New cellphone gets a charge out of the sun
Last Updated: Monday, June 18, 2007 | 5:21 PM ET
CBC News
A Chinese company says it's the first to develop a cellphone that runs on solar power.
Hi-Tech Wealth says an hour of sunbathing recharges its phone enough for 40 minutes of talk, according to information from the Xinhua Chinese news agency.
A solar panel built into the phone can use light sources, including candlelight, to recharge.
Sun-powered cellphone chargers have been around for a while, but this invention is built into the unit, not a separate device.
The chairman of Hi-Tech Wealth, Zhang Zhengyu, said his company has been working on light as an energy source for seven years.
"With more than 400 million mobile phones in the country, China would save a great amount of electricity if all its mobile phones were recharged by light," Zhang told Xinhua.
The lifespan of the battery in the new phone is expected to be 2.5 times longer than traditional batteries.
The company said it plans to put six of its solar cellphones on the market this year, and another 30 next year. It says it holds eight related patents and has applications in progress for several others.
