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from the doesn't-recharge-in-the-basement dept.
Solar-powered watches are nothing new, but being more power-hungry beasts, solar-powered smartwatches are a different story. A San Francisco-based startup called LunaR now claims to have bridged the divide by developing a smartwatch that never needs to be plugged in for a recharge as it draws all the energy it needs from the sun.
The LunaR... includes sleep and activity tracking, along with integration with social media and messaging apps to bring notifications to the wrist through an embedded LED array.
At the heart of what the creators claim is the world's first solar-powered smartwatch is (unsurprisingly) a breakthrough in solar technology. With a clear solar panel layered over the watch face, it's claimed the LunaR can harvest energy from both natural and artificial light. So much so, that with as little as one hour of daily exposure to light, its 110-mAh lithium-polymer battery can apparently stay fully charged.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday October 10 2017, @07:57PM
It can't be truly transparent if it must absorb some of the photons. If it absorbs certain wavelengths1 more than others, then it colors the light passing through. So that would also not be quite the definition of transparent. If it absorbs all colors equally, it must appear to be slightly dark glass that weakens the light passing through.
It would seem that more efficient transparent panels would be "darker" as they absorb more photons from passing through.
Another application: window glass in buildings that generates electricity. Imagine a skyscraper with this kind of glass. How many smart watches could that power?
How about solar panel sunglasses to power your noise counselling headphones for a phone without a headphone jack?
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1Q. what did one color tinted transparent solar panel say to the other? A. my wavelength is bigger than your wavelength.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.