Sun Table: Basking in Solar's Warm Glowing Warming Glow
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 12.18.07
TreeHugger has delighted in watching solar grow as a technology, both from small to big -- as the claim to "the world's largest" solar park is almost continually one-upped by bigger and bigger solar arrays -- and from big to small, with more and more nanosolar in the news and a host of portable solar chargers, solar-powered bags and even solar textiles and the odd solar bikini or two. The big ones provide lots of juice, but you can't exactly put it in your back pocket, while the smaller chargers and such are quite portable, but can't charge anything much bigger than your iPod, or cell phone.
Enter Sun Table, a project of Brooklyn-based Sudia Design Labs, as the happy medium. The outdoor table is small enough to take home with you, but attracts enough rays to power your laptop and various other home office peripherals, and even a television and DVD player.
Like many of the other solar gadgets designed for home use, the solar panels charge a nickel metal hydride battery, which, in turn, power your gadgets. The battery's max storage is 13 amp hours at 12 volts (that's 156 watt hours), with a max output of 150 watts; the system charges in 3 hours in full sunlight. Depending on the exact specs of your gadgets, those numbers translate to about three hours of laptop use, and a couple hours of television (if watching TV outside is your thing...) thanks to the included inverter that provides 120V AC (that's what everything in your house plugs in to, in case anyone was wondering).
A handy LED display (pictured below) tracks the battery's charge level for you, and the inverter beeps at you if you load it up with more than 150 watts, making it easy to both track your battery's performance and keep it from getting overloaded. The table itself is mostly aluminum (for easy recycling at the end of its life) and comes flat-packed in recycled materials, making it easier and more compact to ship and store.
About the table, designer Devang A. Shah (who created the table along with Michael Low) says they wanted to create '"A product that pushes people to spend more time outdoors will be beneficial for humanity. Let's get rooted in nature again, even if it's in a 21st century kind of way." We think it's a great example of combining technology and design to create a forward-looking product; lots of tech ideas (like solar) that are difficult to integrate into our daily lives, and it can be very helpful and meaningful to be shown that it actually works.
In this case, the table brings context and a personal connection to solar power, bringing it down from the heavens to your backyard, with the potential to change the way your life works every day. Imagine shifting your home office to the sunny patio for a few hours every afternoon, or having to apply sunblock and wear sunglasses while sending emails (and reading TreeHugger). In the midst of the cold, dark winter, that sounds pretty great to us.
Such fun and convenience won't come cheaply. The table, available for pre-order now (it'll ship in March 2008), will cost $3600. But can you really put a price on something that allows you to get a tan at your desk job?
Get all the details and specs at ::Sun Table by Sudia Design Labs
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$3600!!!!!!!
Well, for the NYC fashionistas who don't know better, good for these guys if they can get them to pay.
I bet within 6 months there will be a cheap Chinese knock-off for well under $1K. 1 year, $200 at Wal-Mart in the camping/hunting section.
Or you can DIY this for under $1K using all new components, or much cheaper using used components.
How is being assembled from stock PV panels and off the shelf metal extrusions a "forward looking design". For a $3600 table, it had better look a lot more stylish, custom, and high-quality than that. Obviously designed by an engineer.
Wow, a solar panel designed into an object that's intended to be covered up. What will they think of next?
I wonder if it's weather-proof...
We make a small solar system that has all the same components minus the sleek table design for $2,900 (http://independentpowerllc.com/specials/specials.htm)
Thats just what it costs these days. Solar is still very expensive and for a small system like this there is a lot of wiring in a small space, which means a lot of labor. We figured that the labor cost in putting together the components for our system is about the same as it is for assembling a system that can run a house.
You will see from my pictures of our system that there are a number of large boxes. To fit all of that into that table they must have ripped the guts out of the housings and fashioned their own enclosures for them under the table. I have no idea where they are hiding their batteries. There is no way we could produce that for $3600 without taking a loss and I don't have a clue how they are doing it if they have to pay NYC rent as well.
Buckethead: Its not quite a screen door on a submarine. Those Uni-Solar amorphous silicon panels are very shade tolerant (though not nearly as efficient as crystalline silicon in direct sunlight) and if the system only needs three hours of sun to charge you just cant use it from 12:30 to 3:30 if you want to be efficient with it.
Most cell modules contain individual cells linked in series.
This means that even if one cell is shaded it produces resistance in the series and dramatically decrease the performance of the whole module.
So even putting a laptop (as shown in the picture) or vase on the table would make the panel basically useless.
Making a table out PV panels seems a waste of resources. For $3600 you could by 3-4 150 W panels and put them on your roof where they would produce much more power.
buckethead- who uses a tablecloth outside? who covers up a solar panel? go post your naysing crap elsewhere.
I would rather see that pv on the back of a GEM or Phoenix. That table is an idea whose time should never have come.
