Sharp To Release Solar Powered Cell Phones

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Sharp has been experimenting with solar-powered cell phones for sometime, but now they’re moving to monetize their green mobile phones by releasing the Sharp Solar Hybrid SH6230C featurephone in China. The phones, which are already on sale in China, will run on GSM bands and feature a 2.9-inch LCD screen.

To get around the power-constraints of the conventional backlit LCD screen, Sharp is using a passive matrix “memory” LCD screen for the small screen being used on the phone, all in the name of conserving power. Sharp says that their “memory LCD” screen can display the time and the status of the SMS/e-mail inbox without consuming any power at all. In addition to the LCD screen, the phone is also offering a 5-megapixel camera, but that’s about it, as far as features go.

We’ve seen a few other solar-powered cell phones. Samsung had the E1107, which provided 10 minutes of talking time for every 1 hour of being left in direct sunlight. However, the E1107, didn’t have the low-power LCD screen and was a bit of a smartphone (albeit, a very limited one). It’ll be interesting to see if Sharp and their limited Solar Hybrid phone gets better battery life.

As said above, the phone will run on GSM bands. The phone will first make its debut in China for the steep price of $500 (especially considering the highlight of the phone’s functionality is the digital camera). It’ll come in six different colors, and should be shipping in China sometime this month. No word yet on this phone being released outside of China.