How many times have you been on your way to a business meeting or in the middle of an important call when your cell phone or PDA has died? Often, when this has happened to me, I haven’t been near an power outlet to quickly recharge my phone in time to finish the call. Or, I’ve been in the car and realized that my car charger is inconveniently sitting on my kitchen counter back at home.  

For those of us who have experienced phone charger angst, information published yesterday about a patent that Apple has filed for integrating solar cells into portable devices – with the goal of eliminating the need for wires to connect them to a power supply – is welcome news.   

While I’m not currently an iPhone owner, it sounds like the perfect candidate for testing this new type of solar power. Depending on the timing (I can’t find information anywhere about how long we’ll have to wait for solar-powered handheld devices), and if it really works, I will definitely consider scrapping my Blackberry for an iPhone – just to avoid the hassle of charging the thing. Well, that and to help our environment, of course.

Recently, Vodafone also announced plans to go solar with solar-powered phone chargers and universal phone chargers for Vodafone-branded handsets. So, Apple isn’t alone in its quest to use natural resources to make our lives a bit easier and greener.

Until solar-powered phones and other handheld devices become a reality, I suppose there’s no way around phone charger angst. But, at least we can look on the bright side, in anticipation for the day when even more of our energy needs will be powered by the sun.