Solar Powered Cell Phones

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Solar Powered Cell Phones: Advantages & Disadvantages

There is no single event more frustrating in the modern life than discovering you have no more power in your cell phone. Inevitably, it happens in the middle of a conversation you are enjoying. It also is sure to happen when you are out in the middle of nowhere and really need a connection to the civilized world. Thus, one would think that the development of solar powered cell phone technology would be being greeted with more enthusiasm by the marketplace.

However, consumers have been relative quite about the arrival of the solar-powered mobile phone. In part, this has to do with the market where it was introduced. Sharp and KDDI have announced a model that will be available in Japan, where robotic nurses and bullet trains have taken the wow factor away for many buyers. Released in June of 2009, the phone has not yet gotten a timeline for release in Western markets.

In the meantime, Western consumers are welcome to join in the debate as to whether or not having a solar power cell phone is a good thing or the end of the world as well know it. There is no doubt that the phones do bring advantages with them. However, they also bring certain disadvantages.

One disadvantageous element is the additional equipment that may be needed. It is not clear if a world market solar-powered cell phone would require a special solar powered cell phone charger, or if it would be able to work just as well with regular power cabling. Mobile phone enthusiasts who already have a drawer full of cords may be reluctant to bring a whole new system home.

Also, the promise of a true solar cell phone is not entirely true. Sharp states that its phones should be able to get 80% of their charge from the sun. 80% is simply not a full charge, meaning that users are, at the end of the day, still bound to traditional grids, especially when you consider that they are estimating one minute of talk time from 10 minutes of sun time which may be a hard sell to those who spend most of their time indoors.

Of course, the concept of a solar power cell phone does carry quite a few advantages. Going for a hike or up into a remote area without electrical support no longer presents any kind of problem. Additionally, a solar powered cell phone charger eliminates the need to pay any attention to the local electric system, which will be useful to world travelers moving between markets.

All in all, the solar-powered mobile phone does provide the solution to the sudden loss of power that is so very frustrating. Whether it will be a technology that is fully embraced by the marketplace is another matter entirely. With one phone already on the market and other sure to follow, it will be interesting to see if the solar cell phone becomes the next hot accessory in mobile communications.