There has been a great deal of coverage on a recent development by Intel relating to computers and solar energy, with some reports giving the impression a PC could soon be powered with a tiny solar cell. Here’s what the Intel story is really about.
We’ve all experienced that sinking feeling as the low battery message pops up on our laptop or smartphone screens. The unfortunate downside associated with faster processing speeds and whizz-bang features on digital devices has been their thirst for power, even in the most energy efficient units.
Intel Labs recently released details of an experimental chip which use so little energy it can run off a solar panel the size of a postage stamp. Yes, it’s just about the processor at this stage, but it’s impressive nonetheless and a glimpse of what may be possible in years to come.
The "Near Threshold Voltage (NTV) Processor" – codenamed the Claremont – utilises NTV computing, equipped with Intel’s Pentium-class CPU, to operate at ultra-low voltages close to the threshold at which transistors switch on and begin to consume energy. This allows the chip to deliver five times the energy efficiency of standard CPUs.
According to Intel, NTV technology could lead to greener computing, longer battery life and more powerful processing in everything from handheld devices to servers and even supercomputers.
It has taken Intel several years of technical research into NTV to achieve the ultra-low power state required for solar energy to become part of the company’s vision of self-powered computer networks. The result is a NTV processor so efficient it remains in an always-on state indefinitely.
Intel blogger, Sriram Vangal writes, "In fact, one goal of NTV research is to enable “zero power” architectures where power consumption is so low that we could power entire digital devices off solar energy, or off of the energy that surrounds us every day in the form of vibrations and ambient wireless signals. This gives us unfettered freedom so we can just leave our power cord and chargers behind."
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