Solar-Powered Computer from Samsung Coming This Year

Samsung has developed a new computer that is solar-powered! It is the Samsung NC215S netbook and it will be the first computer of its kind. The power will come from a solar panel embedded in the lid (see images above and below and click to make larger).

Samsung’s Russian branch officially announced it. It will only be available in Russia in August but is expected to be available in the US before that, July 3.

The computer needs 2 hours of sunlight exposure to get 1 hour of working battery life and the battery fully charged will reportedly last about 14 or so hours. The 10.1-inch 1024 x 600 pixel display is appropriately designed for use in direct sunlight (of course, an important feature for a computer that lives on sunlight). Gizmag reports:

The key feature of Samsung NC215S is the solar panel located on the lid, which charges a six-cell battery equipped with PowerPlus technology to provide extended running times. Considering that NC215S is supposed to work in bright sunlight, the display offers a brightness of 300 cd/m2 and an anti-reflective coating that Samsung claims provides colorful and clear images in any situation – even in direct light.

Initial prices, according to Liliputing.com, are $399 in the US and 13 999 Rubles ($500) in Russia. In the US, the computer details are as follows:

10.1 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel matte display
1GB of RAM
1.66 GHz Intel Atom N570 dual core processor

Pretty sweet looking netbook. Makes me wonder how long it until solar-powered computers are the norm, or at least widely available. Would certainly cut your electricity bill down pretty considerably (certainly mine, given how much time I spend on this high-tech typewriter).

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giveme space21

Yes, solar energy. At the other post in this site, I read about the mechanical pressure-powered electricity possibility. Let the maths done by the experts but I’d suggest that the industry is not ready yet for near future. We can name a lot of brands and they are still on the “rare-Earth” perspective. Too much loss for the industry. The resistance will not come from the consumers but from the industry.
giveme space21

Yes, solar energy. At the other post in this site, I read about the mechanical pressure-powered electricity possibility. Let the maths done by the experts but I’d suggest that the industry is not ready yet for near future. We can name a lot of brands and they are still on the “rare-Earth” perspective. Too much loss for the industry. The resistance will not come from the consumers but from the industry.
Anonymous

Let’s see- two hours of sunlight for one hour of use.

So you leave your laptop out on a park bench in the sun for four hours so you can watch a movie on sun power.

Can’t see why that wouldn’t work….

Anonymous

Yeah, when i first saw that i thought the same (well, not the bit about the
bench ). but seems i assume it doesn’t need a ton of sun to charge &
charges fine while in use (otherwise, Samsung is throwing their money away,
which i don’t think it would do). Not for a hard-core user like me who stays
up too late on the comp, tho

Anonymous

The more I think about this the less I like the idea…

1) Solar panels need to be in the sun and pointed at the sun. Under what conditions would one find themselves able (and willing) to stick their laptop in direct sun?

There’s theft. The inability to use while charging (unless you get down on your knees and peer up into the downward slanted screen). Finding sun for lots of city dwellers. And heat is not good for electronics.

2) A solar panel needs to spend most of its time out of the sun. For the above reasons. Out in the sun, hooked up to the grid or charging batteries it could be producing useful power. Lots of wasted capacity (unless you have a safe, dry place to put your laptop in the sun all day and then use it only when the sun is down).

3) Laptops have rather short lives compared to solar panels. Perhaps five years. The oldest array of installed solar panels are now over 35 years old and still going strong. The laptop is likely to get thrown away after five or so years and if the solar panel is not recycled and put to use then 80% to 90% of its useful lifetime is wasted.

If you’re going to be out doing something like fieldwork for an extended time better to get a larger solar panel, one that you can tie down/lock down and run a wire to your (secured) laptop or battery pack. Then you can compute away in the shade and not worry about loosing your gear to curious monkeys.

I didn’t see anything about hard drive size, but assuming 160 gigs one can get a netbook for under $300. (Check NewEgg)

Netbooks are real energy savers. I’m using an ASUS 10″ netbook as my regular computer. I plug in a 20″ monitor, USB keyboard and USB trackball. Gives me all the speed and power I need for what I do. And then when I go traveling I just unplug it and stick it in my bag.

Anonymous

Hmm, a lot of good points, you were thinking about it!

I assume some of the technical things are accounted for, and it is made for
comfortable use (but could be wrong… will wait to hear the reviews).

The short life span and high % of people not recycling is pretty big — good
point. Even with the best policies on that front, I imagine a lot of solar
panels will go to waste. (Better to have solar power on your house or biz &
use it to power efficient electronics.)

Thanks for the extra thought, as always! I’m still very curious to see one
of these & read the reviews, but it may not be such a practical idea. As I
said, & you hinted I think, better to have solar panels on your roof and
efficient electronics.