Apple has recently announced that it’s currently working on powering its iPhone with solar energy. The idea is to put some solar cells underneath the LCD of the iPhone. This is great for anybody who uses a portable device cause batteries will live longer.

Converting solar energy into electricity started since the 1800s. The idea is not new. Solar cells have been used basically for devices that consume very little power to work, such as wrist watches. The real challenge comes when trying to operate a device that consumes very much higher amounts of power with solar energy. It is said that iPhone consumes energy 1 million times larger than wrist watches, to keep both operating for some time. Most solar cells will convert solar energy into electricity at 20% efficiency. Some cells can do 40% efficiency, but they’re far more expensive. So, operating an iPhone entirely with solar energy seems very difficult.

Another problem comes when considering iPhone as a stored device, it is put in pockets or being used indoors most of the time, so it’s not exposed to sun light all times to store enough energy. The size of the solar cells also will affect the small size of the iPhone which is a very strong advantage.

Apple says that it has succeeded in making packing new technologies into small sizes. Using solar energy is not expected to fully operate the iPhone, but will be used for making battery lives longer. This technology is expected to come out in devices in five years, but it’s exciting to think that it could even exist.

Source: forbes.com