The Power IN Clothing
The ambient energy sector is a sleeping giant of an opportunity.
There is a flurry of research being done to make the clothing we wear a source of power to charge our electronic devices. This advancement involves weaving nano-fibers into our clothing that harvest kinetic energy from our movements or solar energy from the light sources around us.
The amount of electricity produced is small but enough to increase the time we can use our electronic devices by adding energy to the batteries in the devices.
There are a number of hurdles that still need to be overcome before this technology is practical, especially for the solar cells. The amount of electricity generated is still rather inefficient. Clothing gets dirty, so solar cells will not work if there is dirt covering them. Clothes are subject to quite a bit of abuse, so the fibers have to be durable enough to withstand regular wear and tear, including when the clothing goes through the washer and dryer. The clothing also has to be insulated from the wearer so not to electrocute the person or short out if the clothing gets wet in the rain.
These technologies have wider applications than just clothing. The fibers could be integrated into the cases of our electronic devices or be used in the road system to generate local electricity to power local infrastructure.