20080531

solar iPods

I came across a patent application relating to solar cells on portable devices. It may be linked to (or owned by) Apple.

U.S. Patent Application No. 20080094025


A sample claim:
A portable data processing system, comprising:a processing system;a memory coupled to the processing system;a set of solar cells coupled to the processing system, the set of solar cells including a first group of solar cells having at least one solar cell and a second group of solar cells having at least one solar cell, each group of solar cells coupled in series with the processing system and the memory to provide power to the processing system and the memory, the first group of solar cells capable of providing sufficient power to the processing system and the memory when the second group of solar cells is at least partially obstructed, and the second group of solar cells capable of providing sufficient power to the processing system and the memory when the first group of solar cells is at least partially obstructed.