MacBook Solar Powered Laptop System

[johnarnetsr]

LOOKS LIKE A LOT OF WASTED MONEY FOR SOLAR PANELS

[Niandralades1991]

Hi, im working on a college project with Logitech, My project is a Solar powered Remote dock, involving the charging of a logitech harmony remote and incorporating automatic tv on and off functions. What type and size panel would i need to generate the requirements for a remote (they currently are powered on AA Bateries) Any help is appreciated! Thanks!

[ZX9RinHollywood]

Could I power a portable Ait conditioner with this? Uses 900w and 115v. If not what kind of set up would I need?

[grand4theft4auto]

@ZX9RinHollywood I believe the ac would not last that long... Maybe 1 hour or less ?

[grand4theft4auto]

@ZX9RinHollywood And you would need a powerful inverter. 12v to 110v and 1000 watts above

[eraldorh]

heh, you know the ammount of enegery used in producing that battery far out weighs the ammount your saving.

[gaypotter]

DC to AC then back to DC?? FUCK THAT, buy a seperate charger, smash it up, rip out the bridge rectifier and transformer with your teeth and hook it up directly!!

[KyleReidzilla]

Lies, there are still emmisions! The average Macbook user emits 8.6 tonnes of smugness into the atmosphere every year!

[koktelici]

kill a watt, rofl.

[u4eagun]

lets hope thats a pure sine wave inverter

[BREEZAR428]

haha this is good though especially that it is eco-friendly

[andeng567567]

how long does it takes to fully charged that laptop ?

[wifebeater756]

get 2 6 volt deep cycle batterys and you will have one big ass 12volt u dont want a car battery for what u got but it works eather way

[GenTristan]

Try to get a DC charger for your laptop, but use the inverter for many other things, such as lamps, fans, desktops, etc.

[wwjoshdew]

cool idea, but i would replace that battery with a marine battery or a deep cycle. you would get MUCH more run time out of it.

[toobroke2fight]

Do some research b-4 building please! thie is NOT very efficient! 12V chargers that step up voltage to 19.5V (My VAIO) is not very expensive! You can build a circuit from radio shack for about $10 that would take 24V ( two 12V batteries wired in series) down to 19.5V ( or your voltage) Use larger wire! use a wire size chart! you cant lose the V you get to wire size! Great idea, but upgrade from here! Joe

[vidman429]

1 person doesnt like effeciancy....

[JeffreyJons]

You cannot afford Macbook? Check out giveaway at macbook7, com Take your chance NOW

I like it

[BayAreaGamers]

I use a small panel just to charge my netbook. I like using my netbook instead of my Macbook pro because i just surf the web and it saves electrity. it lasts 4x longer than the macbook battery

[bonds911]

if you buy the lithium battery pack like the silver back gorilla you wont need no inverters at all like you do in the acid battery right ?

[Juffrey1]

Cool!! I like it!!!

[xXwhygodwhyXx]

I feel like just creating a charging system for all my stuff cell phones, laptops ect all to one cord from a solar panel that ill mount.

[mintoo2cool]

1.how long will the battery last before you'd need to recharge?

2.is it possible for 12 solar panels to generate enough energy to charge the battery and give power to laptop (via inverter ofcourse) at the same time? how many panels would be needed? how to calculate how many panels would be needed?

[mydogisdead414]

buy a Apple Magsafe Airline Adaptor , it might save you wasting energy through the inverter. Im thinking of doing something similar but with a powergorilla, for portability.

[amnonholland1]

when will apple build a laptop that uses little power? What about low power SSD harddrives, low power processors, flash memory etc. A solar panel the size of the laptop lid will generate 5-10Watts in ambient light, which could be plenty to power a laptop considering that thermodynamically the laptop actually dosnt do any useful work (Just generates heat). I suppose solar powered laptops will only take off when low power photonic processors are introduced.

[robs1642]

@amnonholland1 you're so cool

[kasmember17]

How Much did all this cost?

[amnonholland1]

@kasmember17 it will be cheaper because you offset the cost off a wall charger. A solar cell that size would cost between $20-40

[moeisme67]

Solar via charge controller to solar storage battery out through voltage converter to match your laptop's needs. Forget the inverter... wastes power.

You need the solar storage battery to be able to support the voltage converter (bump up from 12v range to 16 for MacBooks & 19-21 for PC's).

[DarkAngel182]

Question, in the laptop set up your coverting DC to AC and back to DC again.

Wouldn't it be easier just to find a way of linking the battery straight to the laptop, rather than having all these adaptors to convert the current from one type to the other and back again?

[DJChryZis]

I think it's better to use the original MacBook Charger because it has the best charge-control for the macbook battery, if you would use something directly the battery may get damaged

[DarkAngel182]

Well I know that most laptops/macbooks are something like 19vDC, whereas standard batteries are 12v.

But surely there must be a simpler way of converting 12v DC to 19v DC (or whatever current it takes) than this elaborate set up?

