Remember that subtle anxiety you get when your laptop battery is dangerously low and there’s no electrical outlet for miles? Well, sleep easy: Lenovo wants to solve this problem with the most abundant and free energy on the planet. The solar laptop looks set to colonize our desks and backpacks. Or maybe not. But it’s still worth talking about, right? Gentlemen, meet the Lenovo Yoga Solar.
Lenovo Yoga Solar, freedom from the battery
How many of us live in symbiosis with the charger, in an eternal search for the nearest outlet? Battery life has become an obsession for those who work on the move. That's why I find the idea of a self-powered laptop fascinating, not only as a technological achievement but as a symbol of liberation.
Lenovo unveiled at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona a prototype that embodies this promise: the Yoga Solar PC. An elegant concept of 1,22 kg, often just 15 mm, with a 14-inch display. On the back cover, 84 tiny solar cells wait patiently to turn photons into autonomy for your device.
“What we're saying now is that about 20 minutes of direct sunlight is equivalent to about an hour of video playback.”
explains a company representative. This is no small achievement, considering that we are talking about completely free energy. But is it true?
The efficiency that surprises
The Lenovo Yoga Solar uses the technology of rear contact cells, slightly more efficient than typical solar panels. The panels have a conversion rate of 24,3% (higher than the average of 21% of traditional panels) and can absorb any light source greater than 0,3 watts, even a simple LED night light.
I was struck by the effort to make this technology aesthetically pleasing. The panels have an elegant appearance, far from the typical solar grid we are used to seeing. This is a non-negligible detail: the adoption of a new technology also depends on its ability to not look like a prototype from a laboratory.
The challenges to overcome
But don't start looking for this little gem on e-commerce sites. Like all great technological promises, this one has its obstacles. First of all, it's still a concept, and what we saw could be significantly different from the product that (maybe) will hit the market.
Overheating is one of the main problems. Excessive exposure to direct sunlight can cause the temperature of the device to rise dangerously. Leaving your solar laptop out in the sun while you relax, or in a hot car, could turn your laptop into a mini furnace. Lenovo engineers are still studying how to solve this paradox: more sun means more energy, but also more heat.
“The company is also looking at ways to make it charge even faster. One possibility is to expand the number of solar panels to absorb even more light, perhaps via USB-C ports.”
Efficiency is another crucial issue. Currently, the world record for solar conversion is 47%, almost double what this prototype offers. There is still a lot of room for improvement, although we are still faced with a significant step forward compared to previous attempts.
A not so new idea
What amuses me about this technology is that, as often happens in the tech world, what seems revolutionary is actually a recycled idea. solar laptops have existed for a long time: Laptop Mag reviewed the laptop SOL more than ten years ago. See it ricordate? That device was equipped with a processor Intel Atom and 2 GB of RAM, and just two hours of sunlight provided 10 hours of battery life. Advances in solar technology and low-power components have improved these results significantly, but the basic idea remains the same.
Lenovo Yoga Solar: Towards a Wireless Future? I don’t know, Rick.
I am not sure we will see this technology go mainstream any time soon. Like all innovations, it may initially find a niche and then gradually expand. Even the first rechargeable batteries were considered impractical when they first appeared on the market.
Il Lenovo Yoga Solar PC could be the beginning of a new era of devices that feed on light, or yet another promising technology destined to remain confined to the lab. Only time (and possibly the market) will tell. In the meantime, we will continue to anxiously search for power outlets in coffee shops and airports, dreaming of the day when we can cut the umbilical cord that ties us to the electrical grid. It is a dream powered by the sun, and that's why I like to think that, sooner or later, it will become reality.
