| Could solar-powered smartphones be a realistic development? 11:41 - Mar 17 with 1185 views | Ryorry |
Just musing, inspired by my recently bought s p calculator.
My iPhone munches huge amounts of power, daily recharging required. Multiplied by billions and their carbon footprints across the globe. |  |
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| Could solar-powered smartphones be a realistic development? on 11:45 - Mar 17 with 1144 views | Churchman |
Won’t getting that big old solar panel into your coat pocket be problem? Wear it as a hat maybe? How about a triangular panel for that Art Deco 30s look? |  | | |
| Could solar-powered smartphones be a realistic development? on 11:55 - Mar 17 with 1123 views | leitrimblue |
Perhaps you could look into one of those small solar charging panels?
I know very little about um, but perhaps if you charged all yer mobile devices using it it may pay for itself soon enough if yer phone etc is consuming so much power? |  | | |
| Could solar-powered smartphones be a realistic development? on 12:00 - Mar 17 with 1095 views | Benters |
What number IPhone are you on ? Mine is a 6 and one by one my apps are kicking the bucket 😂😳 |  |
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| Could solar-powered smartphones be a realistic development? on 12:02 - Mar 17 with 1087 views | leitrimblue |
| Could solar-powered smartphones be a realistic development? on 12:00 - Mar 17 by Benters |
What number IPhone are you on ? Mine is a 6 and one by one my apps are kicking the bucket 😂😳 |
Have you tried turning it off and on again?  | | | |
| Could solar-powered smartphones be a realistic development? on 12:05 - Mar 17 with 1074 views | Benters |
| Could solar-powered smartphones be a realistic development? on 12:02 - Mar 17 by leitrimblue |
Have you tried turning it off and on again? |
Hang on …. | |
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| Could solar-powered smartphones be a realistic development? on 12:10 - Mar 17 with 1048 views | Ryorry |
| Could solar-powered smartphones be a realistic development? on 11:45 - Mar 17 by Churchman |
Won’t getting that big old solar panel into your coat pocket be problem? Wear it as a hat maybe? How about a triangular panel for that Art Deco 30s look? |
My solar-powered calculator is the same size as my iPhone, and manages perfectly well with a single solar bar down one side! | |
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| Could solar-powered smartphones be a realistic development? on 12:10 - Mar 17 with 1051 views | J2BLUE |
| Could solar-powered smartphones be a realistic development? on 12:00 - Mar 17 by Benters |
What number IPhone are you on ? Mine is a 6 and one by one my apps are kicking the bucket 😂😳 |
Nice one Benters. I don't understand people upgrading every time a new one comes out unless it has some sort of benefit to their job/hobbies.
I still have my 10 XR. Battery still good after 3.5 years. |  |
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| Could solar-powered smartphones be a realistic development? on 12:16 - Mar 17 with 1023 views | DanTheMan |
Probably is not worth it at that scale.
You'd need a decent-sized solar panel for something that is usually in people's pockets all day. I imagine manufacturing enough panels to do that wouldn't be worth it overall, you'd probably output more doing the manufacturing than you would gain from the device.
Better to focus on making the energy infrastructure less carbon intensive.
It's a similar argument to hydrogen vs electric cars as well, where it's just overall more efficient just to go with electric cars so you can put all your focus into decarbonising at the source. |  |
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| Could solar-powered smartphones be a realistic development? on 12:19 - Mar 17 with 1012 views | Benters |
| Could solar-powered smartphones be a realistic development? on 12:10 - Mar 17 by J2BLUE |
Nice one Benters. I don't understand people upgrading every time a new one comes out unless it has some sort of benefit to their job/hobbies.
I still have my 10 XR. Battery still good after 3.5 years. |
I’ve been due an upgrade for yonks now,I just hate going in them poxy shops.
The last time Lady B got an upgrade the chap said ‘blimey you have doubled your number plus two’😂 | |
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| Could solar-powered smartphones be a realistic development? on 12:52 - Mar 17 with 941 views | bsw72 |
Depends what people want their smartphone to be, as it has effectively replaced the mobile phone, digital camera, handheld gaming device, SatNav, multi-media messaging, web browser - effectively a portable computer.
It's amazing that these devices only need charging daily really.
As for solar, generally a phone battery starts at 3,200 mah upwards on the newer devices, which would take around 2.5 hours to recharge with a 5W solar panel.
However a 5W solar panel is currently around 0.5kg and about the size of an A5 sheet of paper, but over 15mm thick.
FInally the other challenge is that phones generally sit in someone's hand or pocket - therefore how would the charge be received . . . |  | | |
| Could solar-powered smartphones be a realistic development? on 13:04 - Mar 17 with 905 views | Ryorry |
| Could solar-powered smartphones be a realistic development? on 12:52 - Mar 17 by bsw72 |
Depends what people want their smartphone to be, as it has effectively replaced the mobile phone, digital camera, handheld gaming device, SatNav, multi-media messaging, web browser - effectively a portable computer.
It's amazing that these devices only need charging daily really.
As for solar, generally a phone battery starts at 3,200 mah upwards on the newer devices, which would take around 2.5 hours to recharge with a 5W solar panel.
However a 5W solar panel is currently around 0.5kg and about the size of an A5 sheet of paper, but over 15mm thick.
FInally the other challenge is that phones generally sit in someone's hand or pocket - therefore how would the charge be received . . . |
That's good info, thanks for serious reply.
