Lenovo's new solar laptop concept is a shining example of 'could' over 'should' design

Some design innovations have no practical use at first. In 1903, I'm sure most people mistook the Wright Brother's heap of canvas, rubber and whirring metal blades for an elaborate practical joke. It beckoned a new age of air travel, globalisation and free booze on long flights.

More recently there was the Apple Newton – an over-priced, feature-light proto-tab. In 1993 it launched and swiftly failed amidst a chorus of sneers and derisory laughter – a decade before the world realised that they did in fact need a tablet with stylus to free them from the confines of the desktop. The succeeding iPad has done pretty well for itself.

Now, we have Lenovo announcing a brand new concept – the Yoga Solar PC – that it hopes will revolutionise the workflow of the modern creative professional, and become one of the best laptops for graphic designers and video editors alike. A sun-powered laptop... I have my doubts.

The Lenovo Yoga model has a solar panel on it, and if you leave it in the sun, it promises to charge an hour's worth of use in 20 minutes.

Now, that is pretty cool. In theory. Actually, my dad was a little ahead of the curve on this. I remember a few years ago, me looking at my phone, mumbling about its diminishing battery. And the old man, quite forcefully, questioned: 'does it need to be in the sun?'

What was the moronic blabbering of an old codger, is now one company's vision of the future. And I get it, kind of. The sun is always going to be there. And we'll always want to use laptops. But... who... works... outside... in... the... sun?!

If you're currently screaming, 'I do, I do, I do', then this will be a game changer for you. But in my experience, a bright light source and a laptop screen rarely work in harmony. Also, if you're working remotely and need to charge your lappy, there's already a perfect solution: that's literally why god made cafés.

On the positive, we've all left the house only to find we've forgotten our charger half way to our destination. As long as your journey is on a sunny day, you'll be sorted with the Yoga Solar. Also, it's eco-friendly. People like that.

But ultimately, you're strapping a panel of glass on to your laptop, and whoever in the history of remote working thought: 'wouldn't it be nice if my laptop got even hotter!'.

But then innovation is rarely about 'should it be done'. It's about 'could it be done, and figure out who will want it later on'. In that spirit, the Lenovo Yoga Solar is the latest in a rich history of mad concepts that push the envelope. And that one day might be really useful.