Garmin releases GPS bike computer with transparent solar panel for 750 euros

Garmin introduces the Edge 1040 Solar. This is a cycling computer with a 3.5″ screen for navigation and a transparent solar panel to extend the battery life. Garmin calls it Power Glass and has been using this technology in some of its sports watches for some time.

Garmin Edge 1040 Solar

The Edge 1040 Solar is Garmin’s first GPS bike computer that can be recharged with solar energy. According to the manufacturer, this provides up to 100 hours of use in battery saver mode and up to 45 hours in demanding use. In low-power mode, the Power Glass technology provides an extra 42 minutes per hour and in ‘demanding usage situations’ that is an extra 20 minutes per hour.

Garmin equips the Edge 1040 with a 3.5″ touchscreen with a resolution of 282×470 pixels. The screen can be used for displaying maps and navigation. For this, the cycling computer supports multi-band GNSS. The cycling computer also has a Powerguide with power targets and the device provides insight into the user’s effort level.The cycling computer has 64GB of storage and weighs 130 grams.

The Garmin Edge 1040 Solar costs 750 euros and is available within ‘1 to 2 weeks’, according to the Garmin website. There is also a variant of the Garmin Edge 1040 without a transparent solar panel, which costs 600 euros.