I’ve finally decided on the start and end points of the tour and I’m 90% sure that its going to cover 500km from Strasbourg to Duesseldorf along the Rhein. The route will take me through Karlsruhe and Mannheim, Mainz, Koblenz, Bonn, Koeln (Cologne) and will end on the Rheinufer (Rhein promenade) in Duesseldorf with a very [...]
I’ve just had a nice conversation with my energy advisors, Select Solar, about some of the issues I’ve seen with the tests I’ve done so far. The main problem being that Li-Ion batteries will not trickle charge. They require a certain level of stable voltage/current before they start to charge and this wastes the possibility [...]
I’m quite lucky to have been able to test a lot of UMPCs out over the last year. Most have been good in their own target markets but only some have been good for me. One of my favorites, the Kohjinsha SA1, an AMD based device is also one of the most-power efficient too and I [...]
The weather is still bad here in Germany and there’s no chance of getting reasonable testing done on a solar panel at the moment. The forecast is also bad so I’ve decided to send the test P3 panel back. In the very short time I was able to test it I was able to learn [...]
Isnt it typical? Just hours after starting the solar panel testing last week it started to get cloudy. You can even see the first clouds appearing on the sun power graph that I used on the first test. Ever since then the weather has been bad. Look at the last three days below. With weather [...]
Its decision time on the UMPC and I think I’ve just about come to my conclusion – The Samsung Q1b HSDPA. Its not perfect but it covers the important requirement of efficiency very well. Maybe in a few more months there will be better options but right now I need to focus on one device [...]
Thanks to Select Solar UK I received a 15W P3 Solar panel this morning. As I write, it’s out in the garden with 660W/m2 of sun power beaming down on it! Temp in the shade is about 22 degrees. P3 Folding Solar Panel Its smaller and lighter than I expected too. The first test was [...]
I’ve been making another list! Its the big one. What do I need to do to prepare for the Solar UMPC tour which could start in under 4 weeks if all goes well. Below you’ll find a summary of the things I need to sort out before I go. I’ll be going into detail on [...]