Learn the great strides being made in solar-powered computing devices.

Going beyond useful gadgets powered by the sun, solar-powered computing devices are just over the horizon. Imagine network routers and surveillance devices soaking up the sun and running networking, video and security software. Free of power and Ethernet cables, these embedded systems can be deployed in the field quickly and cheaply.

This white paper describes different types of embedded solar-powered computing devices and provides design suggestions for Intel® Atom™ processor based platforms. It covers hardware and software practices for developing ultra-low power devices, as well as open source software available to designers.

When Solar Makes Sense
Most embedded computing devices, such as PLCs, ATMs, and networking appliances, are tethered and have a continuous source of power. However, there are times when it may be more convenient, or even essential, to use devices that aren’t 100 percent reliant on wired network connections and a steady stream of power.

These cases include setting up and using infrastructure after natural disasters, during remote military operations or when power outages are frequent, as listed in Table 1. In these scenarios, computing devices must operate in settings that are less stable than standard industrial and enterprise infrastructure.

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"How to Design a Solar-Powered Computing Device"
Improved technology and lower solar panel costs will spark an explosion of embedded solar-powered products

Published by Intel®; Presented by: Bell Microproducts Inc.

Offered Free by: Bell Microproducts Inc.

Truly Untethered Embedded Devices
Before the Intel Atom processor, it wasn’t really practical to employ an Intel architecture processor in a solar-powered application.

However, the revolutionary performance per watt and power management features of the Intel Atom processor have led to tremendous advances in reducing power consumption. And the open source community is sharing best known methods and creating standards to help realize even greater power savings.

These capabilities are available to equipment makers seeking to bring the convenience of untethered operation (no power and network cables) to embedded applications.

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