You have to love it when environmentally friendly meets practical and that’s exactly what’s happened with the new release of Novothink’s latest creation, the Surge. While it’s just out and we haven’t had a chance to get our hot, little hands on it to test yet, the Surge looks good and sounds like something that would see use in our households on a daily basis.

The Novothink Surge is the first Apple-certified solar iPhone charger case to hit the market. This handy little item will extend 3G talk time by four hours and audio playback by 20 hours simply by keeping it exposed to sunlight. It has an integrated lithium-ion battery that stores excess energy as well and a LED display to keep you informed on the device’s status.

The Surge is now on the market and costs $79.95 for the iPhone model and $69.95 for the iPod Touch version.

The very first Apple-certified iPod chargers will available very soon from the company Novothink. Their Surge charger is a hard case compatible with the latest generation of iPod and iPod Touch. A version for the iPhone 3G and 3GS will be available by the end of the year.

The case is fitted with solar panels on the back and has openings for headphones, USB cable and all external controls like a standard iPod case. The energy harnessed from solar rays are stored in a lithium-ion battery that holds 120 percent of the iPod Touch’s internal battery capacity. While in use, the charger provides a constant charge to the iPod. Four LED lights let you know how much battery power is left.