{"id":993,"date":"2025-03-04T03:21:14","date_gmt":"2025-03-04T03:21:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.batterymap.co.nz\/blog\/?p=993"},"modified":"2025-03-04T03:21:14","modified_gmt":"2025-03-04T03:21:14","slug":"lenovos-solar-powered-yoga-concept-laptop-is-such-a-good-idea-im-frankly-shocked-nobodys-done-it-already","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.batterymap.co.nz\/blog\/2025\/03\/04\/lenovos-solar-powered-yoga-concept-laptop-is-such-a-good-idea-im-frankly-shocked-nobodys-done-it-already\/","title":{"rendered":"Lenovo\u2019s solar-powered Yoga concept laptop is such a good idea, I\u2019m frankly shocked nobody\u2019s done it already"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

So this is what Lorde was singing about<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What if your laptop could get a full hour\u2019s worth of charge simply by leaving it in sunlight for 20 minutes? That\u2019s the promise of Lenovo\u2019s latest concept laptop, a Yoga model featuring a photovoltaic solar panel on the rear of the screen, converting light into charge for the laptop\u2019s battery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve seen a lot of great concept devices from Lenovo and other laptop makers at events likeMWC 2025, and I\u2019m usually pretty excited about them. So let me be absolutely, unequivocally clear about this one:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I am curious as to whether the Lenovo logo in the middle affects the solar panel’s performance…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m serious. To be honest, I can\u2019t believe it took this long for a tech company to strap a solar panel to the back of an ultrabook. We need more of this. It feels like such a straightforward idea; naturally, the Yoga Solar PC can be charged conventionally via a cable, but just being able to close the lid and let it soak in the solar rays is brilliant – and basically ensures that you\u2019ll never be stranded without any charge again (unless it\u2019s the middle of the night, I suppose).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

>>>L13S4P21 Battery for Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 2 Pro 13 13-IFI Y50-70<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The power of the sun, in the palm of my hand<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I can\u2019t be the only one who\u2019s gone on a trip or even just off to work, only to find that I\u2019ve forgotten my laptop charger. Thus begins that stressful game of watching the battery life tick down, turning on efficiency mode, lowering the brightness, and praying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But with Lenovo\u2019s Solar Yoga? I could just leave it on a windowsill for an hour while I have lunch, and come back to a freshly-charged battery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s also just a general triumph of eco-friendly engineering. The solar panel on the rear of the display (which, incidentally, doesn\u2019t appear to make the laptop noticeably thicker than Lenovo\u2019s other Yoga ultrabooks) offers an energy conversion rate of more than 24%, which is among the very best you\u2019ll see inany<\/em>type of photovoltaic solar cells.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lenovo also designed a \u2018Dynamic Solar Tracking system\u2019, which continually monitors the influx of electricity and adjusts the laptop\u2019s battery consumption to prioritize the solar energy to better preserve your battery life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Despite packing an entirely new energy source atop its lid, this laptop is still impressively thin and light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Solar-powered devices aren\u2019t a new thing, of course – fellow laptop manufacturerAcersells afoldable 200W solar panelthat you can hook up to a power bank, ideal for charging your devices when you\u2019re out in nature (or in aMad Max<\/em>-style apocalypse). But the Yoga Solar PC is the first ultrabook in the world with a fully-integrated solar power solution – and even though it\u2019s just a concept right now, it\u2019s one that Iseriously<\/em>hope makes it beyond the prototyping phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having handled the device in person at MWC, it certainly looks and feels like it could be retail-ready. I can practically picture myself taking this bad boy camping, or even just down to the cafe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

>>>SB10J78992 Battery for Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga 11E 4th<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The downsides?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Alright, okay, as much as Ilove<\/em>this, I will admit that there are some potential stumbling blocks to this sort of tech being widely implemented in our laptops. For starters, solar panels aren\u2019t exactly the most durable things in the world – and I have to imagine that replacing an integrated panel like this would be a costly and difficult affair. Having a laptop with glass on theoutside<\/em>does feel a little bit like a recipe for disaster. Drop it once, and it might be game over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heat buildup also feels like a natural problem here. After all, you generally don\u2019t want your laptop to be too hot. But surprisingly, Lenovo had the Yoga Solar PC sitting under a bright lamp on their stand at the expo (presumably for hours at a time), and while the back panel itself was a bit warm to the touch, the rest of the laptop didn\u2019t feel hot at all. In fact, I\u2019d be willing to bet that a metal exterior lid would probably cook your laptopmore<\/em>if you left it out in the sun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Yoga Solar PC is also partially constructed with recycled and eco-friendly materials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lastly, I suspect that if it were to make it to general production, the Yoga Solar PC would bevery<\/em>expensive. I\u2019ve looked into getting solar panels installed on my house – and sure, this is just one solar panel, and it\u2019s a lot smaller, but it\u2019s also part of the laptop chassis rather than a standalone item – oh, and these Yoga laptops aren\u2019t exactly bargain-basement hardware to begin with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, as someone who enjoys a good foray into the great outdoors, I think this proof-of-concept is a fantastic idea and I\u2019d gladly throw money at Lenovo to own one. A laptop that\u2019s more eco-friendlyand<\/em>can save my bacon if I forget my charger? Sign me up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So this is what Lorde was singing about What if your laptop could get a full hour\u2019s worth of charge simply by leaving it in sunlight for 20 minutes? That\u2019s the promise of Lenovo\u2019s latest concept laptop, a Yoga model featuring a photovoltaic solar panel on the rear of the screen, converting light into charge for … Continue reading Lenovo\u2019s solar-powered Yoga concept laptop is such a good idea, I\u2019m frankly shocked nobody\u2019s done it already<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.batterymap.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.batterymap.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.batterymap.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.batterymap.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.batterymap.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=993"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.batterymap.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/993\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":994,"href":"https:\/\/www.batterymap.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/993\/revisions\/994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.batterymap.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.batterymap.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.batterymap.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}