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8 watt solar PC.

Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 10:19 pm
by xan_user
6 hour runtime with 12 hour solar charge, sure its only 500mhz, but still cool.

http://www.aleutia.com/offgrid/

..."Ships with Rudy Puppy Linux Operating System... , and even will run Windows XP (though a hard drive is required for this.)"...

Really would love to see one of these. :wink:

Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 11:57 pm
by Fayd
i like the thing attaching to the vesa mounts on an LCD. nice idea.

Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 12:44 am
by frostedflakes
Here's a US vendor that sells a similar system. :)

http://www.wdlsystems.com/ebox/ebox.shtml

Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 2:00 am
by Bluefront
Cute little devices....... but you still need a big monitor. I wonder just how the thing attaches to the mount point on the back of the monitor, since most monitor stands use that mount also. If you mounted the thing between the monitor and the stand, it looks like the assembly would tip forward......not to mention the stand would somewhat block the heatsink/top of the case. :?

Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 6:23 am
by xan_user
Bluefront wrote:Cute little devices....... but you still need a big monitor. I wonder just how the thing attaches to the mount point on the back of the monitor, since most monitor stands use that mount also. If you mounted the thing between the monitor and the stand, it looks like the assembly would tip forward......not to mention the stand would somewhat block the heatsink/top of the case. :?
What ever became of your solar pc BF?

They have a 9 inch monitor that uses ~10watts I think.

Looks 2 me like the bottom screws to monitor, so the HS is exposed. And also oriented it on its side ... that should help convection

Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 7:10 am
by xan_user
frostedflakes wrote:Here's a US vendor that sells a similar system. :)

http://www.wdlsystems.com/ebox/ebox.shtml
thanx... but those are between 2 and 3 times the wattage of E2. 15-20 watts.

Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 7:37 am
by Bluefront
xan_user.....I'm in the process of transferring the guts of the thing into my new dual-MB project. It runs about 40W, so I cannot use it a bunch because of the limited output from my solar panel (the battery would go dead eventually). I'm using a car battery, so that gives me a bunch of run-time. Of course the monitor is also 12v, and that also draws current.

Solar stuff is fun.....but not particularly cost-effective. That may change in the future.

Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 9:12 am
by frostedflakes
xan_user wrote:
frostedflakes wrote:Here's a US vendor that sells a similar system. :)

http://www.wdlsystems.com/ebox/ebox.shtml
thanx... but those are between 2 and 3 times the wattage of E2. 15-20 watts.
I think the eBox-4300 is identical to the solar PC. The 15w indicated at the site is probably the power usage of the AC adapter. The 8w on that other site is probably DC power requirement (i.e. how much power it would draw when hooked up to a solar panel), and the 15w is maximum power draw including losses in the adapter.

Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 9:49 am
by xan_user
I guess they could also be including overhead for usb device(s) that might be plugged in. also at least one of them supports ide drives...Be really cool if you could shoehorn a 40-120 gb 1.8 hdd in there somehow.

Really thinking about this for a remote weather station and surveillance system. Power it over cat5, no monitor needed.

I already have a 15-watt PV panel and 9.2 amp/hrs of sealed 12-volt batteries. If I add a another 15 watt panel I should be able to power the satellite modem for uploads a few hours a day too!

lenovo solar PC in the works too.

Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 10:55 am
by xan_user
No real info on it yet, but I love the comic strip advert...As I also travel in avalanche territory.
:D

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/pcs/lenovo-l ... 298779.php


It nice to see more manufacturer's building low power PC's specifically for solar use, since they're almost always quite too.