I'm not entirely sure how this can claim to be more "eco-friendly" than a normal umbrella given the energy costs required to power it (not to mention manufactur

I'm not entirely sure how this can claim to be more "eco-friendly" than a normal umbrella given the energy costs required to power it (not to mention manufacture a battery and the entire device itself). When you're making a normal umbrella, the only energy cost comes when you manufacture the metal skeleton and fabric and put them together. It's still a pretty neat idea though.