Almost certainly the answer is: not initially. Samsung confirmed that its Blue Earth phone comes with a charger, but added that it's an energy-efficient one drawing just 30 milliwatts in standby mode.

LG says it hopes to commercialize solar-charged phones when it has a model that provides three minutes of talk time after charging for 10 minutes.

In the dark confines of a pocket or bag the phones won't be able to charge, so users will have to ensure they are regularly out in the light. Also as the solar panels occupy the rear of the devices, they'll have to be kept face-down for maximum efficiency -- so that might lead to some scratching and scuffing of the display itself.

Still, these are early days and the development of the handsets goes some way to showing how much companies are thinking about the environment or, at least, thinking about the environmentally conscious consumer and growing market for "green" products.

Both companies offered no launch timing or pricing for when the prototypes might become commercial models.