Solar powered E-Ink shelf-edge displays run on indoor lighting

While the guys at Intel and MIT are struggling to figure out how to wirelessly power a 60-watt lightbulb without giving us all cancer or microwaving small animals, a little company out of Korea has taken a different approach to powering useful electronic gadgetry: "solar" power from indoor lighting.

While that idea in itself is nothing new, their particular application is: Electronic Ink displays, designed for shelf-edge POP promotion, that have built-in photovoltaic cells that can generate enough power from the run-of-the-mill fluorescent lighting found in most retail shops:



While the prototype is still a bit crude, and the typical limitations of E-Ink still apply, this is a pretty clear indiciation (to me) of where things in the digital signage market are headed, and why sometimes the "green" initiative can produce seriously practical and useful benefits.


Tags: digital signage, electronic ink, e-ink