Why don't we have solar-powered phones and computers?

Question

It will save a lot of money for most people. We have solar homes, calculators, etc. So why not our consumet technology? Do Samsung and Apple have a deal with electricity companies?

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

Let me give you some context. I put in a security camera system at a trucking yard connected to the Port of Oakland. This involved just 4 cameras, connected to a small recorder (essentially a low-powered computer), plus a WiFi access point. There was no wall power at this location, so power had to come from solar power alone.

This being California, the conditions for solar power are about as ideal as you can get, with over 300 days of clear skies a year. But this system had to run 24x7x365, and the sun does not shine nearly that much, so not only were batteries needed to store energy to get through the nights, but enough to get through several days of low light, such as during a winter storm. The system only drew 34 watts of 120V power, which is less than half as much as a non-gaming PC. They also had a large existing steel light pole that we got permission to mount the solar system onto.

The solar system, with batteries, panels, mount, and charge controller was around $2600 in parts alone, plus another $1800 for installation (plenty of custom work to get it all together. That's roughly $4500 to have a reliable energy source with solar that can barely run an Intel i5 laptop. And the existing pole saved a thousand dollars by itself.

Solar is great, but the up-front costs are high, and most people greatly underestimate how much power they need, and how much that will cost in solar terms. Plus, there is ongoing maintenance to factor in. Those batteries will only last about 4-5 years, and a replacement set costs $800 today, and likely more in the future. I expect the inverter and charge controller to last 10 years, but then you need another $600 in today's money.

When you apply these things in the real world, you quickly realize how expensive it is.

An early electric car called the Fisker Karma had solar panels on the roof of the car, but they can barely keep up with the power needed to run the air conditioner in bright sun - sitting in the sun all day with everything off will only add 2 to 3 miles of driving range. That's not enough to matter.

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

(1) With today's solar technology, a solar panel would have to be VERY LARGE to meet the power demands of today's phones and computers, even if they're low-end budget devices. So having a solar panel built into a device isn't going to be sufficient, because the device will use up more power than it receives with such a small solar panel. So much, in fact, that it might as well not even turn on.

(2) It would take FOREVER (days) to charge the battery with that panel, even with the device OFF. The batteries that are most popular in phones and computers (that I know of) are Lithium-ion (for phones) and Lithium Polymer (for some high-powered laptops). These types of batteries are either extremely dense or require a lot of power output, both of which a small solar panel cannot provide fast enough at their conversion rate. The batteries would drain faster than they can be charged.

It only works on a calculator because a calculator is so simple (its only doing one thing) and requires so very little power. That's why you can even use it indoors, under a desk lamp.

KelleyNice · Accepted Answer

There are calculators powered by light. Sunlight more than 1,00 times as bright and has about 1,000 as much energy as typical indoor lighting. Therefore, noon day sunlight may have enough energy to operate a computer or phone. However, typically they are inside and indoor lighting doesn't produce enough energy to operate a computer. It might operate a phone if you had enough surface are with photo-electric cells. However, that is probably not practical as phones have a large viewing area.

pascal_climbs · Accepted Answer

Solar cells are not that environmental friendly as they want you to believe and they do not generate enough power to work and charge at the same so your phone can not be operating a long time in darkness

hahahmm · Answer

Probably because -- although most people don't think about it -- power that goes into a cell phone isn't so much that people care about the cost of that power. You have power from the electrical grid for your phone. But let's say you had a phone that used solar and stayed charged all the time -- or you used a solar generator (a box with solar panel (s) and batteries) to charge your phone. Now as long as the power grid is working, all of the people who don't have solar will still have working phones. When the power grid goes down, the cell phone tower will stop working within 1 hour when its backup generator dies. Now nobody has cell phone coverage, including you. So there's really no point.

Astarlessnightsky · Answer

Espacially PC but phones as well require a huhe amount of electricity and you usually don't put them in the sun.

PCs usually stand unter the table and indoors.

