Jun/081
Voltaic Generator Solar Bag. Enough power for a UMPC.
SelectSolar in the UK have just emailed me to let me know that Voltaic have an improved Solar Bag solution. You might remember that I was considering a JuiceBag for the tour last year but in the end the idea was dropped because the wattage wasn’t high enough. This solution from Voltaic bumps the wattage up to 17W by using a monocrystalline panel.
The Voltaic Generator is the first solar bag powerful enough to charge a laptop. It uses high efficiency solar cells to generate maximum power in the limited space available. It includes a battery pack custom designed to efficiently store and convert the electricity generated. It can also charge cell phones and most other hand held electronics.
At a recommended price of $599 you won’t be buying one for the kids but for field-work this provides protection and charging in one neat solution.
SelectSolar will have these in stock soon.
Jan/080
14W Solar bag. Useful but expensive.
It looks like Voltaic will be releasing a 14w solar panel bag, a huge step up from their, largely useless, at least for UMPCs, 4W bad. I hope its not a typo as the three-panel setup look exactly the same as before.
If it really is 14W then I’m interested. Well almost. The design is a little on the ugly side and the price of $559 means I could actually buy a stack of spare Li-ion batteries that, charged, would run a UMPC or one of the new Menlow-based MIDS showing up at CES for a few weeks or more!
This story is from CNet and the author mention in the article that they will be running a story about solar laptops soon. That should be interesting and one to look out for.
Thanks to Matt for the tip.