There is a subtle demand for solar smartwatches. These watches are more expensive than the regular or conventional smartwatches? What explains the difference in costs between a solar or traditional smartwatch?
PV Cells
Solar smartwatches have a thin layer or photo voltaic (PV cells) cells. These cells help in converting sun’s energy or sunshine into battery backup.
The thin layer of PV cells is the core architecture of a solar smartwatch. These PV cells are expensive and the cost of thin layer of PV cells explains the additional costs of a solar smartwatch.
Sapphire glasses
Most solar smartwatches would come with Sapphire glass. There may be exceptions. But, Sapphire coated glasses are more commonly available in solar smartwatches.
Sapphire glasses are designed to be scratch resistant. Sapphire smartwatches, therefore, are able to handle normal wear and tear on a daily basis. The premium nature of sapphire glass causes the cost of Sapphire solar smartwatches to rise.
Incremental backup
The incremental backup offered in solar smartwatch does have an associated benefit. You would not be charging the smartwatch through regular method so often, especially in comparison with the conventional smartwatch.
This enhances the life of battery. And, improved battery life would reduce the cost of ownership of the smartwatch.
The frequency of battery replacements would be lower for a solar smartwatch than a conventional smartwatch. This assumes the fact that you are able to spend at least 2 hours under bright sunshine everyday so that you could take maximum advantage of solar charging under the sun’s bright light.
Lesser production
Solar smartwatches continue to remain niche smartwatches. Most smartwatch manufacturers, including Garmin, manufacture limited number of solar smartwatches.
The focus of smartwatch manufacturers firmly lies in making and selling higher number of conventional or traditional smartwatches.
Limited inventory or availability of the solar smartwatches helps in driving the demand for solar smartwatches. And, manufacturers are able to command a premium price because of the pent-up demand of the solar smartwatches.
This brings us to an important question. Would you buy a solar smartwatch at a premium of 20-40 percent over a conventional smartwatch?