Solar Panels on a Ski Helmet

Just when you thought--as you were undoubtedly thinking--that ski helmet design could not be improved upon any further, someone has to go and stick a solar panel on the thing. Please revise your mental representation of the world accordingly.

Fraunhofer IZM in Berlin is responsible for this particular disruption. Having a solar panel atop your ski helmet doesn’t mean you can harness the sun’s energy to do our skiing for you--you’ll still have to exert old-fashioned muscular effort to navigate those moguls. But the modern, tech-savvy skier apparently has electrical needs nonetheless. Explains Fraunhofer IZM: “Mobile devices like smart phones and MP3 players can then be connected wirelessly via Bluetooth. Incoming calls can be received without breaking glide using the accompanying Bluetooth-enabled glove. The user can even operate an MP3 player remotely from the glove, ensuring that cumbersome removal of gloves in sub-zero temperatures is finally a thing of the past.”

The main innovation here, points out Treehugger--and it’s a significant one--is in the flexibility of the solar panels. Researchers have made flexible solar panels before, but typically only ones that could bend in single direction. Fraunhofer engineered a new solar cell structure solution that enables a solar panel to conform to the spherical curve atop a helmet. They explain that their new packaging tech features “extremely high quality, monocrystalline silicon solar cellars can be divided into tiny individual chips and adapted to a three-dimensional, curved shape.”

Although Fraunhofer appears focused on the iPhone set, the idea can have many, even life-saving applications. Treehugger imagines integrating communications headsets into the hard hats of rescue workers, or fans into those worn by construction workers . Treehugger's vision of bike helmets with integrated lights is fantastic one, though.

I, who personally thought that headwear-with-technology had reached its apogee with the beer hat, stand humbled by Fraunhofer’s innovation. It hopes to bring the product to market for around 300 Euros , by year’s end. If you can’t wait till then, book a ticket to the Energy Harvesting & Storage expo held in Berlin on the ides of May, and make your way to the Fraunhofer booth, where they’ll be touting an iteration of the helmet prototype.