From time to time I read about these harvesting technologies designed to take advantage of the fact that human beings produce electricity which could be used to power devices such as mobile (cell) phones. I love the idea but I’ve been waiting over four years now for something to get to market.  It appears my wait is going to continue despite this encouraging Feb. 22, 2012 news item on physorg.com,

Never get stranded with a dead cell phone again. A promising new technology called Power Felt, a thermoelectric device that converts body heat into an electrical current, soon could create enough juice to make another call simply by touching it.

Developed by researchers in the Center for Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials at Wake Forest University [located in North Carolina], Power Felt is comprised of tiny carbon nanotubes locked up in flexible plastic fibers and made to feel like fabric. The technology uses temperature differences – room temperature versus body temperature, for instance – to create a charge.

…

Cost has prevented thermoelectrics from being used more widely in consumer products. Standard thermoelectric devices use a much more efficient compound called bismuth telluride to turn heat into power in products including mobile refrigerators and CPU coolers, but researchers say it can cost $1,000 per kilogram. Like silicon, they liken Power Felt’s affordability to demand in volume and think someday it could cost only $1 to add to a cell phone cover.

Currently, 72 stacked layers in the fabric yield about 140 nanowatts of power. The team is evaluating several ways to add more nanotube layers and make them even thinner to boost the power output.

Although there’s more work to do before Power Felt is ready for market, Hewitt [Corey Hewitt] says, “I imagine being able to make a jacket with a completely thermoelectric inside liner that gathers warmth from body heat, while the exterior remains cold from the outside temperature. If the Power Felt is efficient enough, you could potentially power an iPod, which would be great for distance runners. It’s definitely within reach.”

Wake Forest is in talks with investors to produce Power Felt commercially.

This work is being done under the auspices of David Carroll, director of Wake University’s Center for Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials.  I did find information about the industrial partners involved in the research, from the Carroll Research Group webpage,

The “Power Fabrics” project has several industrial partners:

FiberCell Inc. Winston-Salem NC
NanotechLabs Inc. Yadkinville NC
Sineurop Inc. Stuttgart Germany

I find the mention of industrial partners and investors promising.