Transparent Film Turns Any Cell Phone into Solar Panel

While they may not be main-stream yet, solar-powered cell phones are not new to the tech scene. In fact, Samsung released three different models in the past few years, and Umeox just showcased a solar-powered Android.

But one French company by the name of Wysips has officially one-upped the competition with a product that transforms any cell phone into a clean power-producing machine. Yes, even yours.

Designed similarly to a screen protector, the product is a transparent photovoltaic film that is placed directly on the screen. Worried your touch screen won’t work? The film is extremely thin (only 100 microns deep), which means a phone’s touch-screen abilities will remain the same, as will the screen view.

Once the phone is placed in sunlight, the film will go to work charging the phone’s battery. It takes longer than plugging the phone into a traditional charger (6 hours in direct sunlight), but anytime it’s exposed to sunlight it will work to top your battery off—meaning fewer charges on a regular basis. In addition, a newer model could provide as much as 30-60 minutes of talk time after just an hour of charge.

Another upside to such a universal product is the fact that it could eventually lead to phone companies making smaller batteries, and thus, slimmer, more eco-friendly phones. Other devices can the technology as well, such as iPads and e-readers.

Since most consumers aren’t ready to ditch their current phones in favor of a strictly solar model, this seems an excellent solution.

What do you think? Would you pick up one of these solar screens?

Posted on March 31st in Solar Products by Kayla.