NOVELTY - The charger (200) has a housing including a charging coil for producing a magnetic field to provide power to medical device. A battery (220) provides power to the coil for producing the magnetic field. A charge circuit provides charging current to the battery, and is powered at an input. A solar cell being coupled to the housing produces first voltage at the input through a first diode, while being exposed to illumination. A node provides second voltage, while being connected to a power source, where the first voltage and the second voltage are not provided to the input through a switch.    USE - Solar-powered external charger for providing power to an implantable medical device/implantable medical device system i.e. cradle (claimed), for treating a biological disorder e.g. cardiac arrhythmia, cardiac fibrillation, deafness, blindness, coordinated limb movement, chronic pain, motor and psychological disorder, urinary incontinence, sleep apnea and shoulder subluxation. Can also be used for a pacemaker, defibrillator, cochlear stimulator, retinal stimulator, muscle stimulator, spinal cord stimulator, cortical and deep brain stimulator and a neural stimulator.    ADVANTAGE - The charger provides use of a diode so as to prevent back-flow through the charger in an efficient manner. The charger is coupled to the power source to charge the battery so as to automatically prevent solar cell array from reaching the input of the charging circuit without active controlling or switching to choose a particular input for the charging circuit, while avoiding battery charging time.    DETAILED DESCRIPTION - An INDEPENDENT CLAIM is also included for a system for providing power to an implantable medical device.    DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING(S) - The drawing shows a circuit block diagram of a solar-powered cradle.    Solar-powered external chargers (200, 500)    Battery (220)    Charging circuit (234)    Regulator (238)    Control circuitry (240)    Amplifier (242)    Power cord (260)    Wall socket (401)    Solar-powered cradle (600)