Solar powered iPhone coming your way

Apple has filed a patent for a technology which would enable a layer of solar cells to be inserted under a touch-sensitive screen of the sort used in the iPhone.

There is usually little room for solar panels on portable devices, once space taken up by the screen and keypad is taken into account - a fact which has plagued previous attempts to power MP3 players and mobile phones via the sun.

Apple’s patent would get round the problem by stacking the solar cells underneath both the touch-sensitive screen and the LCD, according to The New York Times. That would potentially allow the full 2.4 by 4.5 inch glass face of the iPhone to operate as a solar panel.