The MWC trade show for mobile tech is upon us, and Lenovo's slapped a solar panel on a laptop to bring to its booth. The Yoga Solar PC can run off the power of the sun, packs decent specs, and appears well built. Too bad it's only a concept at this point.
While this looks like a regular laptop, the solar panel on the outside has its mounting brackets and gridlines fitted at the rear of the solar cells, rather than on the front. This is called Back Contact Cell or Interdigitated Back Contact technology, and it's actually been around since the 70s.
Lenovo says its implementation maximizes the cells' active absorption. It can harvest energy from as little as 0.3 watts of sunlight to juice up the battery. The company says this system is efficient enough to help the Yoga Solar play video for one hour from just 20 minutes of charging in direct sunlight.
The laptop itself is a decent piece of kit too: Engadget noted that the concept on the show floor packed an OLED display and a mid-range 50.2-Wh battery, while coming in at just 15 mm thick (or about the same as two iPhones) and 2.7 lb (1.22 kg).
Of course, the laptop's form factor poses a problem when it comes to charging while you're using it with the lid open. A standalone solar panel that you can angle towards sunlight is going to be far more efficient than Lenovo's in-built one. The company's thought of that, and presented a Solar Power Kit for Yoga too.
This portable proof-of-concept panel uses what's called Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) to help harvest as much energy as possible from the sun – and then deliver it to your gadgets via USB-C. The tech is said to be more efficient (as much as 30%) than the older Pulse Width Modulation system found in common solar panels.
Now, this idea isn't new: you can already get similar portable panels from the likes of Anker for about US$110 for 30-W charging of multiple devices. If Lenovo intends to bring this to market, it'll need to come in with competitive pricing and a thoughtful feature set (like adjustable legs to set up the panel at different angles).
If Lenovo can reliably deliver the sort of charging efficiency with a solar laptop it's showing off at MWC today, it could be a compelling choice for digital nomads, van lifers, and other folks who can enjoy the luxury of working outside. Hopefully it won't cost the earth when it arrives.
Source: Lenovo
