Photovoltaic Cells In LCDs Could Recycle Wasted And Ambient Light
Researchers at UCLA have created a twist on traditional LCDs that would allow displays to reclaim wasted photons from the backlight, or even act as a normal solar cell. Normal LCDs rely on an always-on backlight, but because of the way LCDs work, most of that light never escapes. This inherent inefficiency hasn’t stopped us from getting bright displays, but the power necessary to make them so is usually what runs down your battery.
No guarantees are made regarding things like battery life and power draw, since these depend on many other factors, but Intel’s Youssry Botros commented that it could “potentially harvest 75 percent of the wasted photons from LCD backlight and turn them back into electricity.” Make your own calculations. He later uses the word “synergetic,” by which I think he means synergistic, but to be honest his version sounds better.
Yang hopes to work with manufacturers to make this mainstream, and says that the method is “simple.” All the same, don’t expect your phone to charge itself using this method any time soon. The research, published in the journal Advanced Materials, was conducted with money from Intel and the Office of Naval Research.
[via Hot Hardware]