Apple Considering Using Solar Panels In Its Future Devices

As DigiTimes reports, now Apple as well as other companies like Samsung, is exploring the possibility of using solar panels in its future products. Reportedly Apple is even considering adding Taiwan-based solar panel makers in its supply chain. This fact means that the company is not only exploring this technology but is already planning who exactly will manufacture these panels.

But, as DigiTimes wrote, small solar panels need more development before they can be used in consumer devices.

However, according to Taiwan-based solar firms, these niche markets will need a longer time to develop. Samsung’s solar-powered netbook adopts a unique sized solar cell, added industry sources, and the number of solar cells used is less than rooftop solar systems, hence it is unlikely for solar-powered consumer products to form a solid market in the short term.

Apple has already showed interest in solar panel technology and even filed a patent for mobile products that utilize solar panels in early 2009. Apple has not specified mobile devices in this patent but implied anything from its notebooks to an iPhone or iPod.

In addition, earlier this month, Wall Street Journal published a report – apparently based on both sources and Apple – that the company is working on a “new way of charging” for iPhone 6, launching in 2012. As previously discussed, this new way of charging is probably some kind of inductive charging, which means that now Apple is considering multiple ways of charging for its devices.