There are plenty of
solar bags on the market which can squeeze some extra juice into your phone or handheld, or perhaps even trickle a charge into your laptop over a few days, but Voltaic is launching the first member of its lineup to fully charge a laptop with a day of sunlight. The "Generator" bag produces 14.7 watts from a single solar panel, but that's only with a full day of sun, so we're guessing you'll end up getting much less of a laptop charge with a normal day of use. In addition to a laptop plug the bag includes adapters for phones, USB devices and a car charger, and there's a battery inside the bag to improve the efficiency of the panel and to keep the juice flowing when you're in the shade. It all sounds great, but the bad news here is the price: $599. Yeah, your money might be better spent on a few spares batteries, but if you're going to be spending a week or so away from plugs, the Generator just might be the ticket.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
jason @ Jan 9th 2008 4:55AM
This would be handy for Oceanic 815
dj-kenpo @ Jan 9th 2008 1:05PM
there needs to be something past highest ranked
treetrunk @ Jan 9th 2008 5:05AM
"produces 14.7 watts from a single solar panel, but that's only with a full day of sun"
Watts are an "energy per second" unit, so that makes no sense. It's a bit like saying a car can do 60 miles every hour but only if you drive it for a week. You're either confusing what Watts are or you mean Watt-hours, which are a unit of energy as opposed to power.
MyFirstMoniker @ Jan 9th 2008 7:38AM
I suspect he means "in full sunlight" and the 14.7 W figure is correct. 14 Wh is very low for a full day in sunlight.
STUD HUNK @ Jan 9th 2008 5:21AM
So in order to get the sunlight, would one have to constantly place the bag near sunny windows?
Is the energy cumulative? How long does it last?
This could be practical if the energy is accumulated and stored for few days.
$600 is nothing for a millionaire CEO or CIO who constantly must have access to a laptop and would like additional security if a battery runs out and a spare runs out also.
Don't forget, by the next decade this technology will be far more advanced and cost efficient than it is today - and may become mainstream among geeks.
Just look at how PCs, laptops, cellphones, digital cameras, portable music players and storage media have developed since the 1990s.
Hinke @ Jan 9th 2008 7:50AM
I'd guess it's something for google exec's? They have to make up the co2 emissions from those hammock equipped planes by some means, don't they?
Hinke
Danny Lee @ Jan 9th 2008 8:53AM
It's obviously, that this idea only have a point, if your "bag" can deliver enough power for your notebook to run even with an empty batteries. As we can see here, it's not the case. So what's the solution? It's simple: the solution is to use the whole bag's surface as an battery (you have to clean inside before putting there your nb) or to use a more efficient solar-panel + a less power consuming notebook. Otherwise it's not a solution for any problems.
Wwhat @ Jan 9th 2008 9:10AM
Would a handcrank not be quicker and more effective? And also give those "CEO's" 'stud hunk' mentions some workout.
rcappo @ Jan 9th 2008 10:42AM
I would like to be able to take my laptop anywhere and not have to worry about plugging it in to a wall outlet. About half the airports welcome laptops and provide plenty of outlets, but then there are airports(ORD,LAX,SYD) that do not want to provide outlets at all.
I wouldn't need this in a laptop bag style though. Just a solar panel that could fit in my current case would be perfect.
Steve A. @ Jan 9th 2008 11:00AM
If you took a second to read about the product - you'd see that the bag has a battery built into the case. The panel will charge the bag's battery during the day, say sitting in a window, and then when the power is needed, simply plug in the laptop to the bag's battery. They claim it can charge the internal battery with a typical day's amount of sunlight, and the bag's internal battery can fully charge an 'average' laptop's battery.
It'd be handy for use on-the-go, or while visiting 3rd world countries, where grid power is not reliable. Now people just need to do like I have, and power their servers, desktop and laptop from a solar source.
http://www.jbdg.com/gallery/solarinstall/bin/images/small/IMG_1769.jpg
Steve A. @ Jan 9th 2008 11:02AM
If you took a second to read about the product - you'd see that the bag has a battery built into the case. The panel will charge the bag's battery during the day, say sitting in a window, and then when the power is needed, simply plug in the laptop to the bag's battery. They claim it can charge the internal battery with a typical day's amount of sunlight, and the bag's internal battery can fully charge an 'average' laptop's battery.
