IDG News Service - South Korea's LG Display has developed a solar panel for an e-book reader.
The panel is 10 centimeters in width and length and has been combined with a Sony Reader electronic book to prove the concept, according to a photo issued by the South Korean company.
A working prototype of the panel and e-book reader will be on display at the International Meeting on Information Display (IMID) than runs this week in Seoul.
The cell is less than a millimeter thick and weighs just 20 grams so won't significantly increase the weight of an electronic book reader.
E-book readers already offer a long battery life because their electronic paper displays draw power only when the page is being turned so the addition of a solar panel could mean regular readers never have to worry about charging the devices again.
Exposure to sunlight for four or five hours would provide enough power to run the e-book reader for a day, said LG Display.
The solar panel used in the prototype has an efficiency of 9.6 percent% and LG aims to increase this to 12% next year and 14% by 2012 at which time it should be read for commercialization.
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