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Solar Cells For Laptops?
P-Weasel hooked us up with linkage to a solar device designed to work with laptops. It's about the right size, and if you happen to ever find yourself outside, this may be just the ticket to circumventing those ridiculously short battery lives on those P3 laptops ;)
I can't think of a single hot technology that is all over the news which would allow you to use your DSL connection outside.
Too bad the solar unit doesn't fold out into a sun shade for the LCD.
Maybe it would be nice if you could recharge it in the sun, though, even if it took a little bit of time. Then you could play some soccer or climb a tree every couple of hours. If computer geeks actually became big and strong, we'd take over the world.
Solar cell beach tent, nice wireless connection, Babe with suntan oil, life is good.
You all are out of touch with the renewable energy field, these type of solar panels have been around since at least 1992.
If you want to explore solar and other renewable energy sources and applications, you might want to check out the best magazine to get info about it. http://www.homepower.com/
These folks have the monthly magazine "Home Power" and are pioneers in supplying their magazine in downloadable form on the net.
They also run their household and publish the magazine entirely "off the grid" with solar and some wind power.
There are no phone lines to their remote homestead, so they use a long distance radio link for voice AND a data link for the internet.
They have a bunch of computers, and are ham radio operators as well. They totally qualify as geeks.
Go Solar...
I have a number of small devices, (Palm IIIc, Neo Geo Pocket Color ($60!)) that have reflective TFT LCD displays that look *GREAT* in direct sunlight... plus they draw a whole lot less power!!! my question is why don't laptops use TFT displays that can also switch to backlit for lowlight conditions... so that way when you are outside you draw less power and can actually see the screen...? that combined with the Solar panel should give you indefinite power-life.... so I guess my question really is - is it possible to make an LCD that is dual mode, TFT/Backlit ?
The economics of solar power are held back by the fact that traditional carbon based sources dont need to pay for their waste production (CO2). Carbon trading may alter these economics considerably with the additional cost to coal etc. and the reduced cost to solar from credits for reducing current emmisions. Not all solar cells suffer from increased heat. Titania Cells. ANU and Solahart in Australia have worked on using concentrators and cooling systems to reduce costs below that of diesel power systems. You can always make a wind turbine for cloudy days.
Laptops will run for hours on these 50 lb things. Of course, FUCKING LAPTOPS NEVER SEEM TO HAVE 12V POWER INPUTS. It's always 15V or 18V. Why are they doing this? It makes it harder to run laptops off of a car. My solution was to install a 300W (don't freak, the inverter won't draw 300W unless it needs to) inverter in my car, then just plug the laptop AC supply into the inverter. But this *must* wast some efficiency.
I went outside once. I recommend that you don't bother. For one thing, there's this big bright thing that makes it impossible to see clearly. Secondly, outside there are nasty things like poisonous snakes, sharks, and grizzly bears! You don't want to chance running into those -- just stay inside! Also, you might run the risk of seeing a person you don't know -- someone who might not know how to recompile the Linux kernel. Then you'd have to find something ELSE to talk about. Horrors!
Hmm, let's see...
Maybe you want to code?
Or write a paper?
Maybe you can go into civilization occasionally, to purchase software on CD-ROMs?
I used computers just fine before I ever knew "net access" existed. I could play games, type in programs, and generally do anything I wanted to on my computer.
Also, I didn't know about *computers* when I lived in the mountains as a child, but when I came back to visit, I'm sure the people in the local commune were very glad they could run their laptop off of solar power. (and yes, there are places where people have phones, but aren't on the grid, too) I know they were using the laptop to teach the kids, and probably for other uses, besides.
---
pb Reply or e-mail; don't vaguely moderate.
pb Reply or e-mail; don't vaguely moderate.
His math is correct. Watts are a measurement of energy flow (joules per second). Multiplying watts by a time period gives you a measurement of regular energy again. In the case of the example laptop battery, that measurement is in watt-hours, a unit that's easier to use in the sort of calculations he's doing. The battery has a total energy of 79WHr. If it takes 3.5 hours to drain it, that gives a constant draw of 22.6W. If the solar panel provides 13.8W, that reduces draw on the battery to 8.8W, greatly extending its runtime. (Yes, this assumes optimum conditions. I think we all realize that solar panels don't work in the dark.)
No, you can't run an Inspiron 7500 completely on solar power. You can, however, run the laptop for a much longer period of time than the battery alone will give you. You can also recharge the battery while the laptop sits unused. For someone away from a power source for an extended time, solar cells can provide a means to keep a laptop working.
--Phil (Heck, the thing would be good just for an afternoon coding in the park.)
