I came across this interesting post about the possibility that ereaders will shortly all use solar power to charge their batteries.

I am reposting it as I feel that it is a topic that is of interest to all who follow the developments ion the technology of ereaders. Particularly as there are not many other areas in which ereaders can actually be much improved on the current models in my view.

If you think about it, the current crop of ereaders have reached such a level of perfection for their singular task – the screens are a joy to read with, the ebook storage capacity has reached lunatic levels (up to thousands of ebooks in your ereader at once), easy navigation through your ebook collections, superb downloading systems – such as Amazon’s for a good example – Good colour perhaps using some form of e-Ink might be good and better versions of the built in back lit e-Ink screens, but that is all.

So we are left with looking for a system to increase the battery endurance of real ereaders from the current 3 to 4 weeks between charges, and here solar looks very interesting.

Thus in this ponder Alex of Ereader King (link below) considers the current state of solar charged ereaders and comes to the conclusion that it is likely to be the next big step forward for ereaders.

So, the word is with Alex, read on…….

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Solar Powered eReaders: The Technology Of Future

One of the main reasons why eReaders are so popular among book lovers is their long lasting battery, which can last to as many as four months.

This makes them perfect for reading books during traveling or on vacations.

While this sounds impressive, there are also chances that the future eReaders would be running on solar power, which means that the battery could last forever if the sun keeps shining.

Various tech giants have been working on eReaders that would solely operate on solar power, and Toshiba has even released a commercially viable product on these lines.

This was done by the company back in 2010 when it released the Biblio Leaf in Japan having a six inch electronic display, quite similar to that of Kindle.

The solar panel is built into the front of the device and has the capability of charging the battery enough for users to read about 25 books, or 7,500 pages. Besides, when you are not using the device, you can recharge it by simply placing it in the sunlight.

LG also worked on an ePaper display that was used on a TFT-LCD display. The project, however, never got passed the prototype stage.

Besides, NeoLux Corporation has also been working on solar powered Ink-In-Motion display which would provide sufficient power to the display to keep it running for some 18 months of continuous usage.

Recently, the company entered in a joint partnership with e-Ink Holdings to increase the practical usage of the technology.

Among the developments that can be noteworthy in near future, the new flexible screen technology developed by AUO Optronics is an important one.

The flexible photovoltaic battery of the device can be rolled and charges solely by the sun light. Solar Focus recently also introduced the protective cases for eReaders that can charge the devices when not in use.

These cases are mainly developed for the Kindle line of eReaders and can charge the device even if not placed under the direct sun light.

So far there are no eReaders that have been specifically developed with integrated solar power batteries, but there are methods that can convert simple eReaders into ones that run on solar power.

Considering the popularity and advantages of solar power, we can expect considerable future development in this field.

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Thus Alex’s thoughts on this topic.

With thanks to Alex for this ponder.

Link to Ereader King: http://ereaderking.com/solar-powered-ereaders-the-technology-of-future/

Share with us:

What are your feelings on this idea? Would solar charged ereaders be a serious advance for ereaders, or do you feel the current built in rechargeable batteries already give us all we need?