An estimated 50 million lithium-ion laptop batteries discarded every year can store enough power to light homes in developing countries, researchers at IBM India say.
Their study, presented at a conference in San Jose, U.S., analysed a sample of discarded batteries and found 70 per cent of them had enough power to let an LED light glow for more than four hours a day for a year.
It is possible to combine LED lights with solar panels and rechargeable batteries. However, using discarded batteries makes the approach far cheaper, says MIT Technology Review .
— PTI