Sony and the WWF have teamed up to launche the Open Planet Ideas initiative, which aims to encourage people to think of new and innovative ways in which we can use technology to make better use of our natural resources, aid the planet and help it's inhabitants, organised into a few different concepts. I had a quick spy through the current technologies they have on the site, as suggestions for items which could be used (among others) to see if there was anything I could come up with, and was quite impressed with some of the items there.  Things such as facial recognition and presence sensing in a TV so that it could dim the screen if you leave the room, or turn off if you fall asleep (I know i could have used that plenty in the past!)

 

Another one that struck me as quite interesting was a dye sensitized solar cell, which is a solar panel but not in the sense that most people would recognise one. Rather than being a traditional photo voltaic cell which is usually green or orange, these things can be made in pretty patterns, designs and even transparent, which got me thinking. I came up with:

Self Charging Mobile

What about if the glass on your mobile phone, or any other mobile device was made out of this dye sensitized solar cell material. It would mean the device could be trickle charging all day long, and while this might not mean it could replace the normal charge altogether it might perhaps get you an extra hour or two of use in a normal day, and who wouldn't want that?

Not only would it mean I could go longer without having to worry about getting to a charge point, but for people who don't have regular reliable access to power such as in third world countries, or when travelling etc, it could mean the difference between being able to make that important call, or not.

Most importantly though, every watt of power taken from the sun and solar energy is a watt of power not needed from the national grid, from fossil fuels and other non-renewable resources for it's production and I've no doubt that I don't need to explain the necessity of that to anyone.

 

What is even more interesting about these dye sensitized solar cells is that they have reduced energy consumption and CO2 emissions during manufacture compared with conventional silicon solar cells so are an even cleaner form of solar energy, and a higher efficiency for light to electricity  conversion as well, so potentially would be better at charging your mobile than some of the solar charging options out there. I'd welcome comments and improvements from anyone, so go look at my idea and give me your input,

 

Crowd sourcing is becoming ever more popular, and used in a plethora of different ways, and I really like it when I see it being used for something like this.  I encourage you all to head over to the site and at least find find out more about Open Planet Ideas , read the challenge brief or even better become part of it, try to make a difference and join the challenge.


Comments and suggestions always welcome

~Shepy

 

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