By Evan Ackerman
Motorola seems to have figured out a way to charge a cellphone (or, presumably, other devices) by placing a solar panel underneath an LCD screen. The panel charges the phone from sunlight received through the LCD, which saves precious exterior real estate. There are some caveats, of course, like the fact that the technology works best with a monochrome (ideally black only) LCDs where 75% of incoming light penetrates the screen. There’s also the ever present solar powered anything problem: if you keep it in your pocket, it’s not gonna work too well. And if you use a clamshell phone, you’re out of luck. It’s a good idea, and I’m glad Motorola is putting some serious effort into renewable energy, but without some refinement I wouldn’t be looking for this in a cellphone near you anytime soon.
VIA [ treehugger ]
