If you were in school sometime since the 1970s, you may well have made use of a calculator powered by solar energy. Long before the large scale solar boom of recent years, many calculators were equipped with a solar cell strip that harnessed indoor light to display multiplications and square roots. As time passed, the focus shifted to big outdoor solar panels that power homes or entire communities. Now, Ambient Photonics wants to revive indoor solar: powering small electronic devices via household lighting. It claims a transition to indoor solar will be more environmentally friendly, given the carbon footprint of batteries and battery disposal. It should be good news for simple convenience, the environment, and our wallets, as the average American household buys an average of 90 batteries a year. Could we create these novel devices that just run forever? Ambient's new tech works for numerous small gadgets — anything that uses a coin cell, double- or triple-A, or 9-volt battery. You couldn’t power a laptop, but you could power the keyboard and mouse. Ambient’s tech emits 90% less carbon than similar battery-powered products. It also eliminates the issue of battery disposal. In light of the fact that every year Americans throw away three billion batteries, that’s good news. Ambient's factory in California can now mass produce their cells at about $1 each, so we could all start finding them in household gizmos in the not too distant future.
