A friend started a discussion on facebook about solar powered laptops and questioned if they were a thing, can they be a thing and should they be a thing? What are the practical pros and cons for solar powered electronics both as a "going green/ grid independence" topic and as a convenience topic?

Points from previous discussion:

• charging electronic devices with solar panels directly on them may not be a great idea. As a base I'll use the iphone as an example - Operating ambient temperature: 32° to 95° F Nonoperating temperature: −4° to 113° F a device wouldn't require to be in direct sunlight but overheating is still a very real issue when you are considering a device for the basic consumer who may not know how best to use solar.

• also interesting, there are devices that charge using body heat in your pocket or charge with kinetics. greendiary.com

also worth considering, "Charging Your iPad Costs Just $1.36 Per Year" huffingtonpost.com so I suppose it depends if you are looking for alternate charging methods to be green and off the grid or just for convenience sake. the solar panels and bits to make them work with the phone will cost more than $1.36 at the register.