Soon, Jacket That Charge Phones

Led by an Indian origin scientist, a team in the US has developed filaments that harvest and store the sun’s energy, and can be woven into textiles that can power phones, personal health sensors and other gadgets. The breakthrough would essentially turn pieces of clothing like jackets into wearable, solar-powered batteries that never need to be plugged in, the researchers said. It could one day revolutionize wearable, helping everyone, from soldiers who carry heavy loads of batteries to texting addicted teens, who could charge their smartphones by simply slipping them into their pockets. Inspired by the 1989 movie ‘Back to the Future Part II’, the research team developed filaments in the form of copper ribbons that are thin, flexible and lightweight. The ribbons have a solar cell on one side and energy storing layers on the other. If you can develop self-charging clothes or textiles, you can realize these cinematic fantasies – that is the cool thing. Researchers subsequently bought a small, tabletop loom, and wove the ribbons into a square of yarn. The proof-of-concept shows that the filaments could be placed throughout jackets or other clothing items to harvest and store energy to power phones and other gadgets. It is an advancement that overcomes the main shortcoming of solar cells: the energy they produce must flow into the power grid or be stored in a battery that limits their portability. It is hard for the military to deliver batteries to soldiers in hostile environments. A garment like this can harvest and store energy at the same time if sunlight is available. There are a host of other potential uses, including electric cars that could generate and store energy whenever they are in the sun. That is the future. What researchers have done is demonstrate that it can be made. It is going to be very useful for the general public and the military and many other applications.