I mean I like the idea of a solar power backup, but this does seem a little bit "heath robinson" to coin a phrase.

[DJChryZis]

but in the macbook charger there's an intelligent charging controller which charges the macbook at optimal conditions

it's complicated to build a control like that

[DarkAngel182]

I see (I think)!

[ericvanhallen]

you should make it small and portable and attach it strait to your macbook so it charges on the go

[5b4afq]

An 100w inverter makes more sence ,, otherwise the inverter will consume more than the charger ...

[takforalt]

Since it works it does not matter but could you tell me if this inverter converts to a modified sine wave (AC). or pure sine wave.?

[moguls914]

not quite 100% eco-friendly. it is a lead acid battery.

[grand4theft4auto]

@moguls914 lead acid battery is 98% recyclable

[Jakewelborn]

Pay the electric company $2 a month to power the laptop or spend around a $1000 on a make shift solar system with consumable batteries? Thats a tough one...

[klintous]

@Jakewelborn but what about people that can use it in their car, truck, van or rv. that is whats its good for!!!

[jaysteinbourg]

@Jakewelborn I just had a look on ebay and you can get it built for under $300 easily.

[impulsive2urge]

that's a lot of mess, i'm fine with my power outlet.

[7501234]

Wait till your outlet has no power...lol

[impulsive2urge]

that won't happen in your lifetime.

[flir67]

I have this exact setup but I'm only a 100watt inverter, works great on my macbook. have had it a little over a year and still strong

[hgallegos915]

Hey im thinking of doing this, but wouldnt it be easier to use a dc charger? or am I wrong? Im new at this.

[zeleftikam]

Yes, a DC charger would be far more efficient. I can't afford one, though. Good luck.

[housegruv]

@zeleftikam First of all, awesome work! I love solar projects. Hey you should check on amazon now, there is a dc charger for macbooks for only like 29 bucks. Good luck!

[housegruv]

@zeleftikam First of all, nice work! I love solar panel projects. Just wanted to give you a heads up that there are dc chargers for mackbooks available for only like 29 bucks now on amazo n. Going to get one for solar charging my mackbook.

[Circadrum16]

probably the most annoying thing i would never put together, great job though.

[hellokitty2007]

The inverters are wasting a LOT of power.

[zeleftikam]

I know. This has been discussed before.

[andeng567567]

@zeleftikam can you explain to me why inverters wasting power?

[moeisme67]

There is a new "solar macbook" video posted now, and the system is much smaller, really lightweight, & highly portable. All DC, with a lithium battery & rollable PowerFilm panel. Designed for kayakers, explorers, & people who need to take their macbook into the wild.

[guerrillapower]

Cool though you loose some power using the inverter. You're converting DC to AC to DC to charge the macbook. If you get the 12v car charger you'll extend your run time a bit.

I use a folding brunton 26 watt panel to charge my netbook and iphone directly. I do plan on adding a deep cycle battery.

[griffgriff100]

you should use a deep cycle battery, not a car battery, and ultima 3210, don't you meen 60 minutes, not 60 hours?

[ultima3210]

I use battry mon on my computer and my laptop uses 12 watts at 8 volts. Which translates to 1.5 amps of current. If I use a 100Ah car battery, it would give me roughly 60 hours of emergency laptop time.

[zeleftikam]

Thanks for this important information.

[bonds911]

@zeleftikam its true if you want real off the grid checkout powertravellerdot c om is very sick it really is portable and off the grid and theyr new generation is arriving soon

[queglay]

@ultima3210 a car battery shouldn't be discharged completely. the less its discharged, the longer it will last before it is destroyed. 25-50% discharge is a good rule to run with.

[ultima3210]

What people dont realize is that when the power goes out, this guy will still be able to charge his phone, play battlefield 2 on his laptop. If he sets up a battery bank of 3-4 batteries. Its good hours of laptop time

[cadw600]

hey run a small tv next time

[mbishop2470]

Hi. Nice idea. How much did the solar panel cost? Is there anything special about that car battery? It is a car battery right?

[CAJUNNSC]

Sizing of new batteries, power packs etc are such that you could simply power (charge) one heavy duty or three PB batteries and not need to carry anythin with you considering 3 charged batts would carry you until you returned home for a day or so. Nice job. What's the panel kw / setup come to? Thanks

[r4nd0mn4me]

I take it Mac's don't have car chargers?

[jotoew]

how does that macbook work with a modified sine wave inverter?????

[hing983]

hi yr inverter made loud noise , can u stand it ?

and the battery outside yr house , are u tire carry yr battery back and forth evetthing u use ur mac haha

[zeleftikam]

Word.

[oc5nsli341nforce4]

I ran a tv and n64 a few times with a similar setup for a couple hours at a time once. The tv wasn't a modern flat panel. Don't ask, I once lived off the grid.

