SYSTEM FOR HOUSING AND POWERING A BATTERY-OPERATED DEVICE AND ASSOCIATED METHODS

1 . An integral system for housing and powering a battery-operated electronic device, comprising:

an integral case adapted to house the battery-operated electronic device;

at least one photovoltaic assembly adapted to releasably attach to the integral case; and

a first device interface connector adapted to electrically couple the battery-operated electronic device to the integral case.

2 . The integral system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one photovoltaic assembly comprises a foldout photovoltaic assembly including a plurality of photovoltaic modules electrically coupled to a battery; and wherein the plurality of photovoltaic modules are adapted to unfold from the photovoltaic assembly.

3 . The integral system of claim 1 , the at least one photovoltaic assembly comprising:

a battery;

at least one photovoltaic module for at least partially charging the battery;

a processor for controlling charging of the battery from the at least one photovoltaic module; and

a second device interface connector adapted to electrically couple the at least one photovoltaic assembly to the integral case.

4 . The integral system of claim 3 , the first and second device interface connectors adapted to electrically couple the at least one photovoltaic assembly to the battery-operated electronic device.

5 . The integral system of claim 4 , the integral case including at least one release mechanism adapted to releasably secure the at least one photovoltaic assembly to the integral case.

6 . The integral system of claim 5 , the integral case forming a recess adapted to receive the at least one photovoltaic assembly.

7 . The integral system of claim 5 , wherein the at least one photovoltaic module includes a plurality of monolithically integrated, thin film, photovoltaic cells.

8 . The integral system of claim 5 , the at least one photovoltaic assembly further comprising a charge status notification.

9 . The integral system of claim 5 , the at least one photovoltaic assembly further comprising an on/off switch.

10 . The integral system of claim 1 , the integral case comprising a first integral case portion and a second integral case portion, wherein the first and second integral case portions are adapted to mate together.

11 . The integral system of claim 1 , wherein the integral case is integrated as a component of the battery-operated electronic device.

12 . A photovoltaic assembly for releasably attaching to an integral case adapted to house a battery-operated electronic device, the photovoltaic assembly comprising:

a battery;

at least one photovoltaic module capable of at least partially charging the battery;

a processor for controlling charging of the battery from the at least one photovoltaic module;

a photovoltaic assembly interface connector adapted to electrically couple the photovoltaic assembly to the integral case; and

a release mechanism adapted to releasably secure the photovoltaic assembly to the integral case.

13 . The photovoltaic assembly of claim 12 , wherein the at least one photovoltaic module is electrically coupled to the battery and adapted to unfold from the photovoltaic assembly.

14 . The photovoltaic assembly of claim 12 , wherein the at least one photovoltaic module comprises at least one thin-film, flexible photovoltaic cell.

15 . The photovoltaic assembly of claim 12 further comprising a charge status notification.

16 . The photovoltaic assembly of claim 12 further comprising an on/off switch.

17 . A method for providing energy to a battery-operated electronic device housed in an integral case, comprising:

charging a photovoltaic assembly;

after the step of charging, attaching the photovoltaic assembly to the integral case; and

transferring energy from the photovoltaic assembly to the battery-operated electronic device housed in the integral case.

18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the photovoltaic assembly comprises a foldout photovoltaic assembly including a plurality of photovoltaic modules electrically coupled to a battery; and wherein the plurality of photovoltaic modules are adapted to unfold from the photovoltaic assembly.

19 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the step of charging the photovoltaic assembly comprises placing the photovoltaic assembly under incident light such that the incident light charges a battery of the photovoltaic assembly using a photovoltaic module of the photovoltaic assembly.

20 . The method of claim 17 , further including receiving a security code;

wherein if the security code matches a predetermined correct security code value, enabling the photovoltaic assembly to permit at least one of the steps of:

charging the battery-operated electronic device and transferring energy from the photovoltaic assembly to the battery-operated electronic device.

21 . A method for charging a battery-operated electronic device housed in an integral case, comprising:

detaching a photovoltaic assembly from the integral case;

charging the photovoltaic assembly;

attaching the charged photovoltaic assembly to the integral case; and

transferring energy from the charged photovoltaic assembly to the battery-operated electronic device.

22 . The method of claim 21 , wherein the photovoltaic assembly comprises a foldout photovoltaic assembly including a plurality of photovoltaic modules electrically coupled to a battery; and wherein the plurality of photovoltaic modules are adapted to unfold from the photovoltaic assembly.

23 . The method of claim 21 , the step of detaching the photovoltaic assembly comprising using a release mechanism of the integral case to release the photovoltaic assembly from the integral case.

24 . The method of 21 , the step of charging the photovoltaic assembly comprising subjecting the photovoltaic assembly to incident light, such that a photovoltaic module of the photovoltaic assembly charges a battery of the photovoltaic assembly.