Apple Going Solar For Mobile?

Apple has filed a patent application for solar panels to go behind the LCD screens of handheld devices — could the solar iPhone be coming?

The site MacRumors.com tracks all things Apple, and they’ve unearthed something very interesting – Apple has filed a patent application for solar panels that would fit behind the LCD screens of handheld devices. According to the site, that would mean that the company wouldn’t need to redesign its devices in order to go solar, and they would be powered by light through the screen.

However, Motorola filed a similar patent application in 2001, according to the TreeHugger blog, and Apple has a history of filing patents on technology it never ends up using. Already this year it’s been given a patent for a touch screen IM interface, and it’s filed at least three others.