30七月2010 |
Flexible Solar Panels |
SoloPower recently introduced a line of flexible and rollable solar panels for use on rooftops called the SFX1-i. Ease of installation saves time and money. Costs are further reduced via their special manufacturing process. The panels are built on a thin, flexible foil substrate in a high throughput, low-cost, roll-to-roll process developed by SoloPower. |
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12七月2010 |
Solar Planes First Night Flight |
Solar Impulse, the solar powered plane we've been following for some time (see here and here), has made its first night flight. The flight lasted 26 hours. It was kept aloft during darkness by 400kg of batteries that were fully charged during an ascent to 8,700m from the 12,000 solar panels on its 63.4m wing. A fabulous achievement. |
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21五月2010 |
Bamboo Solar Office Supplies |
Lexon have a range of office supplies made out of bamboo and using eco-friendly power sources. Such as the solar powered calculator and light above. They also have a hand cranked radio and solar powered clock. They look great too. |
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12五月2010 |
Auto Sola Mowa |
This automated mower from Husqvarna is (partly) solar powered. It can also send SMSs if it runs into trouble or it's lonely. SkyNet here we come. |
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28四月2010 |
Geely's Solar Bug Concept |
Geely showed off their latest solar bug at the the Beijing Autoshow 2010. Dubbed the IG (Geely Intelligence) it was originally shown at the 2009 Shanghai show. Now the drive train is a hybrid. The solar power is used for the aircon system. Look at those doors. Don't mention the DeLorean... More pics here. |
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12四月2010 |
Solar Plane Flies |
Solar Impulse, the solar powered plane we wrote about last year, has had its maiden flight on 7th April after seven years of research and development. Total flight time was 87 minutes and height was 1200 metres. Never has an airplane as large and light ever flown before! |
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29三月2010 |
Solar Roads Update |
We first wrote about Solar Roads back in September 2009. Since then they've been hard at work and have made their first prototype. They made a 12 x 12 foot panel, not only is it a solar collector, it also has built in lights and heating elements. There are lots of pictures of the process on the Solar Roads web site. Still very cool. |
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04二月2010 |
Catch the Sun in a Jar |
The Sun Jar (designed by Tobias Wong) catches the sun during the day via solar panels in its lid to provide power for light into the night. Instructable has a guide to making your own. It's built into a Mason Jar which is water proof so it can be left outside. |
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15十二月2009 |
Self Cleaning Solar Panels Possible |
Researchers at the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology at Tel Aviv University have published in Nature Nanotechnology a paper describing a new way to way to control the atoms and molecules of peptides so that they grow to resemble small forests of grass. These "peptide forests" repel dust and water - a perfect self-cleaning coating for windows or solar panels which, when dirty, become far less efficient. More coverage here. This stuff is important, see Google's recent blog about how clean solar panels are more efficient. |
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