America's (newest) largest solar plant set to go live in Florida
[Thanks, Yossi]
solar-powered posts
With eco-friendliness on everyone's mind, it's no shock to see more and more progress being made in the realm of solar. Shortly after hearing that boffins across the way were swapping carbon nanotubes for silicon, a Tel Aviv-based startup is now hoping to push its colored panels into the mainstream thanks to their ability to work sans direct sunlight. Granted, the tinted cells have only shown a 12 percent efficiency rate in testing, but they can reportedly be produced for around half of what a conventional panel costs. In essence, the cost savings comes from the dearth of silicon within, as GreenSun Energy has discovered that power can be generated by simply diffusing available sunlight over the whole panel and allowing nanoparticles to handle the rest. We'll invite you to visit the links below for the science behind it, but we're just interested in helping Ma Earth while replacing every windows in our apartment with a stained glass alternative.
While the original Sputnik burnt out after only 3 months in orbit, here's an homage that promises to be rather more resilient. IDEA, Japan's answer to you know who, is offering a 30cm tall (11.8-inches) self-sufficient ambient light that pretty much does its own thing. Integrated sensors detect when the light should be on, while inconveniences like power cords and on/off switches are completely done away with. The light's batteries are recharged by the sun at a rate of 2 to 5 hours sunlight for 8 hours operation, while its waterproof design means it can be dumped outside to collect rays during the day and even provide garden lighting at night. It's quirky, to be sure, but the obvious design cues taken from the Russian satellite should make true geeks smile with glee. You can find a gallery of the various color choices courtesy of Engadget Japanese below, and if you're passing by the land of the rising sun later this month you can snap up your very own solar light ball for ¥1575 ($16).
Around half a year ago, we heard that Toyota was engineering a Prius that would get part of its energy from the sun; now, we're seeing an eerily similar story from Japan suggesting that the plan is still on. In a rather odd report, it's noted that the automaker is "secretly (oh, is it now?) developing a vehicle that will be powered solely by solar energy," though it's also working on a partially solar-powered whip that'll come out long before the pure solar alternative. Regrettably, details beyond that are few and far between, though the premise here is completely reasonable given the current economy and the desire for automobiles that run on anything other than petroleum. Guess we'll check back in six months for yet another elusive report on the so-called progress.









