Motorola was the first company to apply for and be granted a patent for solar cell devices in 2007. How do they work? A solar cell device uses a mobile phone’s LCD as a solar cell to recharge the battery when left out in the sun.
Though Motorola is not the first company to attempt a solar cell for mobiles, it is the first to actually see it through. Why? Well, when it was first tried it was believed that having a solar cell would be inefficient and really would be nothing more than a useless, high-priced feature. After all, how many times is your mobile phone in direct contact with the sun?
At the time, it was believed that users would have to stand out in the sun with their open mobiles held in the air simply to get them to recharge. And really, who was going to do that? But what they did not anticipate was the remarkable progress that has and is being made in solar cell technology.
Each year, billions of dollars are poured into the development of solar cells to make them more efficient and less expensive. These solar cells are often used to help power entire homes. So, how long could it take one to recharge a tiny mobile phone? In all likelihood in the future the technology will exist to allow users to recharge their phones in only a few moments out in the sun.
It is not yet clear whether Motorola will use solar cells as the only way to power their new mobile phones, but they are reportedly investigating a numerous options. Perhaps we will see an entire line of solar cell mobiles in the future.