The panels, to their credit, can also produce some power from artificial light, such as indoor lighting. This means the headphones are charging constantly, except in complete darkness, such as when the wearer is sleeping at night.
There is still a power port in case there is heavy usage and backup power is necessary. Mr. Fili added that is not likely that smartphones and other devices aren’t going to have solar panels, anytime soon. Because many people keep the handset in a pocket and therefore it doesn’t have access to light. Instead, he envisions solar panels being fitted to people’s clothing and bags, and phones can be charged from there.
The Finnish company Plano is already making fabrics that have built-in solar paneling.
That firm is led by Elina Ilén, who is a professor at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia’s Department of Textile and Paper Engineering. She is a leading expert on wearable textile electronics.
In this instance, the company is working on producing clothing that is washable with built-in solar-powered sensors. These can monitor various aspects of the wearer’s health, such as heart rate, temperature, posture, sleep quality, and body fat levels.
