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Most portable devices can't rely on integrated solar power, because the surface area required for the solar panels is far larger than the device itself.

Apple has, however, found a novel way of circumventing this problem by placing the solar panels beneath the LCD screen.

This allows the device to absorb the ambient light, whilst reducing the physical

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footprint of the solar panel itself, according to the patent discovered by the MacRumours website.

The site claims that, if successful, iPods and MacBooks could run without any mains charge. However, that seems wildly optimistic.

In an experiment for a forthcoming feature in PC Pro, a 104 x 54cm solar panel that was left charging all day only managed to power a MacBook for around two hours. Unless Apple has massively improved the performance of its solar panels, an LCD screen-sized device won't be enough to keep the PC running for more than a few minutes.

Apple isn't the first company to think of placing solar panels behind the screen. Motorola filed a patent for a similar concept with OLED screens, which it claimed would let 75% of the available light through to the solar panel.