Solar window socket....is this only available in Europe?

[Skidmore]

http://www.yankodesign.com/2013/04/26/plug-it-on-the-window/



I'd love to own one of these.

[PoliticAverse]

1. It's available wherever products for the gullible are sold. n/t

[Skidmore]

2. Why would you say that?

If you believe it to be a bad product, what is your reasoning? Do you know?

[Orrex]

3. Probably doesn't generate enough power to charge the full length of the electrical cord

[jberryhill]

6. Ummm... two things

1. A solar cell that size isn't going to run a USB device (up to 1 Amp at 5V), much less anything that is expecting to see European AC (220v 50Hz).

2. Even if there was a lithium battery in it, such that you left it on the window in order to charge the battery over a couple of days, it would be surprising if it developed enough charge for recharging a cell phone.

How many watts do you imagine a device of that size and shape would deliver or, if it has storage, what do you think the mAh capacity of a battery that size is?

[Skidmore]

7. I don't know which is why the additional information from you is infinitely more

useful and appreciated than the snark on this thread.

[jberryhill]

10. Oh

Oh

Okay. I have a 1000 mAh solar USB unit and you're lucky to get a full charge through a whole day of direct sunlight, which is fine since I keep it as a backup to my phone while cycling (I use it for mapping, not taking calls). Something that size, and it's a little thicker than it looks, might be something that you could stick on the window and maybe give your phone a half a charge every couple of days (if you've got a good chunk of sunlight through that window in the course of a day). But, really, given the amount of energy used to produce that device, you'll get bored with the novelty of it long before it is a net plus (if ever).

I could be off a bit, but if the idea was that was a mains outlet, that is right out.

[Orrex]

13. For the record, I find your snark more helpful than your additional information

[jberryhill]

15. I felt guilty when it wasn't taken as snark

But I use rhetorical questions a lot.

[PoliticAverse]

8. The picture makes it seem like it can power a plug in electrical device

but due to the small size of the solar cell it probably can't supply more than a watt.

Looking at the text indicates it has a 1000mAh battery inside (they don't mention the battery voltage).

It might be a good charger for USB charging, I don't know why they didn't design it for that purpose instead
with a USB plug. It would be ok for charging a phone or music player during the day or for emergency USB
power when you need it.

BTW there are several USB solar chargers already, for example: http://www.amazon.com/Poweradd-trade-Apollo-Portable-USB-charged/dp/B00DLUYSPO

[Skidmore]

9. Thanks for the link.

[jberryhill]

11. 5V

But the PV cell area to capacity ratio of these things tends to be, shall we say, optimistic.

If that's a USB plug, what's the diameter of that horizontally-pointed solar cell?

[woodsprite]

4. ThinkGeek.com (I'm sure other places do to) has a solar charger that mounts on the window

It works with anything that charges through USB.

[immoderate]

5. You can use it with your AirCar.

Not in production. Neat idea. So far that's it.

--imm

[jberryhill]

16. Well, we got the power supply figured out already

That's a start.

Now, what color should we paint it?

[Xithras]

12. Maximum theoretical PV solar output is around 0.4 watts per square inch.

You can't collect more power than the sun gives us. The solar constant is 1.3kWh per square meter. That drops to a maximum of around 1 kWh once you factor in atmospheric losses, and presumes that you're on the equator at noon (typical solar in Europe is substantially lower). No matter how good your solar panels are, you can't beat that limit. A solar panel can't collect more power than the sun gives you. On top of that, you have to deal with physics, which places a maximum conversion efficiency for sunlight at 86% due to photon entropy. Doing a bit of math, that gives you a maximum power solar panel power output of a bit under half a watt per square inch.

Of course, our research isn't anywhere near those theoretical limits, and the most efficient non-concentrator solar sells produced to date run at just under 30% efficiency. That bleeding edge technology gives you around 0.15 watts per square inch.

The lowest end USB charging system for a mobile phone requires 5 volts, 0.5 amp load, or 2.5 watts of power. That means, using the best solar technology currently available, the smallest solar panel you could use to provide a functional charging current for a USB device would need to be a minimum of 17 square inches, or a bit over 4 inches by 4 inches overall. And that just barely gets you a trickle charge.

I don't know what this device does, but nothing that size is going to be providing any useful amount of power.

[Sancho]

14. Most of us are energy hogs...

I just returned from a sailing trip (Florida to Mexico). It's about 4 days one-way. At any rate, the boat had a wind generator and solar panel that charged several banks of batteries. I also carried a small solar charger for my iPad/Iphone. We had refrigeration, radar, radios, laptop/chartplotter, and GPS.

Most of the time, the wind generator and solar panel kept up with the discharge, but every couple of days if we noticed the batteries needing a charge we ran a diesel generator an hour or so (used about a gallon for the whole trip). I think the biggest power draw was the refrigeration.

In other words, if people pay attention to energy usage, convert some items to 12v, and use wind/solar efficiently, you can go a long time without burning fuel and reduce consumption of fossil fuels tremendously.

I don't know if a small device like the one shown would make much difference, but if it taught people to conserve and store renewable energy it's a good lesson to learn.

[jberryhill]

17. It says "Break this window and get a nifty device"