Body heat energises pocket power mobile phones


13 Oct 2010

A new concept phone from Nokia is enabled with technology that allows it to charge in your pocket and derive energy from body heat.

The Nokia E-Cu (which stands for environment and the chemical element for copper), is a design by London designer Patrick Hyland and employs the user’s body heat to power its batteries.

Heat conductive charging system

The E-Cu, which appears on Hyland’s blog, charges via an integrated thermogenerator, which in theory should be able to charge the phone via any heat source – even a radiator. The copper casing and engraved heat sinks absorb the energy.

Nokia is developing a range of phones that benefit the environment in different ways, including the C7, which uses biopaints, the C6-01, E7 and N8, which uses bioplastics (made from vegetable oils), for up to 49pc of their structural plastic parts, and the C6-01, which uses recycled metals.

In theory, the technology incorporated in the E-Cu could challenge charger technology and enable people to have their mobile phone, or other devices, charged at any time or place.