PlayStation Solar-Powered Controller Detailed in New “Operation Device” Patent

Mar 21, 2025 at 12:12pm EDT
PlayStation

Sony recently filed a patent for a new type of PlayStation controller that could solve some of the biggest issues of current wireless controllers, such as losing power right at the worst possible time.

As reported by Tech4gamer, Sony recently filed a patent called Operation Device which outlines a PlayStation controller sporting a plurality of photovoltaic elements located on its housing and a storage area that accumulates power that will essentially charge the controller with solar energy. The drawing accompanying the patent shows a DualSense controller and where the photovoltaic elements will be placed.

Related Story Treyarch and Iron Galaxy are Bringing Call of Duty: Black Ops and Black Ops 2 to PS5

While a solar-powered PlayStation controller sounds nothing more like an interesting idea without any sort of revolutionary application, Sony is aiming to address one of the biggest issues of current wireless controllers: preventing the controller from losing power at the wrong time. With solar power, a wireless controller's battery would never get drained, which would definitely make it enticing over a traditional controller with a limited battery life.

Even though it is hardly a revolutionary controller, Sony has already attempted to evolve the classic PlayStation DualShock controller with the DualSense controller, later bringing further innovation with the premium DualSense Edge controller. Sporting the same adaptive triggers and haptic feedback support of the base version alongside new features, such as swappable sticks, three levels of trigger pulls for the L2 and R2 triggers, and more, the DualSense Edge is the ultimate form of the PlayStation 5 controller. You can learn more about it by checking out Kai's review.

About the author: Francesco De Meo has been covering video games and technology since 2012, starting his career at small outlets like Gamersyndrome and GeekSnack. After joining Wccftech gaming section in 2015, he quickly expanded his video gaming coverage with in-depth reporting, interviews with iconic industry figures such as Grasshopper Manufacture founder and No More Heroes creator Goichi "Suda51" Suda, Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami, Team NINJA's president and Nioh series director Fumihiko Yasuda, and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, reviews and on-the-ground coverage of major industry events such as Gamescom and E3. When he's not reporting or reviewing, Francesco can be found playing the genres he loves most, spending time with his six cats, reading, writing music, playing guitar and drumming for his progressive rock band.

Follow Wccftech on Google to get more of our news coverage in your feeds.