It'd be handy for use on-the-go, or while visiting 3rd world countries, where grid power is not reliable. Now people just need to do like I have, and power their servers, desktop and laptop from a solar source.
http://www.jbdg.com/gallery/solarinstall/bin/images/small/IMG_1769.jpg
Can @ Jan 9th 2008 11:18AM
If only it has provided more energy, and was not 600$, then I could have bought it.
There was a device called Freeloader which is much smaller than a bag and does the same thing for much cheaper!
Even though the size of the panels are different, I think Freeloader didn't have much different power output. However, I'm just worried about if these get stolen in a public place? It's simply left under the sun, probably in an open area. Someone must come with a solution for that also.
Blah @ Jan 9th 2008 1:45PM
"It's simply left under the sun, probably in an open area. Someone must come with a solution for that also."
Like maybe the solar panel could power a gun turret that blows away anyone who gets within six feet.
Can @ Jan 9th 2008 1:47PM
Well, I was thinking of a non-destructive solution.
It's a fact that these solar power devices can get stolen, probably with the device attached to it, if any.
ug @ Jan 9th 2008 12:24PM
You'd probably be better off charging it with a handcrank like the original OLPC concept.
Jacob @ Jan 9th 2008 5:07PM
Are there any stand-alone hand-crank power units like that available? Now that would be nice for when you're on a camping trip, or away from wired power for a few days, with a laptop.
David @ Jan 9th 2008 1:14PM
I wonder how many users of this product will end up damaging their laptops by placing this black bag in direct sunlight with the laptop inside? The result could be a very, very hot laptop.
Dankoozy @ Jan 9th 2008 3:25PM
Stationary bicycle FTW.
I'm sure those rich CEO's can afford to take some lowly peon with them to peddle the stationary bikes while they use MS office
kepper @ Jan 9th 2008 4:17PM
Listen to steve a.
this is a perfectly viable solution to power your laptop. The panel powers a battery pack inside which converts dc to ac at the proper voltage and amps to power a laptop. a full day of sun connotates 4-6 hours of full sunlight (no clouds, shade, etc.) this means, without the battery, and the laptop turned off, it would take all day to charge your laptop full. the Battery included probably has enough power in it (when fully charged) to power the laptop few a few hours. after that you need to either plug the laptop into the bag for 5 hours in sunlight to charge it full , or just leave the bag out to charge its own battery.
(I am a solar systems engineer, granted 14.7 watt hours isn't a huge amount of power.. its enough to get the job done.)
Steve Paine @ Jan 14th 2008 12:20PM
14W is cutting it really fine i'd say. The opportunities to leave a bag alone for 3 hours are going to be few and far between.
I've done a solar computing tour with a 25W panel and it was really really hard. (Admittedly it was in in Germany in Sept but even so, it was hard to plan a day around getting energy.)
Steve
http://www.solar-umpc.com
Jacob @ Jan 9th 2008 5:02PM
Now, if they had one of these sized for my EeePC, that would be rather handy. Perhaps in the form of a backpack or messenger bag, rather than a briefcase? That way, when I'm walking around outside, either to and from work or between classes, my little compy could be recharging (or, at least building up some extra juice in the in-bag battery).
Jacob @ Jan 9th 2008 5:04PM
Or, better yet, as an add-on to a camping backpack rig, so that when I'm out hiking my laptop could be recharging... and then I could use it in the evening, while sitting around the campfire... and then have it recharge fully during the next day's hike. Now that would be a good piece of survival equipment. :-)
Jacob @ Jan 9th 2008 5:04PM
Or, better yet, as an add-on to a camping backpack rig, so that when I'm out hiking my laptop could be recharging... and then I could use it in the evening, while sitting around the campfire... and then have it recharge fully during the next day's hike. Now that would be a good piece of survival equipment. :-)
Sendeshi @ Jan 10th 2008 11:49AM
It's good, but it wouldn't work here in England
ET @ Jan 11th 2008 12:19AM
I wish I have one when I traveled in Africa.