At next week’s Hokkaido Toyako Summit, Japanese electronics giant Sharp plans to show off a prototype low-power 26-inch LCD television that consumes about a quarter of the power of a conventional 28-inch LCD panel, along with a new triple-junction thin-film solar module technology that uses no scarce or toxic materials and offers a conversion efficiency of almost 10 percent—among the top rates in the industry. Pair the two together, and you get a solar-powered television.
Sharp says pairing the the low-power LCD television technology with solar cells is a solution that could bring television into off-the-grid areas—and Sharp’s new solar module technology means the necessary solar panel would only have to be roughly the same area as the screen—assuming, of course, adequate direct sunlight. This combination have less environmental impact than traditional television technologies—the TV uses less power, and the solar panel means it doesn’t consume fossil fuels or other electrical resources to operate—but can also be used in areas with no electrical utilities, or when natural disasters have disrupted normal service.
Of course, the products are prototypes and Sharp hasn’t announced any pricing or delivery dates for commercialized versions of the technologies. But the day may come when you can shelve a solar-powered television next to your wind-up radio in your disaster-preparedness stash. (You do have a stash, right?)
