Is it possible to charge phones with solar power?

The short answer to that is yes. In fact, people might start using them very soon.

[su_quote]The most popular iPhone 6 was released just 2 months ago in the U.S. While its processor and video rendering capabilities are very much impressive, its battery leaves a lot to be desired. A battery that only has 1810 mAh wouldn’t be able to keep the iPhone open for at least 12 hours with heavy use.[/su_quote]

Lithium batteries aren’t enough to power the small supercomputers we put into our hands every day. This is why researchers are scrambling to find unorthodox ways to counter the limited technology of today’s batteries.

A couple of months ago, scientists from Michigan State University were able to find a way to harness the power of green technology for the benefit of smartphones. They were able to develop a transparent plastic that could both work as a screen protector and solar power charging station.

Richard Lunt, the scientist heading the team of researchers, said that the plastic can be placed on “any surface you want to maintain the underlying aesthetic.” The plastic was designed to fit any surface, just like the screen protectors that people put on the display of their phone to prevent scratch marks.

Solar panels are now less expensive than before so researchers are capitalizing on the idea of putting them on anything that can be charged to conserve energy. The team is still working on perfecting the product, though. The energy conversion rate that the plastic yields is very low so it’s not very practical to use as of the moment.

U.K.’s Solarbox

In the UK, a similar idea materialized albeit it’s a bit bigger than the plastic developed by the Michigan State University researchers. Britain’s iconic public red telephone boxes have just been revived as mobile phone solar chargers.

Telephone boxes became somewhat redundant when mobile phones became popular. With the invention of the green telephone boxes, U.K. hopes to breathe new life to the outdated iconic boxes.

The first green telephone box, which was aptly painted in color green, became a landmark in the U.K. It is located just outside Tottenham Court Road Station in London.

The Solarbox was invented by two graduates of London’s School of Economics. According to the two inventors, they’ve started working on the project since last year. They received funding for the project from several undisclosed sources.

Kirsty Kenney, one of the two inventors of Solarbox, said that there are three main reasons why they decided to create their newest invention.

“The first is that phone boxes aren’t used anymore,” said Kenney. “The second is modern phone battery life can’t keep up the pace with our lives. And the third is there is nowhere really to charge your phones in the public realm. “So we did some research, we held some focus groups and brought these three things together and this is the end product.”

Kenney’s second reason is probably what will make the Solarboxes popular among the people. True enough, today’s batteries can’t keep up with the pace of people’s lives. Even with the invention of new smartphones and tablets that make computing faster, batteries remain underdeveloped.

The most popular iPhone 6 was released just 2 months ago in the U.S. While its processor and video rendering capabilities are very much impressive, its battery leaves a lot to be desired. A battery that only has 1810 mAh wouldn’t be able to keep the iPhone open for at least 12 hours with heavy use.

Kenney and her partner hope that all of London’s unused telephone boxes will be converted to solar-powered charging points for the benefit of people who need emergency power.