AOU adds solar panel keyboard to 14″ laptop

Logitech impressed us the other day by announcing a wireless keyboard powered purely by solar energy from two solar cells mounted on the top of the keyboard. AOU is looking to go one better and has made a whole keyboard a solar module.
The keyboard is part of a 14″ laptop with the only trade off being the keyboard is a touch panel rather than having keys. If typing on a panel puts you off, AOU may be able to entice you with the 20% power saving being touted over the equivalent laptop with a standard keyboard.
There is another solar module covering the outer casing behind the screen so as to maximise the energy generation on offer.
Having a touch panel instead of a keyboard may add a bit of weight to the laptop, but the solar module is only 2.1mm thick meaning it won’t add much to the size of the overall unit.
This new solar laptop, which has yet to be named, will be demonstrated at the FPD International 2010 event starting on November 10 in Chiba, Japan.