Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> espoused:
> ____/ Mark Kent on Sunday 21 October 2007 09:07 : \____
>
>> Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> espoused:
>>> ____/ Mark Kent on Saturday 20 October 2007 13:47 : \____
>>>
>>>> Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> espoused:
>>>>> ____/ Mark Kent on Friday 19 October 2007 21:00 : \____
>>>>>
>>>>>> Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> espoused:
>>>>>>> Open Source Software, OLPC, and the Importance of Being Green
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> ,----[ Quote ]
>>>>>>>| I'm referring to the need for the OLPC XO laptop to be extremely
>>>>>>>| efficient in its power consumption. The OLPC laptop is designed to be
>>>>>>>| used in places where there is no reliable power grid, or, in many
>>>>>>>| cases, no power grid at all. This has challenged the OLPC Project is be
>>>>>>>| very creative in how power is generated, stored and conserved.
>>>>>>> `----
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> http://jmbuser.livejournal.com/6764.html
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I still feel very much that these devices could be fantastic to roll-out
>>>>>> in British primary schools. You could kit every child in a classroom
>>>>>> for less power consumption than the existing one or two machines in most
>>>>>> current primary classrooms. That's a fantastic carbon footprint.
>>>>>
>>>>> I think they are happier with the Xandrosoft-based Eee(k!), but the
>>>>> considerations here are different. In the UK, classrooms have very decent
>>>>> electricity.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Not for 65-150W per desk, though - air-con becomes a necessity, and then
>>>> the electricity bill goes sky-high. At my school, we /already/ use
>>>> air-con in the ICT suite, because it's just too warm otherwise.
>>>>
>>>> Bear in mind that the electricity bill has to be paid from the school's
>>>> annual budget, so if money goes on leccy, then it isn't going on
>>>> teachers or books or stationery or educational trips or visitors...
>>>
>>> I was thinking about recharging. How much does the Eeek! consume?
>>>
>>
>> I don't know, to be honest, but I know that the XO is in the 2-5 Watts
>> bracket, which is very good indeed. 30 of those in a classroom is about
>> equivalent to one traditional PC and monitor!
>
> Wow. That's lower consumption than I imagined. SForget about cranks and
> batteries. Just set up a small gym next to the classroom.
It's impressive, but actually, take a step back - consider what the
power consumption of a typical smartphone or Nokia web tablet is? They
must be of this range of power consumption in order to get reasonable
battery life.
One reason that using solar panels to power them is that if you're only
looking for a few watts, then even relatively small solar panels can
deliver it.
The real challenge to me is about trunking network connectivity into
villages, which means higher-powered radio transmission. You can get
around this to a great extent by using carefully designed antennae which
focus all the radiated power into as small a cone as possible, since
trunking sites don't move around, this does work well, but even then, a
lot of places could be very remote.
I suspect a combination of battery, solar panel and baby-windmill could
do enough to keep a repeater station working, although if the battery
capacity is not enough, then it will fail overnight (unless it's windy!).
Quite what you do on cloudy days with no wind, I don't know!
>
> Linux Super Computer - Powered By Bicycles
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
>| SiCortex, the first company to engineer a Linux cluster from the silicon up,
>| showed of the energy efficiency that can be achieved in high performance
>| computing.
> `----
>
> http://www.gadgettastic.com/2007/09/15/linux-super-computer-powered-by-bicycles/
>
>
Ahh, yes I do - you get everyone on a bike!
--
| Mark Kent -- mark at ellandroad dot demon dot co dot uk |
| Cola faq: http://www.faqs.org/faqs/linux/advocacy/faq-and-primer/ |
| Cola trolls: http://colatrolls.blogspot.com/ |
| My (new) blog: http://www.thereisnomagic.org |
|
|
