In a very interesting development, researchers from the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, have created an LCD screen which can charge its own batteries from any ambient light source such as the sun, an incandescent bulb and even its own backlight!
We took a look a little while ago at How Modern LCDs Work. As you might remember, each LCD has a polarizing sheet that controls the amount of light that passes through any given pixel. These polarizers are very inefficient, and waste most of the absorbed energy. With this new development however, the standard polarizers have been replaced by a polarized sheet made with organic photovoltaics. These photovoltaics convert any absorbed energy, into electricity, thereby increasing the battery life of any device that it is used in.
The researchers say that they are speaking to manufacturers so that this technology may be incorporated into future products.
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