Mobile Phones and Solar Batteries

...and my calculator mch older than my mobile phone. Don't they make better solar panel now than when they made my calculator?

So, in general you are saying they've improved from 8-10% to 12-14%.
Hmmmm, and I said 'Only slightly'

I think we should start a war over this, I'll bet you open your boiled eggs from the wrong end too.

Del

(Nice link cheers, GA btw)

That is a good 40% improvement at the top end.

Yes indeed.
When it filters down from the aerospace industry to be available at a cost effective price for us mortals there will be much rejoicing throughout the land.
(don't think I shall hold my breath tho')
Seriously I'm hopeful that someone will come up with a printable film, organic inks, that sort of stuff...not at all my field so I may be taliking tosh. I think one of the probs is conducting the juice out of the damn things effectively.

Del

Mobile phones are designed to be portable, and they use more power than a calculator, meaning that they would need more solar panels, meaning they would take more space, being less portable. Furthermore, they are cheaper without the solar panels, not by much, but "every little helps"

They make a seperate unit right now:

Solar_Cell_Phone_Charger

Gotta love it. It seems that the technology exists, but to Del's point, isn't available. Following Bricktop's link, I checked out several solar powered chargers -- most of them are not available. Advertised, but not available -- go figure.

The problem with solar chargers for cell phones is two-fold:

1) Even though phones are mobile, they are rarely exposed to sunlight. Only when in use as a rule. So having a solar panel on the phone, like on a calculator, doesn't make much sense. ( see Vulcan's comment #6 on this in this blog)

2) The areas where you would use a solar charger are the worst ones for cell phone power usage. If you are in a marginal coverage area -- like when backpacking -- your phone is contantly trying to find a signal and register with a network. This is why batteries seem to drain more quickly in marginal coverage areas than in good coverage.

So, using a solar charger in a marginal coverage area would be better than nothing, but not by much. Using it in a good coverage area would require leaving the cell phone alone for most of the day -- so why have it? That's why most folks plug their phones in at night to charge while they sleep and be available during the day.

The best of both worlds seems to be a solar charger with its own battery that could charge during the day, then have a cell phone plugged in at night. Now, if someone could make one of those at a reasonable price...

The BlueEarth phone (see comment # 19 from rod74h)looks promising but we will have to see how much juice is generated from the solar panels on it. I am betting that for now, you had best not stray too far from the power grid.

"The best of both worlds seems to be a solar charger with its own battery that could charge during the day, then have a cell phone plugged in at night ..."

Better still would be phones with easily exchangeable batteries, then you could cut out the 'middle man' (the battery in the solar charger) and charge one of the phone batteries directly, swapping when the one in the phone shows low charge.

...charge one of the phone batteries directly, swapping when the one in the phone shows low charge

That's what I do. When I buy a new cell phone, I always buy a spare battery. I also buy a desktop charger that can charge the battery alone. This way I always have a fully-charged battery while the other is in the phone being drained.

I always get a kick when my phone beeps the "battery empty" alert and other people say in a condescending manner, "Oh, poor thing's got no battery power!". Then, I take out the spare, slip it in and smile at them.

regards,

Vulcan

I used to do that when batteries weren't so good - (my first phone was a black version of one of these:

)

... but these days I find I don't need to. I just charge at night - or from the laptop (or anything else with a suitable USB hole).

My point was that it'd be a more efficient way of using the solar charging principle.

When I am outside, my phone stays in a belt pouch. No way for the sun to reach it.

When I'm at work, my phone goes into the desk drawer which I lock so that it can't escape into the sunshine.

When I am in my house...well, it's a little hard to bring the sun inside.

regards,

Vulcan

Maybe this article will make you feel better:

http://cr4.globalspec.com/blogentry/8602/Watts-the-Advantage

There is the new samsung "Blue Earth"

http://samsungblueearth.com/

I'm sure I heard about some folk researching solar paint a while back.

The sort of stuff you can cover buildings in.

I have one of these fancy Casio watches with tough solar, triple sensor. When it was sold to me I was told you would never have to replace a battery again. Well guess what?? Wrong!! The battery is busy going (even with the battery indicator showing full) so I can't use the backlight or some of the triple features anymore. Another catch is that the damn battery is extremely hard to find because of its rechargeable capabilities. Sucks. You get a non-rechargeable one but it is 3.0V and the rechargeable one is 2.3V.

I have heard about this problem a few years ago, you need to park the watch every night under a lamp.....costs are horrendous for a watch!!!

Its probably best for a night worker who can leave it charging all day somewhere.....

Yeah, and CFL's and fluorescents don't work. Not enough near IR in the light spectrum.