Powering a laptop for 1 hour: Competition On Renewable Energy

Each university had just over 6 months to develop a solution that would power a proper/full laptop for 1 hour WITHOUT A SINGLE VOLT/WATT in the battery

Entries from each country were first judged locally - and the 6 best solutions were presented to the panel

There were runner's-up prizes for universities who presented the cleanest and most innovative solutions

The winner had to not only beat the competition - but they also had to transport the solution to Israel and show it working in front of the entire audience

There was panic among the winning Madrid team as a small, but crucial component, managed to suffer a 'bent pin' in transit

Fortunately, there was a soldering iron on hand and just enough of the pin left for a single try at reattachment

'Tense looks' were replaced by 'overjoyed smiles' just minutes before the main presentation kicked off, as the project sprang into life and the laptop booted up :mexican:

Although all of the solutions presented did manage to get the laptop working in some form or other, the judges were particularly impressed that the Spanish team had combined graduates from their electrical, computing and mechanical departments to create a solution that allowed the operator to take periodic breaks

Add some intelligence into this kind of system and you can easily imagine a time in the future where home workers (for example) might complete 30-60 minutes on a treadmill/walking/cycling machine in the morning - which then powers their PC for half the day - before switching transparently back to mains power when the 'store' was depleted

We will try and run a follow-up piece with Pedro, Madrid's team leader, shortly

In the meantime, you have to say CONGRATULATIONS to all of the teams who entered - each of them adding 'possibilities for our energy future' in their own, unique way

[My personal special mention goes to the team from Ireland who entered a 'petrol-powered solution' that used renewable fuel - cheeky!]

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