The worlds of computers and the environment usually do not mix, it"s by inheritance given the power and materials needed to make modern day computers work as we want them to. Some have attempted to address environmental concerns before, such as laptops that were made out of wood instead of plastic, but how about a laptop that was powered solely by the sun?
In Fujitsu"s design competition for 2011, designer Andrea Ponti submitted the idea of the "Luce" laptop which in Italian, means light. There are two solar panels, one on the back of the screen and the other on the touch keyboard panel. The material itself would be a clear polycarbonate coming in with a weight of approximately 1.8kg, which includes the onboard battery of course.
There are obviously some issues though, what if it"s a rainy day and dark indoors? Rather than using traditional methods such as an LCD screen, there are other possibilities which might enable usage. eBook readers have often in the past used digital ink but the main issue with this is the lack of colour and sometimes, response. One has to credit Mr Ponti though for the general design of the laptop, the use of the clear material is a rare sight to see in the consumer market.
Whether this laptop ever reaches the consumer shelves is unclear, but the news over at TechCrunch suggests we may be seeing more of solar energy harnessing in the future. Apple have recently filed a patent design for a laptop which uses external light to brighten the screen, with talk of solar energy to charge the battery being used as well.
Image Credit: andreaponti.com