Phones would only have the backs covered in photovoltaik and thats also in the shade or pointing down.

You can buy solar panels for your home and provide power this way to pcs and phones, or buy a solar powered power bank to power you phone on trips.

Also i don't thinks its wise to put an electronic device in the sun as it will overheat.

The_Shadow_Dweller · Answer

The amount of energy, essentially put, required for a smartphone to function, is very large in quantity as compared to the energy generated by a solar cell of that size. Hence, at least till now, no such smartphone exists. Because there is a complete mismatch of power requirement and supply from both ends.

And no. Smartphone manufacturers cannot minimize the required current and voltage rating as it simply is not feasible for every component with different energy requirements to work on it such a low energy source.

NamerOfStars · Answer

What makes you think we don't? Do you expect electronics manufacturers to include power sources with the tools they sell? It's not like you get a steam engine with them, either. If you want to power your devices with solar energy, that's easily possible; just buy an adapter and a panel.

However, solar energy, on a society-wide scale, is an environmental NIGHTMARE now, and is decades of heavy research away from being practical even on THAT level (the space and efficiency issues are a whole other matter).

Paul_in_Indy · Answer

I do have a solar powered phone and computer. I plug them in to charge using the giant solar cells on my roof. If you want a solar powered computer, the best route is to get a solar powered house, I think.

It seems a bit impractical to expect Apple to include a 50W solar panel -which is about 2 feet square- in the box with a laptop…and you might not like the price increase. But you can buy a kit for less than $250 that will let you set up a solar panel and charge your laptop. I recommend going for a 100W panel; so that you can charge it on a cloudy day, or use it while providing some charge.

That panel is small enough to put in your vehicle, but you won’t carry it around with you while you are out shopping, probably:

Why don't we have solar-powered phones and computers?

Tomsta · Answer

I can't speak for phones but for computers the amount of power required varies wildly depending on purpose. Standard browsing, ok yeah possibly however you'd still need over 100W of power given that most basic CPUs will use close to 60w, all other components need power to

Gaming PCs is not really realistic, especially given that it's not out of the realm of possibility to need nearly 1000w of power

Then you have super high end (Render farm style etc.) the size of the solar panels you'd need would be enormous, we'd probably be talking the size of very early era computers here (Where 1 PC would take up like 3 to 4 rooms)

Both desktops and laptops also have a space issue, now if you mean putting the panels on the roof of a building then yeah one could do it that way but to ONLY power the PC you'd need a specific circuit run in the property that the PC plugged into

AviatorTom · Answer

Cell phones and computers are mostly used indoors, where the sun doesn't shine.

Calculators require very little power compared to phones and computers, and an indoor lamp is typically enough to power calculators via that "little solar panel strip." It would take a much bigger solar panel to power a computer or phone.

Makeushiver · Answer

Neither use enough energyto make them efficient as energy savers. On the other hand if ou havce had soilar panels installed and have a battery storage unit for the energy you bank during the day you are then likely already usinf alternative energy for thoise devices since the banked energygets released for general houshold power

genericname85 · Answer

in order to power the average American household with solar power (10.000 kwh per year), you would need a solar cell space of roughly 700 square feet (in perfect position to the sun). the average American household has roughly 100 square feet of roof area of which probably not even 50% are in a direction that is perfectly covered by the sun. so you would roughly need 14 times the roof space of American households worth of solar cells in order to power American households with solar.

Anonymous · Answer

In 2009, Samsung released the world's first solar-powered cell phone. It was known as the Samsung Guru E1107 and featured a solar cell built into its back plate. When exposed to sunlight, the cell generated electricity which in turn recharged the phone's battery.

The cheapest model is 64GB, which costs about $4,500, and the only other option is the 256GB model that will run for about $4,800. Both prices are excluding taxes and custom duties

Hypermotard1916 · Answer

the solar calculators are mostly scam, solar power is not as straightforward, you need full power of sunlight to produce some significant voltage and current, then you have to use Buck boost converter to get the voltage current rating, so it will practically not work as cellphones are sensitive to sunlight and heat

OddBeMe · Answer

As an amateur, I’d say you can pack only pack so much into one device. It can’t have everything and still fit in our pockets.