355/113 -- Not the famous irrational number PI, but an incredible simulation!
Every discussion involving solar energy always brings out the guys saying how impractical it is to have huge panels strapped to your car / body, and how solar panels don't have enough juice to run a TV all day, and how your device will shut down when a cloud comes by.
Duh.
Solar power application today is always about charging batteries, and it's always about low-power requirements in a place where more conventional power is not available.
David E. Weekly
David E. Weekly
Code / Think / Teach / Learn
h4x0r for
i completely agree, for that kind of money, i would likely buy another battery so that i could double the "un-plugged" time. it would likely weigh less than the second battery too. (that being said, it would double the charge time - but how many of us would lug this thing around if charging were time critical to them as well - i can feel the flames coming now...)
icq 11041108 GB/AT$ d++$ s: a C++ UL+@ P+ L++ E W+ N+ o K w O M V PS+ PE+ Y+ PGP t++ 5 X+ R- tv- b+++ DI++ D G+ e+++ h
So the math is botched on your post. Also, the ratings for the solar cell are maximum, not nominal. If I take a 120 watt bulb and hold it directly over the solar cell, the rating listed is what you'll get, ie: 13.4. Full sunlight is roughly equivalent.
Also keep in mind a solar panel isn't like a battery.. it has fluxuating power as the light on it brightens/dims. Maybe if you threw a .1F cap across the leads that would help... but I doubt they did that. This means that if you use this without a battery.. you're not giving your notebook clean power. As any good geek can tell you, insufficient or fluxuating power means corrupt data, unpredictable performance and a slew of other issues. Without a large capacitor or a battery (properly filtered, esp. since some of them have a nasty tendency of *exploding* when too much power goes in) to filter the solar panel's input.. eek.
But.. that of course assumes the solar panel could supply a reasonable level of power.. which it can't. =)
Nice idea, but completely impractical, especially considering most people use their laptops inside (which is low-lighting conditions, btw). When was the last time you saw a system admin outside? Well... back in '83 we saw one go outside on a sunny day... poor bastard turned to dust, and 'ver since no sysadmin has gone outside.
Too bad, then, that I mostly fly between Helsinki and Istanbul - that's as East as you can get in Western Europe, I'm afraid
Well, the others can't hold back forever. Meanwhile, I'm happy there's at least one company that does such good service.
I think, therefore thoughts exist. Ego is just an impression.
Soon as I have the $400 extra.
I'm already ordering my electricity from other side of the country to have it windmilled rather than fissioned. I have a laptop that I use as MP3 player outside, and love to sit out and compute in sunny days - it's just hard, not impossible, to see the screen. Just take a good position. Battery limit of 2 hours is really lame. Lack of net sucks, but I might be able to run ethernet to the roof terrace...
This is News for Nerds. This is Stuff that matters - for me.
However, I'm waiting more anxiously to have a Crusoe wearable with wireless Net. And easing the restrictions of computer usage on flights.
I think, therefore thoughts exist. Ego is just an impression.
so you're sitting outside hacking away, then out of the corner of your eye, you spot it...
CLOUD! OH CRAP!
>su -
password:*********
$shutdown -h no
RATS! To be truly useful, this solar panel should come with a cloud scanning device, and an audible alert. Or maybe an automatic connection to the same software that UPS devices use.
If tits were wings it'd be flying around.
of these - enough power for a notebook, wireless, and more. Solar may be neat but it just can't compete with burning refined dinosaur era hydrocarbons (sunlight energy from long ago locked up in chemical form). Of course, there's only a limited supply of it left....hmmmm.
try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
Hmmm, usually batteries are rated in AmpHours, but I don't see why you can't just * by their rated V and use WattHours - a watthour is a unit of energy (why you electric bill is in WH), and batteries hold only so much energy. Power is energy / unit time. An amp = one coulumb / second. A stich in time saves nine. A nearby batt says 10.8V 4.05 Ah, or about 40Wh - it can crank out 10.8V at 8.1 Amp, 80Watts, for 1/2 hour = 40Wh; or it can pump 10.8V a 2.025Amps, 20Watts, for 2 hours again = 40Wh. Since the laptop can run about 2 hrs on this batt, it's drawing about 2 amps @ 10.8 V or about 20Watts, the solar panel can supply 13 watts so the battery only need to supply 7watts, or .7A at 10V to make up the diff, resulting in increased battery life of 5.7hrs, which is the same result gotten from: 40Wh / 7W = 5.7
YMMV
try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
All I can say is finally! Computer hardware is becoming more and more energy wasteful with each increase in speed/power. At last there's something that can help offset all of that bad engineering...
