Solar FemtoTX motherboard with 802.3 cg Ethernet cards
Low-power motherboard that can run on solar power
Solar FemtoTX motherboard with 802.3 cg Ethernet cards is an open, collaborative effort towards designing an ultra-low power motherboard in a mobile device-sized form factor. It aims to achieve several goals: 1) to design a plug and play (PnP) motherboard that can be seamlessly integrated into an open-source hardware laptop for easy repair/replacement/upgrade. 2) to utilize the new, 802.3cg ethernet standard for a low-power LAN port, and 3) to integrate the 802.3 cg ethernet port into a single board computer with a FemtoTX-sized form factor for the lowest power consumption, facilitating minimal solar energy requirements and quick recharging.
Furthermore, the project aims to make the open-hardware framework extensible by supporting socket-based or embedded processors and peripheral devices that meet a defined size and TDP limit. This interoperability allows newer, ultra low power microprocessors to work within the FemtoTX specification, and is optimized for solar power.
- The project's own website: https://hackaday.io/project/177716-open-source-energy-autonomous-motherboard
This project was funded through the NGI0 Commons Fund, a fund established by NLnet with financial support from the European Commission's Next Generation Internet programme, under the aegis of DG Communications Networks, Content and Technology under grant agreement No 101135429. Additional funding is made available by the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI).
