3 ms·

Ok, but let's not fool ourselves that this is to save the mains electric grid from the power used to charge these things. This is for convenience, not environme

Ok, but let's not fool ourselves that this is to save the mains electric grid from the power used to charge these things. This is for convenience, not environmentalism. The amount of power used by headphones is tiny. Which is lucky, because the amount of power that a small inefficient solar cell like that can collect in artificial lighting is tiny as well. For reference, my Bose noise-cancelling headphones use something on the order of a tenth of a Watt. My microwave oven uses 5W just to keep the clock flashing "--:--". I have a 14-year old wristwatch, which is solar powered. I haven't had to change a battery in it ever. It's convenience, and it's neat, but that's it.

mensetmanusman 4y ago
This isn’t necessarily the full picture. Whenever I see efficiency gains, I tend to look for reductions in materials utilizations, and sometimes I might find a case for environmentalism (on some axis). I work in the technical area that enables flexible solar panels to exist at large volume (replacing energy intensive rigid glass with flexible barrier films). The manufactures of these headsets note that it allows for a larger volume reduction in batteries when integrated across 100,000s units compared to the addition of the panel itself. Also, the technology supports the global supply chain to continue to lower the cost of PV which is good for the environment. An eventual goal is the ability to quickly unroll massive installations of PV on rooftops that are as durable as the roof itself.