http://spectrum.ieee.org/consumer-electronics/portable-devices/solar-cells-in-smartphone-screens/?utm_source=techalert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=011912

Using the screen as a charging surface is clever.  Thin film technology has certainly come a long way from 10 years ago.

Using solar energy to charge a phone is not new.  For those who do a lot of backpacking/camping in the woods there are portable devices that convert solar energy into electricity to charge your cell phone.  The neat thing about this technology is that it is built into the screen using state of the art thin-film technology plus capacitor technology plus transistor technology.  The screen is the largest real estate on the handset.  Makes sense to use the display screen.  Very nice.

There is work underway using induction coils to generate an electrical charge, which could then be used to charge a cell phone.

A lot can go wrong between development and commercialization.  This is something to keep an eye on.