Thank you, how the hell did the first post of this thread get to 5 when it should be -1 Troll?
I also have the 7500, and find its battery life to be totally adequate. Long enough to get a bunch of work done on an airplane, do a demo of some kind without having to find a place to plug in. If I need to work for more than 3 hours, finding an outlet has not been a problem.
(Speaking of problems, the built in "sleep" mode of Win2000 is much less reliable on the 7500 than the third party software for NT4... so I end up being very hesitant to Sleep with Win2K, resulting in greater power usage.)
History has the relation to truth that theology has to religion-i.e. none to speak of. - Lazarus Long
Posted on a Powerbook G3 running LinuxPPC2000
History has the relation to truth that theology has to religion-i.e. none to speak of. - Lazarus Long
Take a look at the bottom of the page:
"Some of these projects include supplying aid to refugees in Eritrea, searching for meteorites in Antarctica, studying the forests of Borneo, cataloging the languages of Vanuatu, and teaching school kids remotely from Central America..."
So, for these sorts of applications, $395 for 13.8 watts isn't all that bad. You have a small market, consisting of customers who have few other choices (Besides lugging around a portable generator) that are willing to spend lots of money--and I'll bet the startup costs for this business are tiny (Compared to another company with a similar business model, Iridium).
first a way to SEE a laptop screen outside in the sun. It might be fun for people with Gameboys or Palm Pilots but not laptops.
I'm a loner Dottie, a Rebel.
I hear it can give you a nasty burn, but the screen isn't all that bright. What's the deal? Is it due to CRT X-ray emissions? (Mommy always warned us not to sit to close to the TV) Probably -- my friends always seem to have them when they come back from underdeveloped places, like St. Kitts or Mexico. I imagine they have a lot of older surplus monitors in those places.
My Sun does seem to run as hot as everyone says.
__________
If you can go to bed, knowing you did a valuable thing today, you're very lucky. If you can't... it's not bedtime
First, if you are comparing to wall power, then these are obviously a bad deal. Distributed energy is always a bad deal compared to existing wall power. That's because the utility has already made all the capital investments for you, and they get the best deals on long-term financing -- it's hard for an individual to do better, even with all those utility investments in nuclear.
But these are an outstanding deal if you live off-grid. They are convenient to move around, they have a cord so you can keep your laptop in the shade and the cells in the sun. Unfortunately, the level of ambient light even in the shade is too high to comfortably view a laptop screen. It takes some getting used to, especially during the middle of a sunny day.
Second, regarding solar power plants. $0.56/kWh is not "just on the edge" (edge = $0.03/kWh) and photovoltaics are the least likely technology to be used in a commercial powerplant, barring commercialization of that Australian guy's silicon wafer manufacturing improvements. Yes, it is true that efficiency and output are directly related to the amount of sunlight shining on the panels. However, they are inversely related to the temperature of the panel. The hotter they get, the worse they work.
I'm afraid you are also taking a bunch of disparate facts about the energy industry and taking them out of context here. The reason prices hit $6000/MWh several years ago was because of market speculation and a series of shady deals. It had nothing to do with the real cost of producing energy.
I am not trying to rain on anyone's parade, as I am in fact a die-hard renewables supporter -- I worked in the energy industry and I know how much we need cleaner technology. But there are many other emerging technologies which will change the industry drastically, much more so than photovoltaics. For instance, fuel cells - technology with a chance. Prototypes of fuel-cell powered laptops and cell phones exist, and will soon allow you to run your laptop 28 hours without "recharging". Not only that, but you'll probably able to carry around a couple of very small canisters of hydrogen or other fuel much more easily than toting batteries.
Now that is mobile computing.
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"If children weren't copyrighted, no one would have babies." -- Alex Eulenberg
It's like a giant, round fullbright pixel in the sky.
A few years ago, a company (name escapes me)sold a solar panel BookCover for the 1400. It wouldn't entirely power a 1400, but you could extend battery life a bit. You could also recharge the internal battery in about 6 hours (the battery gave about 2 hours of run time, if you were lucky). I never picked one up, and I can't find much about it on the WWW any more.
-jon
Remember Amalek.
I don't know about you guys, but it sounds great for anyone with a sailboat, a cottage by a lake, etc. Slap your laptop in a pelican case and take it into the wilderness for two weeks. Use it an hour a day or so and let it recharge the rest of the time. Lots of cool uses - if it were about $100 cheaper I think I'd be grabbing one right now!
The scary part is that he might not be joking. ;)
My journal has hot
Now I just need to hook one of these up to my cloud generator and my plans for world domination will be complete!
