Those smartphones and tablets that do so much for us have also proven their use as we travel to every corner of the world. Who hasn’t used theirs either to get some work done or stay entertained (or entertain little ones who might otherwise make long flights feel even longer) especially on longer flights? The usual challenge of keeping these devices charged can be more difficult during a flight as charging services are often not offered. Enter the Solar Eclipse in-flight solar charging system.
Designed by B/E Aerospace’s Travis Finlay and Jeff Hontz, it is built directly into the window shade. As the name implies, it uses solar energy to charge mobile devices. Lower the shade and the sun will charge your mobile devices without taxing the plane’s own limited power supply.
All that is needed is a USB cable to connect your device to the shade and watch that battery meter slowly go back up.
As we wait for airplane manufacturers to adopt this solution, perhaps B/E Aerospace can turn their attention to coming up with a solution to charge our devices on those long red-eye flights.
Sources : B/E Aerospace // Yanko Design