from trees, according to Asustek, the world’s largest maker of motherboards.

But glues and laminates for shaping and fortifying the material sometimes contain toxins, the company said.

Engineers have to make sure that bamboo is suitable for laptop computers, which have to endure extreme conditions while allowing heat from microprocessors and monitors to ventilate.

“Choosing bamboo as an alternative material helps the environment in many different ways,” said Mitch Yang, division manager of Asus Design. “Not only it is more attractive, it also constantly reminds users to help preserve the environment.”