These sleek clothes can invisibly power your phone
It is becoming increasingly clear that the fashion industry is accelerating climate change and emitting 4% of all global CO2 emissions. But maybe our clothing could soon be redesigned to actively reduce our carbon footprint. A team of researchers from Aalto University in Finland is working to make this vision a reality. They developed a technique for embedding textiles using invisible solar panels that serve as a source of energy for portable devices or telephones. This would allow designers to create solar powered clothing without changing the aesthetics of the outfit. The researchers believe these garments could reduce our need for traditional energy sources, most of which emit greenhouse gases. [Photo: courtesy Elina Ilén]Elina Ilén, who led the Sun-Powered Textiles project, has spent two decades developing wearable technologies. However, one problem that kept popping up is that electronic devices embedded in clothing require a power source. In the early years, users had to