http://www.nfm.com/DetailsPage.aspx?ProductID=31701873 Can this power a pc? Would it be dependant on the power supply? What could this run?
It weighs 30kilos and is nearly 4 foot high!! not exactly a portable solution is it? it'll probably power a 7" netbook if you sit in death valley for a week!
I wanted to mount it outside my bedroom window and use it to ease my electric bill/power a lan. It doesn't have to be portable it just has to work.
Maximum output current: 1A and it outputs at 12V DC No chance of supplying the 400W + a computer needs + cloud come in and your computer crashes Also PSU units are designed for 230V AC input Best bet is look at solar panels on your roof. Theres quite a few subsidize available now but it depends were you live/kind of property.
At most, you could power a single HD. But you would still need an inefficient 12V to 5V converted. That is assuming a cloud doesn't cover the sun. I suppose it could be used to power a 500W PC for half an hour if it is left in direct sunlight for 24 hours, with the power stored in batteries. 12W max power. 24 hours. 12*24 = 288 hour-joules (made up unit*). 288/0.5 = 288*2 = 576W supplied power for half an hour. *the Watt is a measure of Joules per second, but to simplify things (we want an accuracy of hours, not seconds) we can use hour-joules, 1 of which is equal to 3600 normal Joules, because there are 3600 seconds in an hour.
You'd be best to look at yachting forums on how to get the best value out of solar. How many watts us your PC PSU? That (very cheap) solar panel is about a 12watt. But remember you're looking at a "Charger" system, that is designed to trickle charge a battery system. If you live someone with amazing sun, and you can mount it to receive the best sun for as long as possible, then with the additional hardware (Batteries, Charging circuit, 12v PSU) you could probably run a laptop for at least some of the day. But forget about running any sort of gaming / folding rig. Not on solar only, no way unless you're spending loads and loads and loads. And loads. And loads.
solar just isnt practical yet. the investment cost per watt returned just isnt there (unless your electric company is corrupt). $130 will buy around 1,690 KWh around here. at 12 watt-hours, it would take that solar panel about 16 years to pay for itself.
You can't just connect a solar panel to a computer and expect it to work, it's more complex. As power obtained from solar panels fluctuates around the day, from day to day, season to season, etc, it can't be used directly. A complete system should include batteries to store energy, an inverter to change DC to AC, and a control unit that manages batteries charge and inverter operation. Also, to produce enough power to supply a computer(usually 500w+ under full load), you need lots of those solar panels. As wicked_sludge said one of these panels will produce 12w at best and don't forget that they won't produce energy during night when it's dark. Just in case you want to ask, it's the same with wind energy. I think that before asking you should take a look at wikipedia. Afer that, If there's still any doubt you can always ask here. PD: i think that you can power a couple of lamps with a panel, but only if you have them on a few hours per day. However, you still need the controller and inverter...
As above. What you'd need to do is tie the solar cells in to an inverter to convert it to AC current that you could then plug your PC's power supply in to. You could do a direct DC conversion, but that would be almost worse in reality (as the 12V of the solar cell fluctuates pretty wildly depending on solar exposure). You could conceivably set up a closed system just for your computer with a lead acid car battery or two, a few solar cells and a solar battery charge controller. However, the cost is going to way more than you'd save on your electric bill. Average pay back on solar panels at around $3w in an average sun exposure area is about 15 years with average US electric rates (mid atlantic USA, with about 4 insolation hours a day, that means over 365 days you have an average of 4hrs of direct and 100% full sunlight. Plenty of days of overcast, short days in winter, less than solar noon is less than 100% full sunlight, etc). "boutique" solar panels like this are a lot more than $3 per watt of output. $3 a watt is about what you'd pay for the big solar cells you'd mount up on your house (they seem to be in the $2.8-4 price range for most right now for the 100+w output panels). Throw in the cost of a battery charge controller and batteries and it might take you 20-30 years to save on your electric bill what this panel will do. Solar, unless doing it en mass to power your residence, is really only useful for charging small batteries when afoot for a long period of time (IE backpacking and only have a couple of watt hours of electric needs per day for things like flash lights, headlamps, maybe a portable radio or smart phone), RV uses where you can put several on the roof and don't want to power a generator or boating where you are going to be away from power for a long period of time, and don't want to be encumbered by a generator and possibly massive fuel tank (if away from shore for a long period of time). In most of these cases you'd be wanting the most power efficient computer system you could. Something like an Atom based system, or very low draw CPU such as some of the new low power sandybridge parts, with just onboard video or a very, very low draw video card in the machine. That or maybe powering a low draw laptop or netbook. A desktop idling along at 60-100w and 120-600w at full draw is going to drain batteries in a big hurry if you are recharging them just off of solar (where a resonable sized panel, unless roof mounted on a residence, might provide 30-65w and give you an average of 3-7hrs of full daylight equivelent per day depending on where you live in the world).
