Solar power is nothing new and has been around for years, and even in small electronic items such as watches and calculators. But a report on TechRadar is revealing a team of researchers at the University of Cambridge are working on a system that would make that daily charging of your smartphone obsolete.

A prototype device has been built that recaptures wasted light from an OLED screen on a handset, and helps keep the battery topped up with power. According to one of the researchers from the team, only 36 percent of the light that a screen produces is pushed forwards. The rest of the light just escapes around the edges.

The prototype device has a number of solar cells that are made up from thin-film hydrogenated amorphous silicon, which lies within the handsets display. This is coupled with a thin film super capacitor, which evens out any voltage spikes to prevent any damage to the handsets battery.

There are extra cells placed around the edges of the display so any light that is wasted by the screen can be used. A smartphone with a 3.7-inch screen can produce up to five milliwatts of power in this way, but the prototype devices are still a long way from production.

Couple this with the technology we recently told you about that waterproofed your device, the days of charging daily and worrying about water damage may soon be over. Do you think this idea will find its way into our smartphones?

More About: smartphones, Solar Powered

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The previous record was set back in 1987, which achieved a speed of 49 mph or 79kph. You have to wonder how come it has taken so long to try and beat this record and in 33 years have only beat it by 6mph? Technology has come a long way in that time, so how come the result seems to look bad?

We are not experts here, but surly solar technology, aerodynamics and friction from the wheel to the road has changed more than this result shows? However, in a recent Cleantechnica article they do state that all the batteries were removed and was just sustained by silicon solar cells themselves – the 55mph speed seems to be a great achievement after all.

Sunswift has a number of FAQs, and one of the questions was why it had taken the record so long to be broke? The answer was interesting, as they said that no one else had tried – well that answers y rant from above as well.

We now seem to be going through a stage where more tests are being done on solar powered vehicles and craft, you only have to look at the recent Solar Plane Impulse test to understand just what we mean.

More About: Bugatti Veyron, Solar Powered

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