Voltaic Systems has been making backpacks and laptop cases with built-in solar chargers
Voltaic Systems has been making backpacks and laptop cases with built-in solar HSTNN-Q60C chargers since 2004. But so far most of the company’s backpacks have only generated enough electricity to charge MU06 Battery small items such as phones, cameras, or tablets.
Now Voltaic has introduced a new 10W backpack called the Array which can charge a HSTNN-Q61C laptop computer. If you’re attached to your current backpack, you can also pick up the slightly cheaper Fuse 10W Laptop Charger, which is designed to be strapped onto an existing rugged backpack.
Both systems include three 3.4 Watt solar panels and a 16000mAh, 60Whr- battery. This allows you to charge the Business Notebook NC8200 Battery whether your computer is plugged in or not. You can then use the battery as a backup battery for your computer. You can also charge the battery without the solar panels by using an included AC Charger.
It takes 12 hours of direct sunlight to charge the HP 398875-001 Battery , or half that much time if you’re using the AC adapter. Voltaic says that you’ll generally get about 30 minutes of laptop run time for every hour in the sun.
The Business Notebook nc8430 Battery also has two outputs, so you can charge a laptop and phone, tablet, or other device at the same time.
Taking your laptop entirely off the grid doesn’t come cheap. The Array Solar Laptop Charging backup costs $389, while the Fuse charger is $339.
The backpack measures 18″ x 14″ x 8″ and weighs 5.5 pounds including the HP 395794-001 Battery and solar panels. It can accommodate laptops with screen sizes up to 17 inches.
That’s right, even as you download that 4.4 megabyte Steve Jobs biography, your iPad, iPod, iPhone, Kindle or Android device becomes a tad bit heavier.
It’s a matter of Business NoteBook 8710w Battery energy vs. matter. While downloading software and apps does not really increase the amount of matter in your device, it changes the amount of energy stored on your tablet, smartphone or e-reader, particularly the level of energy in its electrons.
And given Einstein’s theory of relativity stating that Energy equals the mass multiplied by the speed of light squared — E=mc2, simplified, of course — then the Business Notebook nw8440 Battery difference in weight between a full Kindle ebook reader and an empty one is about 10-18 of a gram, or what scientists call an attogram.
In the same light, a similar effect is gained when you charge the battery, due to the higher amount of energy stored in the HP HSTNN-DB11 Battery cells. Granted, this will not necessarily add weight that is noticeable. Studies say that dust that gathers on your iPad’s touchscreen will weigh more than loading thousands of e-books on your V3000 Battery device.
This is an odd fact, of course, as devices will not individually weigh more, with more data. But consider the amount of data being R3000 Battery transmitted around the world, such as through broadband cables, datacenters and ISPs. Does this make the world substantially heavier?