Traditionally, solar panels have been made of silicon, but Prof Snaith, who is a professor of renewable energy, said the material had now “reached its performance limit”.

The portable solar panels being developed would be wireless and would stick directly onto devices.

They would then absorb any ambient light and convert it to power – keeping the device charged at a consistent, albeit low level.

“You’ll still need to charge things occasionally, but you can reduce the frequency at which you need to do that, or give yourself some reserve power or some ability to have a very low level of power just from the ambient environment,” Prof Snaith said.