Mobile Phone Chargers have become Novelties
We are gradually moving away from having our mobile phones being charged by plugging in to the mains power with alternate forms of topping up the batteries.
Using solar energy is the obvious and most practical choice for getting that extra bit of talk time. Solar Powered Chargers are not quite common and can happily sit on a window or attached to a rucksack and suck up the energy from the sun ready for when ever you need it. These chargers and be used to power all manner of portable electronic devices not just your cell phone. The next generation chargers will be part of the device themselves and this will remove the need to carry around anything extra in your pockets.
In the meantime, there are other forms of charging to keep you occupied while you wait. These can sometimes fall into novelty or specialist devices. Shoes are a good example. Every step taken can be converted into a thousands of tiny electrical impulses that over the length of a day can amount to something usable in the evening.
If walking is not your thing then how about playing with a YoYo. Having some fun and producing energy at the same time or if your really lazy, let the kids play all day and you can steal the stored energy at once they have fell asleep.
These ideas do work but you will get bored attempting tricks with your Yo-Yo and you’ll occasionally want to wear a different pair of shoes. They do use movement rather than solar power and this idea has not gone unnoticed for more sustainable energy production.
The phone maker Nokia has already patented the idea of powering a mobile phone with energy produced by movement. More scientifically called Kinetic Energy and using Piezoelectric Crystals. When pressure is applied to the crystals they emit a burst of electricity. Nokia plans to use the movement of your mobile phone as you carry it around all day to gently put pressure on the crystals and keep your phone charged. I`m not sure it would be a good idea to give your phone a hood hard shake to power it up.
The novelty toys are just that but the concept behind them, like in Nokia’s phone, can only bring the totally self powered device a step closer.
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