LG Display Introduces Solar Cell-Powered e-Book

LG Display Co., Ltd.,a leading innovator of thin-film transistor liquid-crystal display (TFT-LCD) technology, has unveiled an e-book that is equipped with an in-house developed solar cell.

The thin-film solar cell featured in the e-book measures 10 centimeters in width and length; it was developed to fit the 6-inch display panel for e-books that is currently mass produced by LG Display. The solar cell is 0.7 millimeters thick and weighs 20 grams -- less than the thickness of a credit card and the weight of a fountain pen.

The thin-film solar cell is produced by placing electrodes onto a glass or plastic substrate. Contrary to widely adopted crystalline solar cells that employ silicon wafers, the thin-film solar cell is generally light-weight and easily adjustable in size and form for applications such as e-books or mobile phones.

The current energy conversion efficiency rate of this product is approximately 9.6 percent. Exposure to sunlight for about four to five hours would extend the running time of the e-books battery by a day without the need for additional charging. This would allow longer outdoor use of the e-book and lessen worries about battery discharging.

Mr. Ki Yong Kim, head of the Solar Cell Office at LG Display, noted, "E-books are attracting a lot of attention because they offer the advantage of storing thousands of books worth of contents in an easy-to-carry device. The idea of e-books combined with solar cells will offer users the added benefit of longer usage." (Reported by the Society for Information Display)