Apple Will Use Solar Power To Charge iPhone

Posted on May 26, 2008
Filed Under iPhone Accessories, iPhone General

Apple have signed a patent, according to which solar cells will be integrated into portable devices. The cells will be placed beneath the layers of a touch-sensitive display.

Solar power is believed to make devices really portable, with no need for wires to connect to a power supply.

The large panels are required for generating electricity from solar panels. “Solar cells on portable devices” patent claims, that only a little space is left for solar cells after allowing area for buttons and screens. The way out suggested is to stack a display, touch-sensitive layer and a solar panel on top of one another. That can make Apple’s iPhone touch be pretty good for this power supply, as the screen makes almost the entire face.

The idea of solar powered charging in iPhone and iPod touch is starting to be popular. When Vodafone planned in April to cut down on its emissions of CO2 greenhouse gase by 50 percent by 2020, it also planned to introduce solar-powered and universal phone chargers for Vodafone-branded handsets.

The technique described by Apple is obviousely interesting. The solar panel will absorb ambient light through the display of the device. And if that would come to life, Apple’s iPhone will require no global changes in design to get some solar power wireless.

But this patent does not mean that Apple will actually develop the trend. That’s good for the way they are looking at innovative development for future products, but not yet realizable.

Solar charge development of itself was a major step in science and technology, and now it is possible to to plan the future of portable iPhones and iPods to solarcharge them without any separate accessories or a bulk.