Lenovo's solar-powered laptop at MWC stole the show for me – and it's surprisingly practical

Today at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Lenovo announced a handful of wild new laptop proofs-of-concept, including one with a detachable triple-display, a flippable AI PC, and a solar-powered laptop from the popular Yoga line. I went hands-on with the Yoga Solar PC ahead of MWC and was impressed with how slim and sleek the device was. 

Also: What to expect at MWC 2025: Best phones I’m anticipating from Xiaomi, Honor, Samsung, more

Solar-powered laptops aren’t necessarily new, but they’re infamously heavy and expensive, making them niche products that don’t have a lot of market share in the consumer laptop space. Lenovo hopes to change that with its Yoga Solar PC Concept, a laptop it says will have none of those drawbacks. 

The solar panels are located on the top of the clamshell on the Yoga Solar PC, and they achieve an energy conversion rate of over 24% per panel, one of the highest in the industry, Lenovo says. The panels sit behind a sleek, glassy black surface that almost passes for a “normal” laptop — unless you look carefully. 

The device itself is still notably thin and light, weighing just 2.6 pounds (1.22 kg) and measuring 15mm thick, which was a bit of a surprise when I picked it up, as I expected it to weigh at least three or four pounds. 

Also: I tried Lenovo’s foldable OLED laptop at MWC – and it’s got some glaring issues

The panels use what Lenovo calls “back contact cell” technology, positioning physical components like mounting brackets and gridlines to the back of the solar cells, maximizing the amount of solar energy absorbed. The panels then interface with software that automatically adjusts the charger’s settings, prioritizing the solar energy to power the laptop. 

Now, I know what you’re thinking: This sounds great, but most of us aren’t using our laptops outside in direct sunlight most of the time. The energy harvested comes from any light — even your office’s ungodly fluorescent overhead lighting — to charge the panels, although obviously, more light equals more power. 

The idea is that the harvested energy supplements the power generated from its charger (a normal USB-C laptop charger). The panels take in light and process it as energy over time, contributing to increased longevity throughout the day and offsetting the amount of time you’ll need to dock up to an outlet.

Also: This Lenovo laptop handled my various workflows with grace – and it’s surprisingly affordable

This, Lenovo says, will reduce power consumption and increase convenience for the consumer, who won’t have to worry as much about plummeting battery life while taking video calls and connecting to external monitors. 

To quantify it, the panels on the Yoga Solar can absorb and convert enough light energy in 20 minutes to power around an hour of video playback on the laptop. That’s not a ton, but considering that all the light energy is used as supplemental power is pretty respectable. Basically, the device just charges itself throughout the day, requiring no action from the user. It’s free energy. 

Lenovo isn’t limiting its solar-powered aspirations to the panels on the laptop, either. It also announced a solar power kit with a detachable USB-C solar panel that can be charged on its own like a portable power bank of sorts. You can then just connect it to the laptop for a power boost.

Also: I pick this budget Lenovo ThinkPad over laptops that cost twice the price

The Yoga Solar is still a proof of concept without a release date, but I’m looking forward to spending a little more time with it later this year. Lenovo’s ventures in this direction prove that this technology is actually quite practical, and it certainly doesn’t need to weigh a ton. Light energy is free; you just have to harness it. 

Stay tuned for more updates on this one in the coming months.