You could be stunned to study that the primary laptop computer with built-in photo voltaic panels is almost 15 years previous. However to me, the larger shock is that with all of the latest developments in photovoltaic cells, producers haven’t revisited this concept extra usually. However at MWC 2025, Lenovo is altering that with its Yoga Photo voltaic PC Idea.
Weighing 2.6 kilos and measuring lower than 0.6 inches thick, the Yoga Photo voltaic PC Idea is basically the identical dimension as a regular 14-inch clamshell. And since its underlying design isn’t all that completely different from Lenovo’s commonplace Yoga household, it doesn’t skimp on specs both. It options an OLED show, as much as 32GB of RAM, a decent-sized 50.2 WHr battery and even a 2MP IR webcam to be used with Home windows Hi there.
Nevertheless, all these parts aren’t practically as vital because the photo voltaic cells embedded in its lid. Lenovo says the panels use Again Contact Cell expertise in order that its mounting brackets and gridlines will be positioned on the rear of the cells. This permits the panels to supply as much as 24 p.c photo voltaic power conversion, which is fairly good as that matches the effectivity you get from many high-end house photo voltaic programs. Moreover, the PC additionally helps Dynamic Photo voltaic Monitoring to robotically regulate the cells’ settings to maximise the quantity of power they will collect.
Lenovo says this implies the Yoga Photo voltaic PC can generate sufficient juice to play an hour of movies after solely 20 minutes within the solar. However what could be extra spectacular is that even when the laptop computer is indoors, it might nonetheless harvest energy from as little as 0.3 watts of sunshine to assist prime off its battery. Lastly, that can assist you perceive how a lot energy it's gathering, Lenovo created a bespoke app to trace how a lot mild the panels soak up.
Sadly, Lenovo doesn’t have any plans to show this idea right into a full industrial system. However after enjoying round with it, I used to be pleasantly stunned to see how stable and durable its chassis felt. In contrast to numerous prototype units, the Yoga Photo voltaic PC Idea doesn’t really feel like that a lot of a stretch technologically in comparison with different notebooks on sale as we speak. Its PV cells sit safely behind a sheet of glass (or presumably plastic, Lenovo wouldn’t verify which one) whereas additionally including a little bit of distinctive visible aptitude.
Nevertheless, the most important hurdle (and presumably a giant motive why we haven’t seen extra laptops like this) is that for individuals who wish to use photo voltaic panels to cost their units, it’s most likely simpler and extra versatile to depend on a standalone photo voltaic array as a substitute of one thing built-in to the gadget itself. Regardless, Lenovo’s Yoga Photo voltaic PC is a surprisingly polished idea that I’d like to see get extra consideration sooner or later.
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