Of course every Apple patent should be taken with a grain of salt. The Cupertino company is a bit infamous for registering patents for every flight of fancy that pops into their well-groomed heads. This one, however, if true, would be a step in the right direction for a company that has become a bit infamous over the past few years for not being the most environmentally responsible tech outfit around.

A month ago, the company filed a patent titled, "Solar cells on portable devices" described thusly, "Solar cells are typically stacked with other layers made of transparent or semi-transparent materials... Some of these layers may be used for display or input purposes, and some layers may be coated with various materials or they may be etched with product logos or other patterns."

All of which translates to portable devices like, say an iPhone or iPod covered entirely with solar panels, including the touch screen and logo-etched backside.