Kevin Fox
Kevin Fox
Remember those calculators with the solar panels that were so hip in the 90's? Those sucked! You had to angle them just so for them to work.
Fuel cells, on the other hand, rock. I mean, you get some hydrogen from algae and your laptop runs for weeks without a recharge.
Wake me up when that happens.
Lisa
[grrl.org]
Does anybody remember comapaq's method of obtaining energy from each keystroke on the keyboard? Any insights on what happened to that?
The solar constant at the location of the earth (luminosity of sun / (4 pi distance_from_sun_to_earth^2) ) is 1370 w / m^2. Let's be generous, assume the collecting area is 1 m^2. Let's also call things roughly. Per hour, that translates into (3600 s) (1 KW /m^2) 1 m^2 ~4 10^6 J. Let's say that a solar cell can have an efficiency of about 1%. That translates into 4 10^4 J = 40 KJ of energy.
How much energy does a typical battery store? State of the art chemical batteries typically have energy densities of 1 KWh / kg, or roughly 10^6 J/ kg, as above. This means that to charge a 1 kg battery, roughly 100 hours are required.
Even if the efficiency were as high as 10%, about 10 hours would be required to charge. Hence, it seems that the concept is good, but it would take at least a full day in sunlight to charge up a laptop battery. Not very practical, considering that the very idea of a laptop is to be mobile...
Science, like Nature, must also be tamed, with a view turned towards its preservation.
do you know where I might find this particular location of hell? I will mount a rescue mission, to get the laptop back. The *real* people scare me to much to get it back to you, I'll just bring it back to my place.
But you might remember recent news about an alcohol fuel cell for portable devices.
You just needed to aim a carbon arc spotlight at each of your cars indoors...
It's not so much what you have as how you use it.
Read again. He's not digging test wells around the world with his little shovel, others are testing and finding oil in "impossible" places. And just this week was the announcement of researchers confirming that methane can be produced by oil-eating bacteria without requiring sulfur, which helps explain methane deposits in more places than previously thought, and that methane did not require any fossil decomposition process.
The laughter thing has an easy fix - you have to put these things called "clothes" over yourself. Bob probably just assumed you already had them on.
These folks are just trying to unload stock after their solar-powered flashlight business tanked.
Next we'll see them unloading the flashlights as a means to light the solar panel.
I had a solar cell that fit into the cover of my Powerbook 1400. Which sucked, since who points the lid of a laptop at the sun while you're using it? But it's been around a while
"The pie shall be cut in half and each man shall receive.....death. I'll eat the pie."
Static's got it right, with but one caveat (and I don't have the numbers here): Pumping 1 AH into a battery will give you somewhat less than 1 AH out of it. Efficiencies have come a long way with the NiMH & LiIon technologies, but I'm afraid 100% is one of those not-quite-reachable goals.
it was way back in the dark ages of 1997, i got the solar panel from a local eco-guru, who had some small models, which we then outfitted with the right jack, and tested to make sure had the right voltage and a/c.
i cannot stress just how wicked it was to a) not have to worry about having the right plugs b) not having to worry about having electricity c) rocking the funky joint!
damn it was an awesome year 8)
Ahhh! I'm melting. Melting! Ahhh!
BTW, I have denim curtains to keep the sunlight out of my room. Really.
Ryan
But plenty expensive, too. Look into solar panels for RV's - many of these are quite large, and can be adapted easily. You will need a large voltage regulator and a battery bank as well - and if you are planning on running 110VAC, an inverter (many people just buy 12 or 24 volt appliances, instead). You can easily spend several 10's of thousands of dollars on a system.
Look into wind power options as well (if you have an ample breeze blowing). If you live near the border of Mexico (near a border town), sometimes resellers of solar solutions hang out on the US side (esp if there are RV camps near the border town).
Building a solar panel for heating water is almost trivial - a bit of copper pipe, some plywood and two by foors, and black paint (plus a sheet of glass) is about all you need. You can build a pretty good system to tie into your home heating system for less than $500 (and remember, you might be able to take a tax break as well).
Final note - it is possible to build a house and COOL it using a passive solar solution. The trick is the house has a large chimney which is heated by the sun. As the hot air rises, it draws in cooler air through the windows, or through vents with water evap pads (similar to a swamp cooler). Not great for places like Lousianna, but for desert areas without too much humidity, it is almost free cooling.
Reason is the Path to God - Anon
for lack of a reason to use it outside. No net no fun.
It has been statistically shown that helmets increase the risk of head injury.
