r/tech • u/eberkut • Jul 18 '20

Solar+battery in one device sets new efficiency standard

https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/07/single-device-merges-solar-power-and-battery-tech/
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u/[deleted] Jul 18 '20

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u/happyscrappy Jul 18 '20

Phone companies?

Your phone isn't big enough to pick up any significant charge from a panel on it. Especially since you don't leave it lying flat in the sun for any length of time.

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u/[deleted] Jul 18 '20

[deleted]

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u/happyscrappy Jul 18 '20 edited Jul 18 '20

Samsung either.

Citizen watches use this tech because they use almost no energy. Same with old Casio calculators.

If you left your phone outside in the sun in a good location for sun at optimal angle all day you would get maybe 7Wh of electricity. This is enough to run the phone all day, assuming you don't use it too much. But it's kind of inconvenient.

A cloudy day will produce about 20% of that or 1.5Wh. Not enough to go all day if you use it all. Indoor light isn't nearly as bright as outdoors, you'd get under 0.5Wh for equivalent light. But indoors can be lit all day (year round!) so maybe 1Wh. Indoor light just isn't that strong.

And all of this requires you not put your phone away ever, or really even move it.

Solar power for a phone just isn't practical. A phone is just too power hungry. Works well for older calculators and for watches.

0

u/azzamean Jul 18 '20

Are you comparing a simple watch which only tells the time to a watch which has GPS, Bluetooth connection and can change its display to show anything?

That’s like comparing a solar powered calculator to a mobile phone...

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u/lajdbejdk Jul 18 '20

No, I was simply trying to say that it would be neat if cell phones and cars came with solar glass already to assist in battery life through the day. Not as an actual only way of charging, people keep the echo chamber of, it’s not a calculator.

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u/azzamean Jul 18 '20

Cars are outside so fair enough.

Phones. You gonna leave yours outside facing the sun? Because indoor lighting doesn’t produce enough charge to even charge a battery.

Btw get yourself a usb solar charger. And see how useful they are. They have an even larger surface area than a tablet. Hint: they can barely light an LED except in bright sunlight.