News Samsung to launch solar phone

Carbon footprint.

Oh shut up already.

 

pretty cool but my phone is in my pocket most of the day anyways

 

...well SOME form of flame retardant is obigatory for the CE mark...right?

There are MANY solar chargers out there as accesoires, so why not an integrated one? I like the idea.
Beein fit to a smartphone though...the "high-end" market isn't really the one leeding an away-from-a-powersource type of life.

 

QFT.

 

I would much prefer to have a detachable panel so I could put it somewhere useful, otherwise it is really silly.
Something like they have in perpetual motion watches would be a much better idea.

 

Gimmick, it'd take a fair few hours in full sun for more than a second or two of charge. The only way a solar panel would be feasible would be an ultra-low power phone with a small greyscale screen, certainly not a smartphone. Smartphones use an enormous amount of power, even with 100% efficient panels solar power will not be practical, the sun just doesn't give enough energy to the ~50 centimetres squared back.

 

Dumb quote of the day.... lol the sun doesnt give enough energy lol that made me laugh, I think what you meant to say is that current solar cell technology does not absorb enough of the suns spectrum to take full advantage of the immense amount of power that is released but they are getting closer and closer, so the tech is in our near future.

 

Not what I meant, just saying even with 100% efficient panels theres not a great deal of energy available for a solar panel with the footprint of a phone. Assuming 200 watts per metre squared in full sunlight (Seems common figure in western europe), and ~50cm squared back of phone (generous, and thats assuming complete coverage of back), thats about a watt. Smartphones tend to draw ~3W while charging, but no matter, that seems like a slow charge at least. Factor in angle of the sun in the sky, cloud cover, minimum power to boot modern phones, a perfect solar panel will at best give a minute or two of emergency calls. This is at best an emergency backup, leaving a phone in the right angle for hours just isn't practical. If you must have an emergency backup, get a low power second phone, or a wind up charger that works at night. I cannot see a practical use for solar panels in consumer phones, this looks like one in a long line of impractical planet saving devices. (Completely for renewable sources of power, but this is silly)