Space Colony: Energy conservation

Energy conservation would be key for any struggling new colony. There are no power plants and no means to produce the power that you might need as quickly as you need it unless you utilize renewable energy forms like solar, wind and water. As wind and water power would take too long to set up for an immediate power source, it is my idea that the Colonists would use solar panels for nearly everything.

Clothing items are equipped with solar panels to charge personal technology

The use of almost any personal technology, from a communicator to a flashlight, would require personal responsibility to keep them charged. Batteries would simply be a waste of storage space and would run out too quickly to keep any supply. However, rechargeable solar cells that could be switched out with whatever would make perfect sense.

Laptops and solar rolls are an automatic match

Laptops are commonly brought with the colonists as they're quite handy and virtually everyone would have one. That also means that everyone would have to have their own solar roll to go along with it to keep it powered.

Field Panels are good for charging multiple objects at once.

In some situations, you might need a bit more umph for a charge or need to get something charged up in a hurry. The benefit to having solar panels hooked into bags and such is that they can charge an extra cell or a communicator while you're just walking around. When you need to charge a few things at once or make sure everything is full, you'll need to unfold a 'field panel'. These panels come in a variety of sizes but more often than not they're about the size of a small blanket.

Large Field Panels are usually carried by scouting parties

Some field panels come from military surplus and are lighter and more compact for the size they are. Panels of this size are often used to power communications stations, several laptops and the like. It's the main power for a team-sized element for when they would go exploring. Often, these panels are slung over a tarp and wires lead down to a central cell for everyone to use.