A revolutionary new phone screen called Wysips could mean that finding yourself with a dead phone battery could be a thing of the past.
Wysips converts energy from both artificial light and sunshine into electricity that can be used to keep your mobile alive.
Wysips stands for What You See Is Photovoltaic Surface. It uses light-collecting crystals that can be fitted beneath or on top of the screens of phones, tablets and smartwatches.
Early prototypes have been able to reach 2.5mW/cm2 in sunlight, which converts 10 minutes of light exposure into four minutes of extra battery life.
French manufacturer SunPartner Group is working on extending this conversion rate and has now signed a deal that will see the technology used in future handsets. It is expected that the technology could be used in phones as soon as 2014.
The photovoltaic material converts solar radiation into electricity and semiconductors. SunPartner bonds this material onto a network of micro-lenses to produce a thin, transparent as the Wysips material is invisible to the naked eye.
The technology can also be adapted to other screens and windows, and the makers believe they can turn any surface into an energy source.
SunPartner claim the sheet does not impact on the phone’s contrast, readability, angle of view or luminosity.
The component is installed during the manufacturing process and is connected to an electronic chip that converts and manages the electricity produced.
Last month, SunPartner and smartphone maker TCL Communications announced they were developing smartphone prototypes powered by light, which could include Alcatel One Touch phones.
