Solar-powered bikini charges iPods?

A solar-powered bikini capable of charging iPods and cameras has been designed and invented by a man based in New York.

Named the iKini, the item of clothing is comprised of USB ports and photovoltaic panels sewn together with conductive thread, according to the Clean Energy Authority.

The iKini was designed by Andrew Schneider, 30, and is currently being sold tailor-made and custom-built for $200 (£125).

Schneider recalled that the project came about in a brainstorming session when he was at a graduate school in New York University. He said: "As a joke, I said that I wanted to do a bikini that could cool your beer at the beach, and a couple weeks later, I realised I could do it. So that's where it came from."

The 30-year-old abandoned his original plan of a beer-cooling bikini when he couldn't rein in enough solar power. He then realised that he could generate enough power to charge his iPod.

Schneider continued: "The real challenge was to get enough surface area to actually power something.

"The bikini was meant to be small and sexy. Solar power wants all the surface area it can get."

The inventor also revealed that he is now working on beer-cooling trunks.


/Digital Spy/