I've got an expedition model of this series that I purchased a few months ago. A bit pricey (around $400+ i think) and I haven't quite got it to go quite to the full rated spec of around 20 Watts, but the cell is supposed to be more efficient at higher ambient temperatures.
;)
:-)
With passive resistive loads I've seen as high as 16-17W (but on cold days as low as 10-13W!), but keep in mind if you run it through an inverter you are going to get some loss probably 2-3W. To bypass this problem I bought a 50 Watt zener diode at the rated voltage of the DC input (around 16V for my laptop). (Cost around $12 versus $75-$100 for an invertor). In my research I came across this site from which I learned that solar cells act like current sources, which is ideal for a zener diode. The diode essentially syphons off all the extra current your laptop uses, and since it is placed in parallel with your laptop it doesn't draw any power that your laptop can use. The zener also regulates the voltage fairly well. The 50W rating is necessary because there is no series limiting resistor and thus the zener should be able to sink twice the rated capacity of the solar panel (to be on the safe side, especially if you don't have a heat sink
I also played around with the idea of some kind of mirrors to focus more sunlight on the panel, but then I figured that kind cuts down on the portability of the system. The panel itself is fairly lightweight, around 3 pounds I think, same as my laptop
I'm not a journalist, but I play one on slashdot
It's not convenient to sit in direct sunlight to even read a book. A shady spot, under a tree is much better, and, well.. there goes the solar power idea.
The cord is 10' feet long (about 3m) so you just have to find spot that is within that distance of a sunny spot, whcih except for heavily wooded areas, shouldn't be a problem.
I suppose if you wanted you could even mount the panel in or outside a window and use the notebook inside, but who wants to be inside.
Also, it can be used to charge your battery so you can take back into the shade once it is done charging.
Work for Change & GET PAID!
You call that cheap?
this is half the price for slightly more wattage (15 vs 13.8).
Work for Change & GET PAID!
*I* use a laptop outdoors... ;-)
I like the big blue room, and a laptop lets me be in it more. Granted, most of the time has been spent right outside my house with ethernet and power strung through the window, but is nice to get some sun and fresh air anyway...
I bought a p-120 laptop when I was in college (very useful, that), and still find is powerful enough for my uses. Sure, it takes a little longer to compile my projects then my desktop, but it really isn't all that bad.
Besides, I often just use it as an x terminal and do all the heavy processing on my desktop.
Now, whenever I can afford wireless networking and a few spare batteries things will be much better. This solar power source looks like it has enough juice to extend battery life a little anyway, which may serve to extend my reach from home a little further. A welcome development in my book, especially because my house backs right up to a nice park
Blessed are the pessimists, for they have made backups.
Ive never been outside... What's it like?
Check out http://www.mhtx.com ...these guys are making fuel cells for small apps like cell phones etc. They and others will have fc for computers within a yr or two.
what happens when you burn hydrogen H20... what do hydrogen fuel cells react the hydrogen with, oxygen, so once again you get water, the thing is instead of putting in water, you put in hydrogen... the hydrogen is generally seperated from the water elsewhere
Are you sure you need 15V to run your laptop? I've got an old Toshiba Libretto 50 which runs fine on 12V but only after you send it a brief jolt of 15V to convince the power management hardware that there actually is an external power source connected. To get the 12 V I use cheap sealed lead-acid camcorder batteries (Radio Shack 22-187 or equivalent), which I can get for as little as $25 each, and which run my Libretto for about three or four hours or so on one charge. I got the idea and plans from Xin Feng's web page, thanks Dr. Feng! Certainly a little doodad with a couple of 9V batteries will be easier to handle than a big inverter plus your laptop's AC adapter, and you can carry a camcorder battery or two around with you.
My Libretto runs Linux too; in fact it's a bit underpowered for them new-fangled power-suckin MS OSes, but Linux just sprints along on it, though it's a bit of a trick getting it installed because of the weird external floppy drive that doesn't work with Linux boot discs. Basically my trick was to yank the HD and get an adapter so I could hook up the Libretto's 2.5" hard drive to a normal 40-pin IDE connector like you see in a desktop machine.
Yours WDK - WKiernan@concentric.net
Suppose you worked outside all of the time for the expected life of the system, 20 years. Suppose that once you figure in the number of hours of daylight times the 'directness' of the sunlight cutting into the efficiency, you'd get about 7 hours of 13.8 watts. Then you'd get about 700kWH out of the pack over its lifetime. At $395, that works out to only $0.56/kWH. Not bad, only about 10 times the cost of plugging into a wall.
