CES 2025 | Lenovo's self-charging keyboard has solar cells and a supercapacitor to keep it working all-day long
CES 2025 | Lenovo's self-charging keyboard has solar cells and a supercapacitor to keep it working all-day long
The supercapacitor is not special here because of its fast (dis)charge, considering the 45 day runtime that is the opposite of fast. I am also amazed that they got the leakage so low. Anyway, the point is going to be the tiny size (where Li sucks) and easier handling completely discharged as well as no aging.
Logitech has/had a solar keyboard a while back that just ran on just a CR2032 (whatever the rechargeable kind is) and even without extra light it would last a long time on battery. Without a backlight keyboards basically don't use any power so a 2032 was plenty for it.
https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-K750-Wireless-Solar-Keyboard/dp/B005L38VRU
I've had one of these for a many years, and I really like it, although finding a replacement for the single ML2032 battery was quite a headache the first time it died.
It turns out that a popular mod for these was to disconnect the panels and replace the ML2032 for a regular old non-rechargeable CR2032. The keyboard uses so little power that it lasts several months with a single battery.
It does make you wonder what was the point of the solar panels in the first place. If you replaced them with single use batteries they'd actually last longer than the entire lifespan of the rechargeable battery 😂
I have this keyboard and I love it. About 15 years old, but it doesn't want to die, and I won't buy a new keyboard just because it's old. I don't like common mechanical keyboards, I specifically chose this because of the very short key travel.
The problem with the K750 is it's not repairable at all, the top and bottom plastic is glued together, so if something dies inside it's over. It's not easy to clean. One of the legs broke off years ago, and a replacement is expensive, so I use 3d printed legs but they usually wear off in a couple of month. STL file is here, not my work: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1619695
I wouldn't buy this exact model again, but solar keyboards are very convenient, you never have to care about charging, I use my computer on a desk and on a couch, I just take the the same peripherals to the other place.
Logitech had a solar keyboard (K750R) and we used them heavily at work as they were amazing to type on.. we had thousands of them. We also had dark rooms and they wouldn’t get enough charge to stay charged forever. They also used a weird rechargeable battery the same as a CR2032 which is incredibly hard to come by
How much ambient light do they think users have near their computers?
Lenovo claims the keyboard will last up to 45 days in a completely dark environment before needing to be recharged. When the power is depleted, all it needs is 2 minutes of charging under a light source of 300 Lux intensity to get it back on for use.
This implies that you won't really need much ambient light. That being said, I wouldn't trust the marketing copytext.