Solar cells?

[garry71]

Quite a few cameras have a lot of spare space on the top plates, so I was wondering why don't manufacturers put some solar cells on the top so that the battery gets a top up charge while people are wandering about on holiday in the sunshine? I know you shouldn't leave your camera in the sun, but if it's out in the sun anyway...

 

[J Veitch]

Why don't they charge off USB? Or have delayed writing (shoot your buffer worth of shots without card and write it later)?

 

[stevelmx5]

Some cameras do charge off USB (Sony A6000 for example). The main problem with solar is that it's inefficient. You either need a very large solar panel or a very large charge time to get any real benefit.