Solar Powered Laptop

[kenzeus]

Sadly solar energy is still premature(They working on finding a new material that can better capture energy in the solar panels).Also I always use laptops in the dark It's hard too see the screen with so much sunlight and you are not supposed to leave a laptop in the sunlight that will damage it.

What would be interesting is a wireless powered laptop.If only Nikola Tesla vision of the future would come true....

[m3harri]

Good idea but lots of engineering issues. As things are the heat from a panel would fry any LCD or OLEDs that are out there now. Heat is a big issue with computing on many levels.

The power output of solar cells is also very low. You might reduce the requirements of a laptop and make it work but if would require some comprises. Not back lighting, using solid state hard drives, reducing graphic needs by reversing the screen (white on black), etc.

[mydogisdead414]

I think it wont power the laptop but trickle charge the battery with a typical 15" screen

a solar panel a metre square is a better prospect, at a possible 12v 2.2amps

[waqasahmed939]

Another issue also is obviously heat. Laptops do get hot, yes and manufacturers are looking for ways to make them cooler, for better efficiency meaning better battery life etc...

The next big thing will probably be solar and hopefully manufacturers have cooled their laptops down enough

There is also the Sahara solar project, under going right now, which seems interesting

[waqasahmed939]

This idea of yours is not just seperate to yourself, however others, including me(as a PC seller) have thought of such a thing

As gov'ts around the world become greener, such technology will eventually be inevitable

At the moment, the problem is that the panels wont generate much power-though netbooks could lead the way, and the fact that you would probably need a netbook inside a widescreen laptop if you get my gist-ie all the parts in a laptop to fit all the panels. This is still very costly

[ArtyFart]

Sounds a bit ditzy witzy, the panel would have to be about the size of about five or more of those laptop screens to power it from the Sun,

and the heat from the panel could not dissipate without air space behind it, the laptop would eventually be damaged from heat.

[r4nd0mn4me]

It is a good idea, but as you can see in my video, the panel gets a little on the large side.

[nanogirl]

You would not need the sunlight to be on the actual screen to power it.

[Daffmeister187]

The idea itself is good but i'm doubtful as to how it would turn out.

To begin with i guess most people can agree that not being able to see what's on the screen due to sunlight is nothing but annoying, also laptops tends to get quite hot without the aid of the sun... i'm not gonna bother to find out how it would turn out with in sunlight.

I'd love to see a laptop with for example some sorta dynamo that generates power out of heat for example as a laptop is a great factory for just that.

[colterczyruk]

the panel would need to swivel away from the lid so it can take full advantage of the sun because no one can read laptop on there lap (like at a park) with the screen at 90 degrees. cool idea though.

[akm5176]

Some lap tops do have swivle screens, so that isnt far fetched. Also, lap tops have about 3-9 hours battery life depending on the battery...something like this would just add to the longevity of it. Plus, solar pannels do come in a cloth like form that can easily be wrapped up or laid out on the ground.

[darkstarvibes]

you need a solar power cell that can generate enough electricty, commerically no such item exists but UK and US military do have kit that can do that but they wont be letting the general public have it for a long time yet unless someone invents another way and bypasses the military buying up their product, patent and invention.

[akm5176]

Actually, if you look around on you tube theres several people who have rigged up their own solar powered battery sources for laptops. Not to mention their are commercial solar chargers. ^^ Also, the military can't just BUY UP a patent. Patent are things that can't be bought out, their ownership can only be transferred willingly from the owner to a buyer.

[Kulumuli]

Well, there is limits from what you can get from solar panels, at least for me who needs the power for 3D design. There is, however a possibility to use gallium arsenide cells, which i belive hase twice the capacity of silisium ones, but cost $100.000 per square meter.

The better solution i think would be hydrogen fuel cells. With these you EXTEND the battery capacity! Given you have clean energy.

[Kulumuli]

With micro fuel cells there is the possibility to extend power time from 10-50(!) times.

[PabloManUK]

solar ipod sounds good - "solar Lightpod" :)

[lekkerdubbeldekker]

yeh good idea. let's put the laptop in the direct sun, heat it up, explode it and have some firework. Might be not such a useful idea for people who are not working in rooms like ms miller. Why not pack the laptops with a solar extension. you could work while the extension would be charged.

[macshacker12]

funny that 30 yr old calculators have all solar but a laptop doen't

[nanogirl]

So true!

[m3harri]

Calculators do not use near the power of a laptop. The processor on a calc could be less than 1Mhz and it is single purpose. Calculations small memory. They have no harddrive, or large 65 million color displays.

[m3harri]

@macshacker12 Calculators do not use near the power of a laptop. The processor on a calc could be less than 1Mhz and it is single purpose. Calculations small memory. They have no harddrive, or large 65 million color displays.

[chrisloUSA]

Would current solar panels mounted on the cover be able to recharge a laptop battery at the same rate a laptop uses the power?

For example, you charge the battery to 100%. Then when you start using the laptop, you use these solar panels from this video to keep the battery from dying. Even with the laptop using Wi-Fi, running the optical drive, etc.

[nanogirl]

: )

[tarohoa]

glad to see someone so enthused about nanotech. a metre square of solar panels can potentially provide 164W. the average power usage for laptops is around 30W. i think this will be highly possible considering the advancements in solar power panels and energy efficient circuits, cpus and OLED displays.

[MrBurstingfoam]

Good thinking but it's not a new idea, it has crossed the mind of about every geek on the planet at some point.

The reason you haven't seen it is because it's not practical. While its powered on yr panel will be angled downwards & that size panel isn't going to give you much charge e.g. turned off and left out in sun all day = ~20 mins of facebook?

Think of the light and heat a laptop must emit. I don't think lid panels will ever live power a modern laptop although they could trickle charge it

[nanogirl]

We are getting closer with these newly released solar powered batteries! It's very exciting!

[nanogirl]

Did you guys see that the iphone is going to be able to be solar powered! I saw it on the news last night. We are getting close : )

[henryrhenryr]

If you put the solar panel on the lid you would have to sit upside down to let the sun shine on the panel. I think hydrogen cells are probably the way to go on laptops...

[victhai208]

Laptop need about 40-100W. Solar panel needed to power that is the size of a window or two, plus you need an inverter from DC to AC. It is cheaper to just get a generator $300-$1000.

[PabloManUK]

interesting idea

[codester1111]

Nanotech promises better solar panels, so this will be a definate thing of the future. In addition nano machines also promise lower power consumption for laptops so cloudy days may not be much of an issue.

[1clubfight1]

you would need a lot more panels then that to even start a lap top!

[TheMessengersOfGod]

Buena idea Gina *-* *****

[nanogirl]

Muchas gracias ThemessengersOfGod!

[AnimTV]

First of all. how much volts could take a laptop ?

[zimtower]

How much will 5 dollars get me?

[PabloManUK]

not much, solar panels arent very cheap and you wouldnt get much power for a laptop using hardrive with motors

[mcasual]

and its not really expensive

[nanogirl]

Yes!

[khlymore]

what about an electrosis powered water computer??

[thoughtwaretv]

Lets do this.

[marquisdejolie]

I want one!

[nanogirl]

Cool, me too : )