Yes, you can put a price on something like that and it's not three thousand dollars!!
Gee, $$$ !!!
I am suprised no one is knocking over those solar powered highway construction signs and taking the panels and guts off!
Now that NJ has abolished the death penalty, the people on death row could be made to pedal generators all day... hmmm.
I've seen tablecloths on outdoor tables, it's not that odd.
Maybe there can be a desk-fan-sized wind generator as an option.
I'm sorry, just hopping on the bandwagon. I hope they make other products though.
vsk
i don't think this table is attractive. but i can see a use for it. but mostly for camping enthusiasts. i hate camping, though, so. . .
Oh my god this is the most amazing technical innovation I have ever seen. They actually put table legs on a solar panel! This will work really well on the equator at noon!
I'll second Willy Bio's comments. I priced all of the components out at less than $800.00 retail !! That's also for a 400Watt inverter and a 234 Wh NiMH battery (rather than the 150Watt and 156Wh respectively that they have). Tho, I give kudos to Sudia Design Labs if they can get people to pay $3,600 for it. Caveat Emptor, I guess.
@(shading concerns): Pat is correct about the UniSolar panels being very shade tollerant -- you could shade/cover half of the table (long-ways) and still get half of the power out. They are also superior to crystaline silicon panels for performance in diffuse lighting (indirect or overcast) and/or hi-temp conditions.
@Pat: the system you metioned (posting a direct link to your company) is way over designed and meant for connection to a home's electrical system and for adding many additional panels and battery storage. I realize most of your cost is for non PV components but it still works out as $26 to $45 per Watt plus installation ! ! Their components will easily fit under the panel and additional aluminum sub frame, without major disassembly and reconfiguration. Very simple wiring -- from panel to charge controller to battery to inverter -- DONE. It woud take me under 3 hours to assemble in a nice comfy studio or workshop (under 8 for a complete novice).
So PLEASE don't compare this to the cost of wiring a house -- permits, structural attachments, ladder and harness for steeper roofs, mounting rails, roof penetrations, multiple safety disconnections and fusing, NEC, IEEE, and UL rated inverter, long/heavy guage wiring runs, final inspection, etc. You're comparing an apple to an orange grove and it makes me question how much real knowledge and experience you have with your own products and renewable energy systems of any/all sizes.
For anyone who wants a design of this or other custom solar (or other RE) project, find me in the TH forums and PM me under the my name below (so as not to blatently spam by posting my own biz-links here). Bob Trips is also a great source of RE info in the forums.
BTW -- sorry if I've been a little hard on you Pat, but folks "posing" as experts tend to get under my skin.
Now there's a table I would have an incentive to keep free of clutter!
actuallyI think it works even if things are on the table
this thing is sweet
Greennovator- You missed something important in my post. I did not say assembling this system was the same as installing a system in a house. If I had meant installing I would have said so. I'm sorry if I was unclear. We wire and program all of our components in the shop and take them to the site to install them. This assembly process is about the same for a small system or a large system. I'm not one of the installers and I didn't think I was misleading anyone by posting about our business. From what I've seen it takes us roughly three hours as well.
I'm sure if you can assemble this table for so much less than this company and still make a profit they would love to hear from you. We have discovered that this size system is not very cost effective for us or most of our clients (as you mention in your post) but it works for some people in the off-grid community this company has been working with since 1988.
You took another snipe at me in this comment, “For anyone who wants a design of this or other custom solar (or other RE) project, find me in the TH forums and PM me under the my name below (so as not to blatently spam by posting my own biz-links here).”
I posted a link to a business I work for because it offered a comparable system to the solar table. I would be delusional if I thought posting on treehugger would drum up business for a small rural Vermont company like ours. In the future if you have something relevant from your own solar installation business I would love to see it. We all learn by sharing information.
Love it...don't love the price tag, but IT IS A START! Thank god for people who think out of the box!
YEAH!!!! Outdoor Chilling!
At night it would be ridiculous
This thing is weatherproof
This is cool because you can just leave it outside.
Like the idea.
Not crazy about the look. Very boring.
If you could fold it in half and actually travel with it, might be nice.
Maybe instead of a table, someone could actually make the tablecloth that someone else mentioned that was solar.
Like the backpacks and clothing they do now that charge your electronics.
Now that would be cool!
And great for camping.
the problem with flexible solar panels is that they break more easily
Pat, the system you linked to is in a different class from this. You include an automatic transfer swtich, a load center, a 100 A shunt (100 A?). This is considerably simpler.
Other issues: The FAQ on the manufacturer's site issues such as shading--recommends leaving it uncovered when charging.
My take is that for $3600 you could do a lot of other things to reduce your electricity consumption. Start with $600 for a really good home energy audit and spend the remaining $3000 as recommended by the auditor.
this is great