Only a full day of sunshine required
Voltaic Systems already has an impressive range of solar panel products but the new "Voltaic Generator" revealed at CES today is the first solar bag powerful enough to charge a laptop.
Generating up to 14.7 watts, the bag is said to fully charge a laptop with a day of direct sunlight. Not entirely convenient we must admit, but impressive nonetheless.
The bag will hold up to a 17" laptop and common adaptors are provided for connection to other devices such as mobile phones and handheld devices.
Voltaic representative Jeff Crystal says "Laptops require specific amounts of voltages as well as specific amounts of power. Basically, you need a decent amount of solar panel surface area plus cells efficient enough to do something like this in a way that's both usable while providing a good customer experience."
Though we applaud Voltaic's efforts, we can't envisage this $599 bag becoming very popular. You could buy numerous battery packs for that amount, or indeed a new laptop. Still, if you are interested, the Voltaic Generator will ship in Spring 2008.
Official product page: VoltaicSystems.com
