Wacky idea: camera sensors make good solar cells

[EricWHiss]

Just a wandering thought - camera sensors are getting more and more efficient at collecting light so probably big versions of camera sensor technology would make good solar cells?  So that thought led me to the idea that it might be possible in remote locations with no power to have your camera recharge itself - just a clear body cap and away you go! Well that and having the engineers put a little time into it.....

[Jonathan Wienke]

Not possible. Camera sensors use photodiodes which use light to modulate an externally applied voltage. Solar cells use a different device construction so that light generates the voltage directly. It takes far less light to control an external voltage than to create one directly.

[Er1kksen]

On the other hand, a passive photovoltaic material built into the camera's shell could be a very, very useful thing in some situations, if it could be harnessed to charge the battery. Of course the limited area would limit its ability to charge the battery, but if it were combined with a camera that had a special energy-budgeting mode where it used nearly no electricity, like an old film SLR?

Wow, talk about a niche product, right?