First Laptop With Full-Sized Solar Panels Will Run On Ubuntu 155
iwritethings writes "The Sol, a rugged-looking laptop with built-in foldable solar panels is designed for use in the military, education and developing countries where electricity is scarce. The Canada-based makers behind the Sol claim that the device can run directly off solar energy or can harness the sun's rays to charge the laptop's battery in under two hours. Once fully charged, the battery is expected to last between eight and 10 hours. While the concept of solar charging gadgets isn't new, this type of battery life is unprecedented. There's no word on when Sol will launch, but its headed to Ghana first, and it will run Ubuntu Linux."
Re:Matte screen (Score:3, Interesting)
Who says you need to use it in sunlight? Use it for a for however long you want indoors/under shade and then put it outside to charge. According to the article/summary it has a 10 hour battery life (probably embellished to be sure, but it probably lasts at least 6 under normal usage). If the designers are really clever, they'll give it two separate battery packs, one that stays with the laptop and one that is attached to an undockable solar module. Use the laptop indoors (theoretical 5 hour battery life) while you leave the solar module in the sun. Re-dock the solar module and it starts transferring at least partial power back to the laptops batteries (not sure how well laptop battery packs can transfer +90% of their power to another battery but 50/50 distribution should be relatively easy) so you can place the solar module back in the sun more quickly.
PowerBook 1400 (Score:4, Interesting)
Apple's PowerBook 1400 had a removable book cover style lid so you could put in pretty pictures etc. A company called Keep It Simple Systems made a solar panel that slipped right in. (TidBITS article here [tidbits.com]). Here's a quote from MacFormat magazine describing it (source [wordpress.com]):
The PowerCover is especially neat because it fits into the BookCover slot on PowerBook 1400s, so you can leave it on more or less permanently. This will extend the battery life by around 35% (the PowerCover is, after all, a bit smaller than the Mercury II). KISS claims you can expect its products to give you up to 20 years of free energy. An extreme example of these devices’ usefulness is that of Ralph Harvey, a research scientist who uses a solar charger on his PowerBook in the Antarctic where power’s clearly at a premium. [...]