It was only a matter of time before solar-powered tech wound up in our pockets and backpacks. Garmin already does it with a range of its wearables, but several instances of light-powered tech have turned up at this year’s Mobile World Congress.
Notably, Lenovo has shown off a proof-of-concept for a solar-enabled notebook, and Infinix, a Chinese brand, has also demoed a concept smartphone with the ability to draw power from light. Before you go off all impressed, these are both still concept devices and probably won’t launch in the next cycle.
Solar, but so far away
Lenovo debuted its Yoga Solar PC Concept at MWC this year, a working prototype of a notebook that uses the lid to harvest power even when it isn’t in use. The gains aren’t massive — it takes twenty minutes of light to power an hour of video — but it could prove a good reason to keep your notebook out of its bag as often as possible.
A substantial amount of tech has been thrown at the panels that occupy the new Yoga’s lid, letting it “automatically adjust the charger’s settings to prioritize sending the harvested energy to the system”. This includes changing how the panels themselves are assembled. Lenovo reckons it can still scoop up light energy in dim conditions, but that doesn’t make it a perpetual-motion PC.
Infinix does much the same with its smartphone concept, revealing a handset with an integrated solar panel as well as a case with the same hardware installed. It’s this second one we’re more likely to see in shorter order, provided the company can make the price palatable, but we wouldn’t rule out light-happy smartphones in the future either.
Infinix uses perovskite solar cells to generate a lowly 2W of constant charge, with a voltage regulation system to manage charging and the heat it’ll generate. Not just internally, but because you’ll have left your smartphone sitting in direct sunlight. The concept phone — it doesn’t have a name — would use its new hardware to bulk up your battery and won’t replace the charger entirely. There isn’t enough surface area on your smartphone for that to be a reality just yet.
