Say Hello to Solar-Paneled Clothing That Charges Your Phone
This "Wearable Solar" clothing allegedly can restore half of a phone's power when worn in bright sunlight.
They may be riddled with clunky panels and weirdly aggressive shoulder guards, but these high-tech togs will keep a phone juiced up way past the time it normally loses a charge. That is assuming it's sunny outside – if the cloud cover is thick, then you're just looking like Batman for no good reason.
The "Wearable Solar" coat shown below is one of two photovoltaic-loaded civvies (the other's a sleeveless dress) developed by Dutch innovation-funding firm Gelderland Valoriseert andPauline van Dongen, whose neo-clothing line also includes 3-D printed shoes and vestments that look like erosion. The jet-black accoutrements are equipped with panels and sleeves sheltering up to 48 removable solar cells; when worn out in bright daylight, the makers of "Wearable Solar" claim, the items can restore up to half of a phone's battery life in one hour.
Turning humans into their snazzy, walking energy generators was initially an idea aimed at attendees of large music festivals, who rely on phones to locate roaming friends and tucked-away stages. But van Dongen thinks that solar-powered raiments could find a wider audience in the future.