Soon, Apple MacBook laptops will become much more environment-friendly; thanks to the newly awarded patent on solar energy implementation. A document released by USPTO indicates that Apple may soon incorporate a solar panel into the MacBook’s housing. Electrochromic glass will cover the rear plat and it covers both the touch sensors and photovoltaic cells. The final design may involve a MacBook with two-sided display on the laptop’s lid.
When set in the light-blocking state, the external panel would appear translucent or opaque, allowing users to use the internal display normally. The external panel would appear clear in the light-passing state and users could see the light emitted by the status LEDs. It is said that laptop would know if a light source is nearby.
The external light ways could pass through the outer electrochromic glass. Sunlight can be absorbed automatically and converted to generate about 10mW of power. Apple said that solar cells could be enhanced to produce between 100mW to 1W of power to charge the laptop while it’s in use. Even if the arrangement can’t fully charge the MacBook, users could still benefit from longer runtimes.
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