But I’m still waiting on good Bluetooth connections. We’re wirelessly controlling a probe out in interstellar space but my headphones keep fcking up? Wtf?

KrakenAttackin · Answer

The issue with solar is the potential in a given area. Also, solar power requires storage (batteries), and inverters. When you are talking about running a home you would need an acre of solar panels and a sunny day to run your residential air conditioning. Solar is also still very expensive.

dragoblack · Answer

Soular cases for phones are a thing, but understand the energy output for small solar panals/strips may end up damaging your phone or ppc/laptop because the internal battery can overheat from constant charge. Also, external compact solar panels is a thing.

20yearsolder · Answer

You could charge your phone off of solar panels that are installed on your house. You can't really stand out in a rainstorm and charge your phone or your computer

MCheetah · Answer

Because solar power can't power up such a device as a smartphone or computer and they eat up a ton of electricity. It'd take a week of sunlight just to charge the damn thing.

Yotth · Answer

it's so hard But maybe if you have more money then companies know what people want in the market but as long as there is electricity made from coal, nothing can happen. Because solar panels are more expensive than coal electricity

jshm2 · Answer

Because they can't provide enough juice to constantly power high use devices.  Even a solar panel system in an off grid house requires a deep cycle battery

Telekinetic-Potato · Answer

Solar panels that can power things like phones, cars etc, they are big, expensive and fragile.

D_Bone_Steak · Answer

Buy it on Amazon. I'm a camper when I get the chance and there's only one way to charge a phone or run my laptop.

slatyb · Answer

It's a lot more practical to have a solar power system than to add light collecting panels to everything.

JDavid25 · Answer

Electricity is much more reliable.. Solar energy is not..

Agape93 · Answer

No idea, honestly. Good point. I have a solar charger, solar outdoor lights and a solar mini generator, but that's about it.

lauraanne02 · Answer

Technically we do! If your house is solar powered then realistically the power you use to charge your phone and laptop is using that solar power

FilmGuy93 · Answer

Solar technology isn't good enough to reliably produce enough power for those devices to function.

GoodGuyBreakingBad · Answer

I heard one time they were supposed to have electric companies go into the Internet business but as of now, nothing happened so who knows?

Sargentcaptain · Answer

The public education system is not sending their best.

Finnacaster42 · Answer

Because they require too much electricity per second to run the computer inside them. A sober powered phone would not generate enough power per second to keep up with what is needed by the phone.

joeldalton · Answer

lol, what? You can buy solar chargers for your phone. Good luck with that. 8 hours in full sun to get a charge for a couple of hours.

Anonymous · Answer

Probably because the majority of usage is indoors. They make solar powered chargers. And that's essentially all you need anyhow, the solar powered power source.

Imsmurter1 · Answer

Will it save money? Building a solar panel for a phone or laptop sounds extra expensive. And doesn't sound like it gains that much energy.

Zolly99999 · Answer

I don't think solar technology is fast enough yet to keep up with demand required

Anonymous · Answer

Not enough power production to run the devices involved

Summeroflove · Answer

Calculators use very little power.

Bethany22 · Answer

That's a good idea

boggboss · Answer

The tech ain't really that good yet

CloudMassacre · Answer

Big companies want to make money

Shamalien · Answer

these devices draw too much power

Gooddaze · Answer

Because the cost out weighs the practical

Anonymous · Answer

because solar panels cost a lot

Joker_ · Answer

I have all of them

Why don't we have solar-powered phones and computers?

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Shouldn’t electricity be free? Why don’t we all just put solar panels on top of our houses?

Why don't we have solar-powered phones and computers?

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Shouldn’t electricity be free? Why don’t we all just put solar panels on top of our houses?

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