Posts tagged with solar-energy

Solar plant will power 3 million homes (in China)

Posted on September 8, 2009 2:30 PM

St George solar farm, credit: CFBSr

Solar plants are popping like mushrooms after a rainy day right now, but this is a huge one. US-based First Solar will build a 2000 MegaWatt solar plant in China that will power three million homes. The plant will cost about $6B and will start sometime next year. As part of the deal, a plant will open in China to make the panels over there. This is currently the biggest project of that kind, although expect the record to be broken soon.

Solar Bus Shelter In San Francisco

Posted on June 1, 2009 9:23 PM

The green city of San Francisco just got a little bit greener - this time in the form of a solar bus shelter. Currently placed at Geary and Arguello boulevards in the Richmond District, this bus shelter is equipped with an undulating solar roof, using 40% post-industrial recycled polycarbonate material complete with thin-film photovoltaic cells as part of its construction, alongside a steel structure made of 75% recycled material. You will also find the pushbutton update system useful as it provides more space for transit information. Hopefully more of such bus shelters are erected so that the city's electrical grid will receive more natural help without costing a single cent (once the initial investment has been recouped, of course).

Big Bellys Love The Sun

Posted on May 31, 2009 11:35 PM

Philadelphia is honored to have solar-powered trash cans along their sidewalks - these compacting bins can accept up to 8 times as much waste as a regular trash can, and won't cost the city a single cent in terms of electricity usage since they will generate the juice required themselves thanks to embedded solar panels on top. Dubbed Big Bellys, their installation throughout the city might help save up to $12 million over a time period of 10 years. Why can't we have this installed in other cities around the world who talk about going green but have yet to do anything about it?

LCD Panels With Embedded Solar Cells

Posted on May 31, 2009 11:29 PM

Isn't this what most people would deem to be an achievement of sorts - LCD panels that are self-powered, thanks to embedded solar cells within? That's what Integrated Digital Technologies of Taiwan offer, and they plan to mass produce these panels before the year is over in order. Dubbed the iScreen, IDT predicts they could ship up to 5 million of these puppies next year, and with the integrated of solar cells in the TFT array during the panel-making process, not only does it end up lighter, the thickness of the final product is also reduced.

Transforming Solar Toy

Posted on May 28, 2009 6:36 AM

No idea what this toy is supposed to do for a kid, but hey, at least you won't need to fork out more money from time to time to purchase new batteries so that your little one can continue to enjoy playing with it? This unique toy boasts a solar panel attached to it, and doesn't need any form of engineering know-how to transform as it will happily do so itself. Perhaps this $20 prelude to the summer's blockbuster Transformers sequel will do pretty well in the market since many folks out there can't afford real Transformers toys.

Trilobot Loves Basking Under The Sun

Posted on May 28, 2009 6:25 AM

Now here's something that pays tribute to lifeforms from the olden days - the Trilobot that is solar-powered and fully autonomous, being smart enough to search out for its own juice to make sure that no human master will ever need to place it under sunlight whenever it "dies" when hiding under a couch for too long a period of time. Looks like a cute little bugger, but we sure hope future improvements can be made to this thing so that it will clean up wherever it goes to ensure our house floors remain spick and span always.

Powerbrella Helps Juice Up Gadgets

Posted on May 26, 2009 12:00 PM

This is an idea that has just been sitting around, waiting to be executed, and we're glad that the day has arrived. We're talking about the Powerbrella, a patio umbrella that does more than just keep you cool from the summer sun - it features solar cells on the retractable shade which will help collect the sun's rays throughout the day, turning them into electricity that allows the Powerbrella to charge up gizmos connected to it. Completely weatherproof and made from 100% recyclable materials, this is as good as it gets where going green on your lawn is concerned.

Solar Powered Headphones with Bluetooth

Posted on May 22, 2009 11:22 AM

Green tech is definitively the hot trend; Romania-based engineering student Stephen Shepeleff wants us to carry only eco-friendly gadgets, putting solar panels everywhere he can. He is engaging the solar mania with the development of the Q-SOUND, Bluetooth solar powered headphones that will probably get you a free entrance ticket to the next Start Trek convention if you dare to wear them in public. Solar cells run across the headband (see picture, view more at Ecofriend) which would charge 800 mAh / 1.2 V rechargeable NiMH batteries. The battery life is up to 40 hours running Bluetooth, an mp3 player, or other Bluetooth enabled device.

Sanyo Offers Best Solar Cells In The World

Posted on May 22, 2009 6:30 AM

Sanyo stands tall yet again by having developed the world’s highest energy conversion efficiency in practical size (100 cm2 or more) crystalline silicon-type solar cells, touching a previously unheard-of efficiency of 23% (the previous record stood at 22.3%). This increase bodes well for the end user as it also involves a lower production cost of the photovoltaic system as well as reduction in the use of raw materials such as silicon to further save our enviroment. We look forward to the next record being broken, Sanyo, and be quick about it!

Transparent Solar Panels For Windows And More

Posted on May 8, 2009 1:02 PM

Installing solar panels on the roof is great, but Windows offer additional sun-gathering surface that can be exploited with Konarka's transparent (or translucent, we should say) solar panels called Arch Active Solar Glass. The idea is to slide these in double pane windows for example, but you can imagine all kinds of applications as they are made of flexible plastic and don't really need to be protected by glass.

There are a few downsides: the life expectancy of the product (25yrs) is inferior to silicon-based cells. It is also much less efficient at converting light into electricity (6% efficiency). Still, it can be used where standard solar panels can't so that's an advantage that can't be ignored. It seems difficult to improve the efficiency, but it might easier to reduce the cost. That's cool stuff.