[zeleftikam]

Living off-grid but couldn't give up your Nintendo? Hmmm.

[oc5nsli341nforce4]

Yea I know. :)

[colterczyruk]

cool stuff man. haters are dumb. people need to start thinking like we do and making some minor changes to reduce our impact on our now deminised planet. how much did the setup minus the power brick for the mac cost? for people who want somthing mor portable u could build a box to put everything in out of some nice cedar or something so you could have a movable setup.

[hombremujeriego]

watch out the police

[toobroke2fight]

A nice 12 volt car charger for your computer will make the battery last longer. The inverter is a waste in this application. The laptop runs on 11 to 20 Volts so why go up to 120AC to get converted back to low voltage. I just use my car charger and go directly from my set up to my laptop! You lose between 20-60% of your power in the DC to AC conversion! Just FYI Joe

[zeleftikam]

I know, Joe. This has been discussed before in these comments.

[ultima3210]

This is really amazing to me, in the event of a power outage or something if you didnt have a backup generator or something you could still use that battery to power vital communications equipment (cell phone,radio...)

[ctfbitaliano]

hahaahahaah you better watch out the cops are coming for you!

(get it? there was a bunch of sirens)

[Tanuki071973]

Ignore the cynics! Well done!

[trentfarmer]

all those devices just to power up a laptop. And what happens if one of those devices goes. Thats not energy independence thats an illusion of it..

[zeleftikam]

Well it's only about half a million fewer parts than it takes to generate and transmit electricity over the grid. Anyway, without moving parts, I think the setup is pretty reliable.

[ultima3210]

great for camping...if you want to haul the battery around though and laptop

[ather001]

great setup. Please forgive my ignorance in this area but why not just leave it as DC and use a voltage regulator to set the incoming voltage? Just bypass the AC connection altogether. Thanks.

[zeleftikam]

You do make a good point about the DC-DC converter, it is just very expensive (more expensive than my entire setup) because of the MagSafe adapter.

[marsL001]

how manny watts is your converter?

mine is 180 watt(just started with my own solar-life)

nice video thow

*****

[zeleftikam]

400

[paulsu27]

Please can you tell me what the solar charge controller does? Is it to step the voltage from the solar panels down to the right voltage for charging your battery?

[zeleftikam]

Sure. The charge controller prevents overcharging of the battery. It functions by connecting the solar panels to the battery if the battery voltage drops below 13 volts, and disconnects the solar panels from the battery if the battery voltage exceeds 14.2 volts.

[chrisloUSA]

I love your cleaver solar power setup, but is something like this possible on a smaller scale?

With these new Flexible-Thin solar cells that are so small can you paste them on the laptop cover, and use that to power/recharge your laptop?

I don't know much about solar cells, but I know they make DC power and laptops run on DC power. So you wouldn't need an inverter or power brick which add weight or take up precious space. Is this possible? I would love to hear from an expert.

[zeleftikam]

It is very difficult to get enough amperage to power/charge a computer from solar cells. You certainly can't do it with panels the size of a laptop bag. I have to use a large array charging a battery from dawn to sunset in order to charge my laptop completely. You have to have a battery in the system, or you have to have a very large number of solar cells and direct sunlight all the time.

Anyway, would you really want to leave your computer outside all the time? Theft.

[chrisloUSA]

I was hoping a setup like what I suggested would work for when I am out away from a power source. Something that can trickle charge the battery as the power is depleted.

I would if this setup could at least extend the life of your battery?

[zeleftikam]

You do make a good point about the DC-DC converter, it is just very expensive (more expensive than my entire setup) because of the MagSafe adapter.

[tr1ggz]

i would get it if it came in like a cool apple like casing and made less noise!!! and was stashed away somewhere!!!! not on ma desk and stuff lol

[zeleftikam]

Yeah, it is possible to put it in a case. I had everything in a small toolbox when I was using a smaller battery, but I changed to a full-size car battery and it no longer fits. I had everything laid out on the table so that people could see the way things are connected for this video.

[specialbuddy1]

I was going to do something like this. TSC had panels for sale last winter but I never bought one.

[marthale7]

I have been charging my batteries with 15 Watts with the solar panels from harbor freight, looks like you have a Much better setup than mine as your solar panels put out much more than mine do.

[FilmNFire]

PS... Otherwise... cool! We all need to do stuff like this... Cya

[adambroin]

couldn't you just connect the solar panels directly to the macbook with a set-up to ensure a 16.5V, 3.65A DC; the same as the magsafe adapter's output?

it seems pointless to go from DC to AC back to DC again...

[FilmNFire]

I was thinking basically the same things.. esp back and forth from AC/DC... Seems redundant....? And yes... where did you get the solar cells? Expensive?

[TatorMonster]

Nice video! Where did you get the solar panels and what did they set you back?

[flir67]

good job!!!

[thejesters1975]

Love it!

[blkpolo24]

cool and cheap.. but nice

[Arley2011]

Nice