Solar-powered iPhone on the way?
Al Mamun | Sunday, 1 June 2008
Apple has taken a stand to using solar cells in its mobile devices. A recently published patent application discovered by MacRumors.com, who focus on Apple's news and rumours, reveals that Apple is studying the possibility of the use of solar power in their -- handheld mobile devices and portable computers. Integrating solar power into a mobile device holds an enormous potential of extending battery life significantly. However, successfully integrating solar panels into these small devices is not without its challenges.
A question may arise in our minds, how can it patent a technology that already exists? Also using small solar panels to charge portable device is nothing new. A growing number of products are using solar power to recharge phones, digital music players, Blackberry, and other gadgets. Well, Apple's idea is slightly different. Now Apple appears to be trying to innovate the integration of the solar cells into a portable device.
Fitting solar panels onto a small device like the iPhone, without ruining its looks and usability, would be nearly impossible. So its idea is to stack the sun-loving cells underneath the LCD touch screen. With a 3.5in display, the iPhone is suddenly a great candidate for the technology.
The major issues described are the limited area available to solar panels, durability, and the "wasting" of space on a portable device. It is due to these problems that solar power has not found its way into mobile devices, not just from Apple, but from all manufacturers.
Rather than make a separate charger, Apple engineers have sought to package solar cells right into the device in modest way. Electricity-generating cells could be placed underneath the device's display. Specifically, the patent application details the use of a semi-transparent display with a solar cell placed underneath it.
Sandwiched together, the device's cover would have "at least one glass layer coupled to the solar-cell layer; and a flexible printed circuit board (PCB) layer coupled electrically and mechanically to the solar-cell layer," according to the patent application.
This integrated design would allow the mobile device, be it a PDA or portable music player, to be charged from daylight without having a separate solar panel that needs to be plugged into it.
The patent application also describes how multiple solar cells would be used coupled to specific electrical components within a device, including the data-processing system and the memory. Drawings from the patent application show ways that a solar cell could be placed on the back cover of a device.
Electricity generated from the cells would be fed to the device's rechargeable battery.
What remains to be seen is how much power an integrated cell, hid behind a display, can generate. This is dependent, of course, on the availability of light. But most likely, any solar-powered iPod or iPhone would include an AC adapter for standard charging.
The idea seems cool enough, but some users think, in practice, it would be extremely useless. iPhone or iPod uses during exercise and traveling time is very high, when people are inside. How many people use their ipods in direct sunlight to be able to expose them to the sunlight? People don't generally walk around holding their ipods up to the sun. They are in pockets or cases. So user acceptance of this technology will be a great challenge for Apple.
......................................
The writer, a freelance
journalist, is Senior Vice President for an Investment Bank's Information Technology Division in New York, USA. He can be reached at [email protected]
A question may arise in our minds, how can it patent a technology that already exists? Also using small solar panels to charge portable device is nothing new. A growing number of products are using solar power to recharge phones, digital music players, Blackberry, and other gadgets. Well, Apple's idea is slightly different. Now Apple appears to be trying to innovate the integration of the solar cells into a portable device.
Fitting solar panels onto a small device like the iPhone, without ruining its looks and usability, would be nearly impossible. So its idea is to stack the sun-loving cells underneath the LCD touch screen. With a 3.5in display, the iPhone is suddenly a great candidate for the technology.
The major issues described are the limited area available to solar panels, durability, and the "wasting" of space on a portable device. It is due to these problems that solar power has not found its way into mobile devices, not just from Apple, but from all manufacturers.
Rather than make a separate charger, Apple engineers have sought to package solar cells right into the device in modest way. Electricity-generating cells could be placed underneath the device's display. Specifically, the patent application details the use of a semi-transparent display with a solar cell placed underneath it.
Sandwiched together, the device's cover would have "at least one glass layer coupled to the solar-cell layer; and a flexible printed circuit board (PCB) layer coupled electrically and mechanically to the solar-cell layer," according to the patent application.
This integrated design would allow the mobile device, be it a PDA or portable music player, to be charged from daylight without having a separate solar panel that needs to be plugged into it.
The patent application also describes how multiple solar cells would be used coupled to specific electrical components within a device, including the data-processing system and the memory. Drawings from the patent application show ways that a solar cell could be placed on the back cover of a device.
Electricity generated from the cells would be fed to the device's rechargeable battery.
What remains to be seen is how much power an integrated cell, hid behind a display, can generate. This is dependent, of course, on the availability of light. But most likely, any solar-powered iPod or iPhone would include an AC adapter for standard charging.
The idea seems cool enough, but some users think, in practice, it would be extremely useless. iPhone or iPod uses during exercise and traveling time is very high, when people are inside. How many people use their ipods in direct sunlight to be able to expose them to the sunlight? People don't generally walk around holding their ipods up to the sun. They are in pockets or cases. So user acceptance of this technology will be a great challenge for Apple.
......................................
The writer, a freelance
journalist, is Senior Vice President for an Investment Bank's Information Technology Division in New York, USA. He can be reached at [email protected]