Apple boasts of a solid ecosystem of apps, devices and peripherals around its iOS platform and now it can add another element to its thriving iOS environment - swimwear made of photo voltaic panels to charge its devices.

The $200 swimsuit is the brainchild of New York-based designer Andrew Schneider. The Solar paneled bikinis have a USB plug attached to enable a user to charge an iPod or a camera.

Each bikini requires about 80 hours of painstaking assembly of 40 flexible paper thin photo-voltaic panels and conductive thread.

DailyMail reported that a user can even take a dip and just has to dry up before connecting any device to the solar powered charger. Users can also rest any fears of an electric shock as Schneider said: 'You wouldn't even feel the charge.'

The eye-candy invention first made its appearance in 2007 at the Siggraph 2007 exhibition in San Diego. The Telegraph had then reported that Schneider claimed that two hours of sun bathing is enough to charge an iPod shuffle.

What's there for men apart from the photo-voltaic treat Schneider is in the process of developing? A pair of solar-panel hewn shorts called iDrink. The shorts are capable of generating enough charge to chill a can of beer.

And while the invention may not be announced by Apple CEO Steve Jobs at the WWDC conference on June 6, where the theme will revolve around iCloud, its music locker service, Apple certainly has another invention in the swimwear category which can allow access to its iTunes from the beach if not from the cloud.

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