.15 m^2. The incident solar power constant is about 700 watts/m^2 at noon. At 13.8 watts, these things come out to about 12% efficient. Also not bad.
I figure these things are 2 panels of about 9" by 12" or about
So, obviously, these things aren't for everybody. But it is a good thing that prices have come down and they're manufacturing the cells more durably than before.
Maybe in a few years (with the power grid peak prices hitting $6000/MWH recently), someone will decide to build a solar panel power plant. It has the advantage of having its peak output at the same time as the air conditioners are using the most energy. It's just on the edge of being a practical energy source at $0.56/kWH. We'd just need to make lots and lots (and lots) of cells...
http://jcwhitney.com/product.jhtml?CATI D=5460
12.75V but should be ok $129
*Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
I remember solar panels for various Powerbook models years ago. For the Powerbook 1400, there was a folding module that folded up to fit in the 'bookcover' slot (though you had to unfold it to use it).
This isn't exactly new... though it's of course a great idea.
-- "Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything." -Joseph Stalin
But what do you do if the sun explodes? What are you going to do with your solar panels then?
They've been selling solar cells for laptops for a long time -- this is nothing new, but still interesting to look at for those didn't know these things existed.
MrSolar also has some laptop solar panels available -- kind of pricey, and he was a bit of a Y2k nut. Wanted to boost his sales, I guess.
Patrick
Hosting for Creators: http://rpg-works.net
When was the last time you used a laptop in the rain?
aren't they? Last I heard, you needed quite a bit of panel to power something, and the reason we aren't all living under solar panels right now is because of their fragility. That one factor alone has halted thousands of people from using panels. They get too expensive because of the fragility. Computers are expensive enough, even with dropping prices. Imagine the price of one of those suckers.
"As many of you know, I was very instrumental in the founding of the Internet" --Al Gore to Katie Couric 3/99
2*H2 + O2 = 2*H20 -> that means on a PIII laptop, you've got a river running out of your laptop. Perhaps we could use it to cool the processor? Would sound very cool: "Hydrogen-Powered laptop with watercooled PIII cpu"
Some URLs on this topic:
http://www.heise.de/newsticker/d ata/jr-06.03.98-000/ (Sorry, only german) /energy99/art1.html
http://www.ise.fhg.de/Products/brennst offzelle.html
http://www.ise.fhg.de/Projects
Yes, it seems that the Fraunhofer people already have a prototype of this.
who has stolen my .signature file?
Now, why not using it in laptops?
With windows2k, the most secure OS in the world and "Homer for Laptops", a progam devolped at 'Springfield nuclear security' by H. Simpson to controll the mini-power-plant, such a laptop would be really fun!
who has stolen my .signature file?
Sure, the solar panel isn't worth getting if you are going to be sitting next to a window, but thats not what its made for. On backpacking trips, vacations etc... sometimes a panel is all that you can use. It doesn't charge as fast as an outlet, but it has plenty of power to charge up a battery in a couple of hours. (4 or so)
You can run small electronic devices off EM waves. The old crystal radios are a well known but other cool ones are the identity devices that you might get in stores or warehouses. An EM pulse is enough to activate these things enough for them to send out a digital ID signal.
-- SIGFPE
NOOOO! Must keep away from the burning light of the day star!
So far I've gotten all my Karma from telling people they are wrong... :)
except the whole idea is that you do not need to lug batteries around, and that it is renewable w/o having hardline power. If someone was forced to go camping, and _needed_ a laptop, i would much rather lug a battery and a solar cell then 400$ in batteries :)
Now we just need outdoor LCDs -- even my Vaio with its very nice screen is practically unreadable in the sun.
but I'd hate to be relying on solar power on a rainy day. I think I'll stick to carrying a backup battery. At least then I know exactly how long I have until my laptop craps out on me.
I wonder if Sun will be getting royalties on this.
HAHAHAHAHA!
Oh, I'm a horrible, horrible person. I'm so ashamed.
Ok, now we've got to have another laptop story :)
You may say to yourself that this is a great idea! Why not even mount a solar power cell on the back of the LCD display?
The answer to that is that people would probably leave their laptop in the sun. In case you have never known, hot temperatures can kill LCD displays.
Heat and laptops do not mix.
Well, that ends that.
Just think - now in the summer we can get outside, use that wireless LAN to hookup to the server, enjoy the fresh air, and ... yes ... if you position those solar cells under you chin like so ... you can even get an even tan!
Cheers,
Toby Haynes
Anything I post is strictly my own thoughts and doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the opinions of IBM.
I can't believe this made it through the Slashdot headline guard dogs! (It is slashdotted, so I haven't seen the site.)
