Apple plans to plug iPhones directly into solar panels for power

If a new patent is any indication, Apple customers could soon be able to plug their iPhones directly into a solar panel for power.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published the patent by Apple today. And while the company has seven previous solar-related patents to its name, this isthe first one that would allow Apple users to plug their MacBooks, iPhones, iPads, and other devices directly into a solar panel without a bulky converter.

The patent describes a system that can accept “both power adapter and solar power direct from gathering devices” or traditional chargers, according toTechCrunch. Converting the solar panel’s power into a voltage, current, and so forth that’s compatible with the electronics would all happen within the device. “So in other words, you could plug in your MagSafe or iPad/iPod adapter, or alternatively hook a MacBook or other piece of hardware directly to a solar panel with a simple cord. There’s also a means for accepting both inputs at the same time, according to the patent, for a power balance that would likely charge your device quicker but with more economical use of juice from the grid.”

According to the patent, this can all be done with existing hardware, and with a collection of components small enough to fit in a laptop or iPhone.

Of course, to take advantage of that capability, consumers would need portable, on-the-go forms of solar power. For instance, a stripped-down version of thisminiature solar panel that attaches to a window with a suction cup — but set up to deliver power directly, rather than storing charge. Or solar panels — already in use by the army — that can be unrolled and rolled up like placemats and carried in purses or backpacks. Or any number of other devices built from the ever thinner, more light weight, and more efficient solar cells that are steadily heading for the market.

Apple is apparently seeking an expert in such thin-film technology, which suggests its looking to move into the manufacture of solar-powered versions of its devices. And on a broader scale, Apple already brought all of their data centers onto 100 percent renewable energy, 75 percent of their facilities are powered by renewables worldwide.

Comments

6 responses to “Apple plans to plug iPhones directly into solar panels for power”

  1. Alistair Spong Avatar
    Alistair Spong

    It really shouldn’t be that hard to plug any device that has a battery in it to a solar panel ….. So why the patents ?

    1. RobS Avatar
      RobS

      What’s the point if Apple can’t make money out of it.

      1. wideEyedPupil Avatar
        wideEyedPupil

        They don’t make money out of eliminating PVCs, bromide and arsenic from their glass and a bunch of other stuff that sees them IT leaders in manufacturing… they did it to get “Green my Apple” from Greenpeace off their backs as much as anything.

        And if it was all about money they would have stuck with the gas (possibly bio-gas) generators at the new Norman Foster ‘spaceship’ HQ. But that has been scrapped for solar which impressed me enormously. Shows Apple knows how to listen (at least part of the time!).

        If they can turn a dollar and give me easy solar charging/direct safe power supply then bring it, I might even put solar on my office roof to run it 🙂

  2. Paul O'Reilly Avatar
    Paul O’Reilly

    There is the commercial device for iPhone already.
    http://www.rpc.com.au/catalog/phonestick-voltage-reducer-p-3693.html
    Solar in /USB out?
    I don’t know why they need the patent?

  3. wideEyedPupil Avatar
    wideEyedPupil

    God I hope the new MacPro has this socket 😉

  4. Miles Harding Avatar
    Miles Harding

    There is no such thing as a green apple, they’re all rotten to the core.

    I read a couple of other things from this:

    a) i-phones have lousy battery endurance. The things demand to be plugged in most of the time. Caravan parks and camp grounds are filled with people running around like vampires looking for an outlet to charge their i-* device.

    b) It’s a stupid idea to integrate solar chargers into the phone when there is a perfectly useful USB standard for charging them and many other e-devices from the same charger.

    What we are looking at here are increasingly dubious ‘innovations’ that bring little, if any, increased functionality to the consumer**. Apple has been very successful in latching onto the fashion conscious consumer and sucking the contents of their purses (another vampire reference). The company has also chained itself to those consumers through its istore and itunes monopolies.

    My policy for a long time has to stay away from anything that starts with ‘i’.

    ** This is an increasingly serious problem as software companies produce new versions of their products that really don’t offer any new capability that users want. More often, these new features simply get in the way of effective use of the machines. The case in point has been Windows Vista where Microsoft completely overstepped reasonable and had to withdraw the product. They have essentially done the same with Windows-8, where the major ‘improvement’ has been the blue screen that is useless as an application launcher for anybody but the most casual of computer computers.

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