Wheelgirl: Solar Table Let's You Run Laptop Outside

The Sun Table, by Sudia Designs, is designed to power your laptop and mobile devices while you hang out on your urban balcony or on the patio at your off-the-grid home. Of course, the cost of the solar table versus the cost of running an extension cord carrying electricity from a wall outlet is a consideration. But if you don't have a wall outlet in your off-the-grid home, you can quickly create the option of working remotely via your laptop.

For bike touring, there is not of yet an easy, inexpensive, light, portable solar solution for powering a laptop, so you can work remotely and get paid while you are away from your office building. I know that this does not make sense to people trying to get away from civilization on a bike. But computers never sleep. So, if you work on a project basis in high-tech, you can tour on your bike during the day, do your computer work via stored solar energy at night, and thus, get paid while you bike tour.

I like the idea of the solar table, because it doesn't require me to change my behavior. So, maybe the market for these solar tables are places that already have outdoor tables for working and socializing, like Starbucks, Peets, coffee shops, and outdoor cafes. If this solar table inspires you to come up with a good design which lends itself to bike touring applications, put up a post. Here is the info. on the solar table.

According to Sudia, located in Brooklyn, NY, the Sun Table is made in the USA, weighs 45 lbs, and costs $3600.00. The panel is a 64-watt multicrystalline with triple-junction solar cells. Its construction is unbreakable; it has a polymer encapsulation, and there is no glass. The Sun Table stores "13 amp hours, at 12 volts. That equals 156 Watt/hours in total. Enough to run a laptop for over 3 hours, or a TV for 4 hours." It is not designed to run big kitchen appliances. It takes 3 hours to charge in direct sunlight, and there is a battery meter for the Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) battery, so you can tell when the table needs to be recharged. It is not designed to be used in a rainstorm or submerged. The batteries can be replaced, and almost all of the table can be recycled after its 25-year life expectancy comes to an end.