I saw Solar panels out for Apple Powerbooks YEARS ago! What's the big deal?
-Pete
Soccer Goal Plans
The unit costs $400, if you spent that much on batteries, you'd do a lot better!!!!
Why didn't anyone think of this before? Solar cells also work with fluorescent lighting, making it even more useful....Kind of a no-brainer actually.
-You're wearing...A bag? I have misplaced my pants.
So we will get to walk in the sun again? Meet actual people? Thank you P-Weasel.
Wait, what about the UltraViolet radiation?
Damn
You can't handle the truth.
My subject line works on so many levels.
In fact I already thought about placing multiple solar batteries on the roof of my house to save on at least a portion of my Hydro bill.
Has anyone any experience with this? Are there other products for that use or do you have to build something of your own. I don't really want to have 20 P-Weasel bags on my roof!
You can't handle the truth.
I got one of those, bought a new laptop also, full stack P3. I got it on monday, plugged it in and NOTHING worked. I called tech support and they said
/that/ powerful.
:) Out side the door I seen people I knew from when I was younger. They starting talking to me, and poking me and making this awful sounds (Bob said it was probably laughter), confused and dazed I retreated back into my room to review the sisuation with Bob.
"Sir, the unit must be in direct sunlight for it to work"
"Excuse me?"
"Sir, you must take the unit outside with you, it needs to be exposed to direct sun light for it to harvest enough engry for it to power you laptop"
"uh, ok"
At this point I had no idea what he was talking about, but at the risk of sounding dumb I replied
"right-o boy, thanks it is working now"
Having no idea what 'sunlight' was, or where to download a copy, I did a search on http://www.google.com and came up with a few links.
My finds indicate that "direct sunlight" is "light" that is not produced by a light bulb, but rather an object that is referered to as the "sun". Easy enough I though, I take the unit and my laptop into the server room, and place the unit directly under a Sparc Station 20. Giving it 20 minutes (has to charge) the laptop still was not receiving power from the unit. Thinking quickly, a SS20 these days isn't
Pushing pass ethernet cords I set the unit directly under an a cluster of Ultra 10's. "That should do it" I proudly thought to my self, waiting, waiting, I was sure it was going to work this time. After 30 minutes I re-contacted tech support.
"Sir, *THE* SUN, you know, *OUTSIDE*."
Ah, I felt really stupid at this point. I decided to contact Sun tech support and see if it was a defect in the rays their servers where giving out. I relayed what the other tech support told me to Sun's kernel group, they to where making refereres to the "OUTSIDE". Hanging up before they thought I was stupid.
Loading up Netscape on my workstaton, I typed in http://www.theoutside.com and came across a punk band. After searching their site for 4 hours staight I still didn't see any "SUN"
*sigh*
Really depessed I started talking about my problem with this unit on IRC. A helpfully person by the name of "Bob76" on #bob_channel enlightened me to a whole other world. Not methophically mind you, but really a WHOLE OTHER WORLD. See said that someone in my room there would be an object called a "door" that was either made of wood or metal. Searching around and relaying my finds to "Bob76" I finally found the "door" after many failed attempts.
"Bob76" insturcted me to go out the door. Bob even helped me Crack the security methods on this certain door (I feel elite!
He said these strange cretures where *REAL* "people" and that this was known as "*real life*". Bob started getting weird with this topic, about people and life, really deep, but creepy.
quickly changing the topic, bob insturcted me, that their would be yet ANOTHER door after the first one, and maybe something called a "hall way" of other rooms with strange names like "kicthen" or "living room". Bob advised me to quickly open the door, keep my head down and quickly find the other door. He said this second door should take me outside.
Packing up the solar unit and the laptop, I thanked bob and decided to go for it.
I quickly opened the other door and these people started using strange launge like "hi" and "how are you", I keep my head down and didn't say anything like bob instructed, I quickly moved in and out of this maze of other rooms and "halls" and finally came upon the second door.
I started to sweet and time seem to stand stil, I reached out and opened the door. tossed the solar unit and laptop out on what appeared to be "green carpet, but real dirty" I push out and I knew I was outside.
My eyes started to burn from this intense light, and my skin started to burn, the light was really intense and bright, pushing on me, burning me, making me really disilluated and confused. I feel to the ground and all I could see was WHITE, burning my eyes, face hands, arms
I managed to find my way back into the second door and quickly close it. confused, but a lot better, I made my way back to my workstation, making sure I closed and re-enabled the security fearture on the first door I orginally found.
I felt really terriable for days after the experince, my laptop and the solar unit is still traped in this hell know to bob as the "outside". I think Bob is the devil.