The 2.5 hrs on a windowsill wouldn't actually be a problem for me as I'm retired & mostly at home, but the size/weight thing would of course be, so Leitrim's suggestion seems best opotion atm - tho perhaps one day there'll be huge improvements in solar power technology which make the idea more feasible. | |
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| Could solar-powered smartphones be a realistic development? on 13:07 - Mar 17 with 890 views | hype313 |
| Could solar-powered smartphones be a realistic development? on 12:19 - Mar 17 by Benters |
I’ve been due an upgrade for yonks now,I just hate going in them poxy shops.
The last time Lady B got an upgrade the chap said ‘blimey you have doubled your number plus two’😂 |
Smartphones have hit their ceiling at this current time with tech, the only marginal differences in recent years has been a bit more RAM, Storage and tweaks to cameras, but nothing groundbreaking, which is why we're in an era where sales of new phones are at an all time low, because people don't need tiny increments, for the cost attributed. |  |
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| Could solar-powered smartphones be a realistic development? on 13:16 - Mar 17 with 851 views | DanTheMan |
| Could solar-powered smartphones be a realistic development? on 13:07 - Mar 17 by hype313 |
Smartphones have hit their ceiling at this current time with tech, the only marginal differences in recent years has been a bit more RAM, Storage and tweaks to cameras, but nothing groundbreaking, which is why we're in an era where sales of new phones are at an all time low, because people don't need tiny increments, for the cost attributed. |
My last phone was absolutely fine but the battery was on the way out.
Went into a few shops to ask about getting it replaced and most of them said it was 50/50 as to whether the device would even survive doing it due to the way the phone was designed.
It's incredible to me that we've gone backwards in those terms given we used to be able to just swap batteries in and out.
Fairly obvious why they do it though... | |
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| Could solar-powered smartphones be a realistic development? on 13:20 - Mar 17 with 806 views | hype313 |
| Could solar-powered smartphones be a realistic development? on 13:16 - Mar 17 by DanTheMan |
My last phone was absolutely fine but the battery was on the way out.
Went into a few shops to ask about getting it replaced and most of them said it was 50/50 as to whether the device would even survive doing it due to the way the phone was designed.
It's incredible to me that we've gone backwards in those terms given we used to be able to just swap batteries in and out.
Fairly obvious why they do it though... |
I know someone who is still rocking an Galaxy S2 purely because they can replace the battery. Obviously security updates can be problematic, but we all know why they stopped the ability to replace the battery. | |
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| Could solar-powered smartphones be a realistic development? on 13:22 - Mar 17 with 799 views | J2BLUE |
| Could solar-powered smartphones be a realistic development? on 13:04 - Mar 17 by Ryorry |
That's good info, thanks for serious reply.
The 2.5 hrs on a windowsill wouldn't actually be a problem for me as I'm retired & mostly at home, but the size/weight thing would of course be, so Leitrim's suggestion seems best opotion atm - tho perhaps one day there'll be huge improvements in solar power technology which make the idea more feasible. |
I like the idea. Maybe in the future everyone will use one of their card slots in their phone case for a card sized solar panel. Although I suppose we're more likely to see upgraded battery tech where it won't be necessary.
Even cheap smart phones can come with 3 or more days battery life now so hopefully Apple can find a way to get a bigger battery in. | |
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| Could solar-powered smartphones be a realistic development? on 13:22 - Mar 17 with 804 views | blueasfook |
| Could solar-powered smartphones be a realistic development? on 13:07 - Mar 17 by hype313 |
Smartphones have hit their ceiling at this current time with tech, the only marginal differences in recent years has been a bit more RAM, Storage and tweaks to cameras, but nothing groundbreaking, which is why we're in an era where sales of new phones are at an all time low, because people don't need tiny increments, for the cost attributed. |
Agree. I normally get a new Samsung S Ultra every 2 years when my contract is up. Currently have an S24 and I dont see much improvement in the S25 so dont feel like I am missing out. Main advances in phones the last couple of years has been the addition of AI tools. My S24 can do fancy things such as transcribe phone conversations on the fly, optimise photography, Bixby AI assistant etc. |  |
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| Could solar-powered smartphones be a realistic development? on 13:22 - Mar 17 with 798 views | Ryorry |
| Could solar-powered smartphones be a realistic development? on 13:16 - Mar 17 by DanTheMan |
My last phone was absolutely fine but the battery was on the way out.
Went into a few shops to ask about getting it replaced and most of them said it was 50/50 as to whether the device would even survive doing it due to the way the phone was designed.
It's incredible to me that we've gone backwards in those terms given we used to be able to just swap batteries in and out.
Fairly obvious why they do it though... |
Thought that in-built obsolescence was more a mac thing than other brands? (though I'm sure others do it too, I'm talking about degree). My local computer repairer refuses to touch mac computers on principle due to the integral/irreplaceable battery thing. | |
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| Could solar-powered smartphones be a realistic development? on 14:16 - Mar 17 with 693 views | You_Bloo_Right |
| Could solar-powered smartphones be a realistic development? on 11:45 - Mar 17 by Churchman |
Won’t getting that big old solar panel into your coat pocket be problem? Wear it as a hat maybe? How about a triangular panel for that Art Deco 30s look? |
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| Could solar-powered smartphones be a realistic development? on 14:17 - Mar 17 with 693 views | DanTheMan |
| Could solar-powered smartphones be a realistic development? on 13:22 - Mar 17 by Ryorry |
Thought that in-built obsolescence was more a mac thing than other brands? (though I'm sure others do it too, I'm talking about degree). My local computer repairer refuses to touch mac computers on principle due to the integral/irreplaceable battery thing. |
It is unfortunately a thing with most phone manufacturers. Some are worse than others.
There are a few manufacturers out there who market themselves as being greener by having replaceable parts such as Fairphone. | |
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