Apple Files a Patent for Solar iPhone Technology
by Francine Hardaway
Published on May 28th, 2008
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Do you leave your iPhone or iPod out in the sun to charge it up? Soon you might, according to several sources who know that Apple has filed a patent for a technology to insert a layer of solar cells under a touch-sensitive screen.
If this patent is accepted, it could make the iPhone a truly portable device, useful especially in countries with limited access to electricity.
There isn’t room for solar panels on portable devices, once space taken up by the screen and keypad is taken into account—a fact that has plagued previous attempts to alternatively power MP3 players and mobile phones.
But putting the solar cells under the screen might allow the full 2.4 by 4.5 inch glass face of the iPhone to be a solar panel.
If this new technology hits the streets and you want to be a part of it, don’t toss that old cell phone or MP3, recycle it. Let Earth 911’s recycling locator show you where.
