OnBeat Solar Headphones Charges Devices On The Go - Audio Engineer From UK

An audio engineer from Glasgow UK has come up with a new pair of solar headphones that make sure the battery life of your phones and tablets does not falter. Called the OnBeat headphones by Andrew Anderson, the brain behind this project, this device has a flexible solar cell built into the headband which captures energy from the sun. This energy is now stored in two rechargeable Lithium Ion batteries in each ear cup. When a phone or tablet is plugged into the headphones, this stored energy can be used to charge the devices. As simple as this idea may seem, it was a result of frustration due to limited mobile battery life. Because everyone listens to a lot of music these days and this can be draining on our mobile battery life and thus, he built the first two prototypes.

The solar cell has a surface area of 55cm3 with a charge capacity of approximately 0.55W. For the rainy days, these solar headphones can be charged via USB directly from your computer or mains socket. The headphones feature a lightweight and fully adjustable folding headband with custom developed ear-pads to ensure a comfortable fit for hours of gaming and music. Just as an addition, these OnBeat headphones also have an integrated remote for controlling the volume of the music in your ears.


Those who are interested in the tech specs, here are a few details -

• Audio driver unit size: 40mm
• Impedance: 32 +/- 10% Ohm
• Frequency response: 20hz to 20,000Khz
• Sensitivity: 100 +/- 3 dB
• High powered flexible solar panel (poly-crystalline silicone)
• 55cm3 active solar area
• Two Li-Ion batteries (1000mAh)
• Provide a full battery recharge for mobile phone
• 5.5v charge capacity

Though the Kickstarter page claims that manufacturing these headphones was a complicated process, this audio engineer promises us that further changes may include a slight modification to optimise the hinge design and operation to achieve a smooth opening and closing as well as a smooth extension of the headband size.