It seems April Fools’ Day this year got very popular with corporate America and media outlets:

From a new “body controlled” email system to the purchase of Pluto to a royal wedding–themed car, companies and media outlets have been busily pranking this April Fools’ Day, lightening up an otherwise grim news flow focused on violence in Libya and the ongoing disaster in Japan.

The MarketWatch story linked to above references the day’s gags from Google, Groupon and Virgin, among others. We here at GetSolar would just like to inform our readers that we were hip to the April Fool’s thang way back in 2009:

A Spain-based firm, Derma-Volt, is developing a suntan lotion that, when applied, will cause the underlying surface to generate electrical current.

The key to the technology lies in the lotion’s high density of molecules rich in electropositive elements, like cesium. (Chemistry 101 flashback: Electropositivity is the tendency of atoms to “donate” electrons; elecronegativity is the tendency for atoms to “accept” electrons.) Under normal circumstances, such elements would cause serious health hazards. To counteract these risks, Derma-Volt has developed a proprietary chemical interface, the details of which the firm declined to release.

A recent round of lab tests confirmed that a square meter of treated skin is enough to produce 250 milliamperes — or 1/4 an ampere — of DC current. Since the skin of an average person is about 1.5 to 2 square meters in size, researchers believe the product may eventually enable indivduals to generate enough power to charge portable electronics like iPods and GPS units.

“When our technology is ready,” notes Diego Martinez-Velasquez, head researcher at Derma-Volt, “these devices will be consuming a third — or a quarter — of the electricity they now consume. We think that five years from today, it will completely normal to charge your mobile [phone] by just going to the beach and relaxing in the sun.”

A challenge remains, however, in collecting and stepping up the current to generate sufficient voltage. Questions also remain on how, exactly, the devices would interface with the human body.

“Where to plug this in?” asks Tara Hubbent-Mendez, an electronics product designer and tech commentator. “There must be new ways to charge these devices. Wires will be a dead end, for sure. If Derma-Volt becomes huge, wireless charging technology will continue to grow gangbusters.”

Happy Friday everyone — have a safe and relaxing weekend!