Panasonic engineers created an electric pocket made of photovoltaic material to recharge small wearable electronics

Smart phones and wearable electronics are increasingly “attached” to us, truly becoming part of our bodies. So even the thought that your favorite gadget could suddenly run out of power and leave you without connectivity or entertainment is what terrifies many people. A team of young designers from Japanese corporation Panasonic presented an unconventional solution to this problem – Kangaroo Charger, a pocket-kangaroo made of an innovative photovoltaic material that is able to generate energy from sunlight.

“The “electric pocket” is attached on top of clothes, and all small electronics inside in sleep mode are recharged with solar energy. Unlike heavy batteries and external chargers, the kangaroo pocket is virtually weightless and, most importantly, it does not need to be recharged daily.

Panasonic designers used a special material made of spherical photovoltaic cells for its production under development . To charge smartphones and other portable gadgets you just need to put them inside the pocket. So not only the device, but also the chargers themselves may become “wearables” or “wearable tech” in the foreseeable future.

As conceived by the developers, “electro-card” Kangaroo Charger can easily be attached not only to clothing or handbag, but also to the wall, window curtains or any other object that is in the sunlight. Like other fabric, the unused pocket can be rolled up and put away for storage.

The development by young engineers at Panasonic Appliances Company’s Design Center has already received high marks from the professional community and most recently won the 2018 Red Dot Design Award in the concept design category.