solar powered pc?

k3v · 16 Jan 2008 at 20:58

this is probably a none starter, but having my pc on 24/7 has got me thinking about energy costs, so is having solar panels just for running a pc an option?

gumbald · 16 Jan 2008 at 20:59

It's never sunny.

JoDaMa · 16 Jan 2008 at 21:02

Solar panels are very expensive, so you probably lose more money by having solar panels. Unless you were using them for your entire house, in which case you will probably start making savings after a few years once the cost of the panels has been recouped from having no energy bills.

saddler · 16 Jan 2008 at 21:05

Its been done but not really that practical

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/solar-livetest,review-29627.html

gillywibble · 16 Jan 2008 at 21:25

Its practical, but you need to move to Saudi.

k3v · 16 Jan 2008 at 21:28

saddler said:
Its been done but not really that practical

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/solar-livetest,review-29627.html

thanks for the link.... I'm,off to read it.

XPE · 16 Jan 2008 at 21:47

If you cant use a solar panel then what about a small wind turbine

Werewolf · 16 Jan 2008 at 22:00

XPE said:
If you cant use a solar panel then what about a small wind turbine

try about 10 small wind turbines and a huge bank of lead acid batteries

A report into about 400 of the "household" ones that was done recently shows they produce an average of less than 75watts, with a lot of them providing an average of something like 30-40watts.

Who knew that putting them in towns where the wind isn't able to blow uninterrupted wouldn't work very well