According to http://www.macworld.com/, Apple filed a patent describing the use of solar cells underneath the layers of a touch-sensitive display in its mobile devices. This project could help to increase the battery lifetime, more than immediately provide a way to refill it only from solar power.
The iPhone and the iPod Touch should be the perfect device for such system. Even though solar cell technology has been recently offering serious improvement, one will have to find he largest surface possible and one way to achieve it would then be to stack a touch-sensitive layer, a display and solar panel on top of one another.
For sure one will have to leave the iPhone or the iPod Touch on a table properly illuminated, as keeping it in your pocket or in your holder will not really refill the battery.
[translation by Linathael]
