Anti-coronavirus masks now available with solar cells

04/01/2021 | Print view

This invention will be especially useful as we are headed into the hotter months of summer (at least in the northern hemisphere). - © Masksol — © Masksol

This invention will be especially useful as we are headed into the hotter months of summer (at least in the northern hemisphere).

An inventor from Berlin has covered the surfaces of N95 masks with solar cells – as commonly used in solar watches. This can be used to charge a mobile device or electrically cool two vials of Astrazeneca vaccine. The first delivery is due in Rotterdam soon.

The Berlin inventor Heinz Knupske has developed a solar FFP-2 mask. The textile surfaces on both sides were covered with solar cells. "I can charge my mobile phone with it," he reports proudly. "Or I can cool two vaccine vials from Astrazeneca for as long as the solar power lasts." Knupske, who himself belongs to the group of over-60s who are most at risk, has also already found a marketer.

Masksol from Wuhan sends the first containers

The Chinese consortium Masksol from Wuhan has already started serial production. The first batch for the European market was briefly stuck in the Suez Canal, as some containers were part of the cargo of the grounded mega-freighter Ever Given. Now that the barge is afloat again, the landing of the precious cargo in Rotterdam is expected immediately.

Knupske is satisfied, but wants to wait for the first masks from customs. "I was connected via video conference during the ramp-up of the production in Wuhan," he explains. "I would have preferred to be on site to brief the Chinese engineers. I hope the goods meet my high standards for quality of workmanship."

A political dimension

Millions of customers in Europe hope so too. For Knupske, the invention also has a political dimension. "For years I have been following the German government's crisis management against global warming," he says. "It's all rubbish. The civil servants and the politicians keep throwing a wrench into the works of the renewable energies. And in the management of the pandemic, exactly the same thing is happening: It’s been a complete mess. The bureaucrats just can't get it right."

To counter this, the inventor says, citizens need to use their creativity, their inventive spirit. "For me, the solar N95 mask is an act of democracy," Knupske sums up. "Citizens make themselves independent of the confusion surrounding coronavirus that has been caused by the governments at the state and federal levels. Now we have a tool for keeping our personal doses of vaccine fresh at all times." (mfo)