Posted on 19 June 2013

Using the sun to power consumer electronics is horribly inefficient and expensive but as technology advances, the process gets a lot better. PCs are running in 5W now compared to over 10W just 5 years ago. Screen technology is getting more efficient and the solar equipment used to collect and store the energy from the sun is getting better. Solar panels are still expensive and inefficient but Changers have put together a solution that’s intelligent, easy, fun and not too expensive. It doesn’t quite deliver what it should and it’s not up to powering any sort of PC solution but it’s fun and easy to use for smartphone-like charging operations.
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Posted on 25 August 2007
I made it down to Karlsruhe in Germany after a quite stressful train journey with the bike and all the kit and after a short journey that turned out to be a 2.5hours trek to the campsite. I just managed to get the tent up before it got dark and I had to dive straight into the tent though because there are thousands of hungry mosquitos here.
After spending an hour trying to organise my kit inside my one-man tent (I gave up) I finally settled down with the local radio playing on the mobile phone and the Q1b lit by my USB led lamp. How nice!
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Posted on 20 June 2007
Could the weather forecast be any worse? Not only will I get wet and be unable to test the solar kit fully but with an overnight low of 11 degrees, camping wouldn’t be much fun.

Posted on 10 June 2007
Encouraged by yesterdays progress with the solar kit, I spent most of today finishing off the wiring and packing it all into a plastic box. I then paired down my kit list somewhat (out goes the Nokia N800 and spare mobile phone, two pairs of underwear, one of the t-shirts, the multimeter and a pair of trousers) and loaded everything up on the bike to see what sort of weight I was dealing with. The total wight of the bike and kit together (that’s biking, camping and computing gear) comes to 55KG. I have some food and bits and pieces to add to that so lets call it 60KG. Considering the bike weighs 25Kg that means I’m going to be carrying a 35Kg office. I took the bike for a ride and it seems pretty stable although I am a little worried about brake failure. I only have a back-pedal brake and while its very good I’m in serious trouble if it fails. I’m thinking about getting front brakes fitted this week. I also notice a small S in the back wheel. Its out of alignment and I hope that it can be brought true again by a local bike shop. If not, I’m probably in trouble and might have to switch bikes. I don’t want to do that as I really like FK398. Its been a work horse for 4 years and it deserves to be in the tour. It also looks great. I love the retro style.
About 90% loaded. The Kronan feels OK to ride with 35KG on it.
Another problem I really need to think about is the positioning of the solar panel on the bike. I can easily deploy 50% of it across the rear baggage but that’s not really going to be enough. I should have tried to find two separate 12W panels and mounted them front and rear but its too late for that now and I’ll have to work round it. In this part of the world, the sun gives you about 4 full-power hours per day. With a 50% deployment of the panel, that’s only 48W/hrs. Short of the 60W/hrs I think I need per day. However, what I could do (and I really like the sound of this idea) is take a 2 hours working break between 12 and 2. This should give me close to 50W/hr of energy assuming the sun is shining. Outside these hours I might pick up another 10-20 w/hr so that’s 70W/hr of energy from the panel in a day. It looks like its possible and I will test the theory this week.

Under the seat is the battery and electrical kit. It weighs something like 5KG but packs an 80W/hr lead-acid battery and a 56W/hr Li-Ion battery. Enough to take a full days energy from the solar panel.

There’s about 5KG going on the front rack. Its not attached to the forks so doesn’t affect steering as much as panniers would. I’m thinking of using it as a computer table in the evening but I can’t find a good enough stool.
Mounted on the front handlebar are the Garmin Etrex GPS logger and a Plexiglas map holder. I will get some rain covers and more straps for the equipment. The Q1b UMPC sits in the right hand pannier its its organizer case and wrapped in clothes. I will have to be careful about making sure the device is in hibernation before I ride. If its in standby and then goes into hibernation it will have to start-up the disk. I don’t want that to happen while I’m riding as it could be fatal.
Posted on 27 April 2007
No, this isn’t just another one of those keyword-seeking blogs that hang around waiting for a market and clogging up search results. This is one with a purpose. A real project! A working blog from day 1.
If you don’t know me, Hi! I’m Steve (aka Chippy) from UMPCPortal.com and in about a month from now I will be starting my Solar UMPC Tour and this site is where the project will be detailed and journaled from start to finish and beyond. Yes, a Solar UMPC Tour! I’ll be taking a bike, camping equipment an off-the-shelf UMPC and solar kit to South Germany, climbing on the bike and cycling down the Rhine for about 7 days while continuing to work on UMPCPortal.com and Solar-UMPC.com using a UMPC. No, not while I’m riding. I’ll be stopping at lots of cafe’s on the way! There’s one important rule I should mention though – No mains charging of equipment is allowed. Everything will run off solar power for a week. Camera, Mobile Phone, Lighting and UMPC.
Sounds like a challenge doesn’t it. It will be! Its one month away and I haven’t even started testing solar equipment yet. I don’t know how long I will need the UMPC each day. I don’t even know what UMPC to take. I don’t know how long my camera will last on AA batteries. What data connectivity should I use? Bike? Tent? There also the small worry that I haven’t done a bike tour in years. I need to get on a 4 week training program so that I can cover the ground between stop-overs and still have enough time to work. And then there’s the weather. More unpredictable than a UMPC manufacturers battery life figure! One thing is for sure, I won’t be going if there’s no sun forecast and if the weather breaks half way through I probably wont be able to go on. End of story!
All these questions will be answered in the coming weeks. The project starts today and I’m happy to say I’ve got the support of the best sponsor possible. VIA Technologies. I have been thinking about this project since last year and put the details to VIA some time ago. They came back very quickly with a positive feel and after our first project conference call this morning, we’ve agreed to do it and are all very excited about it. Its what the UMPC is all about of course. The combination of Ultra Mobility, power-efficiency, work and play. Ultra Mobile Life!
So there’s the introduction in plain text. Things will get more detailed and colourful from here on and I hope you’ll stay with me, help me, advise me and pass the word on about Ultra Mobile Computing. Help me. I’ll say that one again!
Steve.
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