I hacked out 20 thousands lines of ASM code, porting the Linux kernel to a embedded device I found in my alarm clock, after that I felt a lot better. It was only a 2-bit cpu with 32 byets of main memory, but quickly rewiring it, and using some ram I pulled from a CD-players LCD I was able to get a nice port of kernel 2.2.13 to it.
Anyways, I still don't know how I am going to get my laptop back, hell can keep it's "solar panel", I think it was sent here as a temptation from bob (the devil) to lure me out into hell ("the outside").
"`Ford, you're turning into a penguin. Stop it.'" -THHGTTG
Yup, it's pretty nifty, but rather pricy for free electricity. I think that it's nice to have solar panels. To answer some of the repeted questions, yes people do use laptops in the sun, and yes there are anti-glare screens for laptops. Stop complaining about UV rays, you look sick with that pale, partially green from radiation, skin.
:wq! DOH!
Here is a question, what do solar panels absorb? Sunlight, of course, but does it suck up IR and UV? Why arn't there devices that suck up the whole electromagnetic spectrum? If there were such a creature, why, we could run laptops on the radio, even from the (em) noise they emit!
But there is probably some silly science restriction. 'The particles go to fast to catch,' or 'you wouldn\'t get that much energy anyway.' Just a thought.
Roy Miller
--Roy
Isn't this another step to the the beginned realties of the evil technologies found in such movies as the Matrix...or Terminator for that matter?
All i know is I have been following white rabbits since I saw Alice in Wonderland...so I am good to go!
Real Goods ( www.realgoods.com) has a variety of solar panels, including one which powers a laptop, so is comparable to the unit featured in the above story. Price is $369.00
but you can charge it during the day, and use it a night. You could also place the Solar cells outside while you are inside, if you are someplace without reliable power. Like doing volunteer work in 3rd world countries.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Looks like a good idea, but for $400, I'll just buy a few extra batteries, thank you very much.
-------- "All I want in life's a little bit of love to take the pain away" --Spiritualized
...but I don't think I've ever used a laptop outside....
Agreed, most people need computers inside, however I think there is a market for people who use laptops outside and in remote locations. I personally use my laptop for Autocad, and often bring my laptop with me for site inspections in remote locations and outdoors. This would be kinda cool, though if the charging rate is correct, not very useful.
:-))
I'd rather spend $800 and get a full sized Siemens PV panel.
E
It would be great if some fairy invented a hydrogen engine for laptops...something that ran on water, and gave off water vapour as its only by-product...using the hydrogen molecules to generate electricity.
-Mark Villopillil.
no sig
I don't know for active, though...
---
guillaume
give me all your garmonbozia
The problem is that they are asking 395 bucks for it. I think it is a great idea, but I would wait until the price comes down.
Maybe they should work on a wind powered charger for as much hot air that blows though corporate these days.
Of course a solar panel isn't much use in an environment in which the Sun can sometimes be considered a myth used to inspire hope in the general populous. Though I guess if it opened out to the size of a football pitch it might manage to get enough power from the ambient light.
I used to live in Scotland and am now in Southern England so I guess I'm moving in the correct direction (but my feet may get wet if I continue).
Gamma Testing - Where testing is extended to the full user community (AKA Shipping the Program)
Hmm.. has anyone made a laptop using the StrongARM processor? I think they ran a Netwinder (without hard drive) for like an hour on a nine-volt battery.
Carousel is a lie!
I would have expected something like this to be much more expensive than $395...kind of wary. If it really works as advertised, then I see no reason to not get it, considering how often I work with my laptop outside on the balcony...
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JavaScript tutorials scripts
This would be great if I could actually see my screen outside in the daylight.
Claiming that your operating system is the best in the world because more people use it is like saying McDonalds makes
Real Goods and Jade Mountain, among others, have been selling these for several years now, for a wide range of laptops.
...is that the energy a photon carries is a function of it's wavelength - short wavelengths (i.e. violet, UV, etc) carry far more energy than long wavelengths (red, IR, etc). Try it - grab a solar calculator and stick it under a red light (you *do* have one handy, right? :) It won't work. Try it under flourescent lighting, or anything else with a blue or violet component, and voila!
Powered by Sun(TM) is a trademark(TM) of Sun(TM) Inc. Only Sun(TM) computers running on Solaris(TM) may use solar energy(TM). If you use Netwinder, you are free (as in free speech(TM)) to use wind energy.
Especially the bearded variety.
Solar cells recharging... my power is returning... BIIIIIIRRRD MAAAAAAN!