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Day-for-Night solar-powered geek dress
It may not have quite the instant geek-appeal of the pong dress, or the pain-inflicting potential of the self-defense dress, but the Day-for-Night solar-powered dress designed by Despina Papadopoulos should turn a few heads nonetheless. Made up of over 444 white circuit boards (depending on how long the dress is), the garment charges itself while in daylight, with RGB LEDs on each tile set to change color when the wearer's in low lit conditions. What's more, the dress also packs a 2.4GHz RF link, which can be used to receive commands from a computer to program how the tiles behave. Future plans for the dress include adding additional components like a GPS, accelerometer, and OLED displays, as well as publishing the complete source code and schematics so you put on your own geek couture hat. The dress was first unveiled at the recent SIGGRAPH conference but if you missed it there you can currently catch it on display at Chicago's A + D Gallery until October 21st.[Via We Make Money Not Art]
Venturi's Eclectic solar / wind-powered car
Forget biodiesel and fuel cell-powered vehicles, how about a whip that doesn't require any fuel whatsoever? The Venturi Eclectic, touted as an "autonomous energy vehicle," gets its charge from wind gusts and 8.2 square feet of solar cells atop its roof. The four-person ride boasts a 22-horsepower purely electric engine, is powered by liquid-cooled NiMH batteries, and can reach a (yawn-inducing) top-end speed of nearly 32mph. While it's no Wrightspeed X1, the designers had "daily driver" in mind when the Ecletic was crafted, but considering it'll only roll 31 miles on a full charge, you best take the scenic (read: sunny) route to work if you're facing a long commute. The car does sport an option to recharge via AC power, should you face darker (and calmer) than expected conditions, but since it weighs just 772 pounds, a foursome shouldn't have too much trouble using the tried and true "push method" if worse comes to worst. Scheduled for production in June 2007, this oh-so-green automombile will run you €24,000 ($30,511) -- if you can manage to score one of the 200 that'll be built, that is.[Via MobileMag]
Sergey Brin, solar phone user
Oh Sergey, those billions are serving you well. You're the first kid on your block to use a solar-powered cellphone, and not some crappy solar charger? Ok, we'd wager his phone isn't entirely solar-powered, but interesting to note that when you're worth as much as this guy, it's pretty easy to save pennies here and there by spending thousands on a phone that runs from the sun's rays. We also forgot what large hands those billions can buy you, too.[Via The Raw Feed]
Green WiFi project promises to bring solar-powered WiFi to developing countries
One of the big criticisms that's been leveled at the much-vaunted OLPC project is that it's missing one key element: internet access. Well, a pair of Sun Microsystems employees are looking to remedy that situation with the Green WiFi project, which promises to bring cheap, solar-powered WiFi to developing countries. The project's modeled on MIT's Roofnet wireless mesh network project (and isn't the only one, either), but takes things one step further by making each node solar powered, meaning that the network could be extended virtually anywhere. They've also taken care of the other big hurdle: price, using off-the-shelf gear and open source software to keep the nodes down to no more than $200 each. Although still in the prototype stage, the team says they're going to start deploying their first grid network in India later this summer, PVC or not.[Via Treehugger]
Dutch designer's Solar Lampion
We're all for solar power around here but we'll admit it's not always the most aesthically pleasing way to save energy. While it won't quite power your house, Dutch designer Damien O'Sullivan has come up with a practical and attractive solution to generating a bit of light. His Solar Lampion consists of 36 small solar panels that form the design of the lamp. You simply leave the lamp outside during the day while it collects sunlight, which should give it enough juice to shine all night, whether you want to bring it into the house or leave it outside. It is still a prototype, unfortunately, but O'Sullivan says it is close to production.
