Recharge Your Notebook With Solar Power
Voltaic Systems have been making solar powered rucksacks since 2004, but until now their rucksacks could only generate enough electricity to recharge phones, cameras or tablets…now they have announced a new 10W rucksack – the Array – with enough output to recharge a laptop.
They are also offering the cheaper Fuse 10W Charger, which can be affixed to your normal backpack. Each system contains a 3.4 Watt solar panel as well as a 1600mAh, 60Whr- battery, whic enables a notebook to be recharged, whether or not it’s plugged in. Thus the backpack can effectively be used as a battery back-up. But luckily Voltaic Systems have included an AC charger anyway. Fully recharging a battery requires about 12 hours of direct sunlight, or just six with the AC charger plugged in.
Voltaic claim users get around thirty minutes of notebook use for every hour of direct sunlight. Another advantage is the fact that the charger features two output sockets so it can be used to recharge a second device, such as a tablet or smartphone. The Array measures 18″ x 14″ x 8″ and weighs 5.5 pounds overall. It is limited to 17″ displays, though larger screen sizes are only found on notebooks which people are unlikely to want to carry around too much anyway. The backpack itself is made of waterproof recycled PET.
The solution doesn’t come cheap – the Voltaic Fuse Charger costs $339, and the full Array Solar Laptop Charger Backpack - Solar Bag sells at $389.
Cheaper option of course would be Voltaic Systems 1021 Lightweight Fuse 4W Solar Power Charger for just $129. This would come with 3,000mAh Battery and it could be strapped on bags, tents or bikes.
Via Liliputing
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