Tag Archive
Taking the iPhone off the power grid.
Kevin Tofel, an eco-friendly blogger at the excellent mobile-focused website JKOnTheRun has bought himself a solar-powered battery-pack and plans to run his iPhone for as long as he can without connecting it to the mains power. The charger is a Solio Classic with a 6wh capacity cell. The iPhone has a 5wh cell. At first [...]
Emergency Computing for the Masses.
When I did the Solar UMPC tour in 2007, it was an expensive job pulling together all the equipment. Foldable solar panels and ultra mobile computers were specialist items and difficult to find. The UMPC alone cost over 1100 Euro and had to be ordered through a specialist. Fortunately, Intel are starting to deliver on [...]
Solar-UMPC-powered web server testing.
Yes, its that time of year again where we get the first encouraging days of sunshine in Europe so I’ve been into the cellar and dusted-off my Sunlinq 24W solar panel. Sun strength for the last 2.5 days. I’m not planning a solar-umpc tour this year but I am planning to get some use [...]
Mathematics, sunburn and how 1.2kw of energy gives you 2 hours of computing.
When I did my first tests and calculations about the use of solar power to drive a PC I was quite amazed at the inefficiency of the process and today’s ‘laboratory conditions’ test proves just how much room for improvement there is. It’s thanks to devices like UMPCs that this is project is at all possible [...]
Solar charging. Lead Acid vs Li-Ion
In a recent comment here, someone asked why the Lead-Acid battery was needed. Its probably not too clear in the video why I use it so I reproduce my answer (which comes from the best of my knowledge!) here. There are two main problems with charging Li-Ion batteries from Solar panels. Firstly, Li-Ion batteries (in [...]
Could Solar Energy solve the UMPC Battery Life Problem?
They are expensive and inefficient. Solar panels need to develop a lot before they can provide the average man on the street with enough energy to supplement a worthwhile portion of his energy intake. Mind you, the average man is pretty inefficient. Cars, lighting, heating, cooling. We sap up energy like there’s no need to [...]
Refining the Solar equipment. Li-Ion or Lead-Acid?
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 [...]
Daily power requirements.
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 [...]
Solar panel testing. Tough calculations.
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 [...]
Choosing the Solar UMPC
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 [...]