Posted on 10 August 2010
What if you covered the US highways with solar panels? Well, even if they only absorbed 15% of the solar power they came in contact with they still would produce three times the amount of energy consumed by the entire country. But is this doable? Well that’s exactly what Solar Roadways is planning on finding [...]
Posted on 08 July 2010
An experimental solar-powered plane landed last week after completing its first 24-hour test flight, proving that the aircraft can collect enough energy from the sun during the day to stay in the air all night.
Pilot Andre Borschberg landed the Solar Impulse at Payerne airfield about 30 miles southwest of the Swiss capital Bern last [...]
Posted on 17 June 2010
Apple has filed a patent for a full range of media players with integrated touch sensor solar panel surfaces. The recent design change for the iPhone from a metal backside to a glass back would allow for an internal double-sided solar panel. This makes it obvious that Apple is moving in the direction of [...]
Posted on 27 April 2010
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has recently publicized its plans to launch a solar-powered ’space yacht’, according to a number of media reports this week.
The Interplanetary Kite-craft Accelerated by Radiation of the Sun (IKAROS) satellite uses a special 66-foot sail made of thin-film solar technology that will allow the ship to use pressure as [...]
Posted on 08 April 2010
IBM is merging with Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, to create a desalination system powered by the sun that would pump 7.9 million gallons of water daily for over 100,000 people. The new solar plant will be constructed in Al Khafji, Saudi Arabia and will rely on concentrating photovoltaic arrays to generate enough energy to power its [...]
Posted on 07 April 2010
Eco-friendly awesomeness took to the skies today as the solar powered plane, Solar Impulse, made its maiden voyage today in Switzerland.
While the flight only lasted 87 minutes, Solar Impulse was designed to be able to fly around the world without stopping and simply relying on solar power. With its array of 12,000 solar panel cells [...]
Posted on 07 April 2010
Sunny Morocco is planning to produce 40% of their energy needs via solar energy, spending $9 billion to generate 2000MWs of energy by 2020. The plan will require 5 solar power stations to produce 2000MWs of energy, situated in the regions of Ouarzazate, Ain Bni Mathar, Foum Al Oued, Boujdour and Sebkhat Tah with the first station to [...]
Posted on 06 April 2010
If you’ve spent thousands of dollars on solar panel system you probably want to know how well it’s working. At least this is what SunReports was banking on when they invested in the development and production of their soon-to-hit-the-market solar panel data collector.
The SunReports solar power assessment tool is both a piece of hardware that [...]
Posted on 25 February 2010
PlanetSolar, the 100 by 50 foot catamaran will be “silent and clean,” say its makers, also called PlanetSolar.
The vessel will be able to achieve a top speed of around 15 knots, equivalent to 15 miles per hour, and can accommodate 50 people on its round-the-world voyage, its Swiss-based builders say. The boat is topped by [...]
Posted on 10 January 2010
Panasonic has released a statement that it wants to be Japan’s top maker of solar cells within about three years as part of an increased focus on environmental technology. Panasonic will expand its solar cell business by incorporating the technology of Sanyo Electric, which joined the Panasonic group last year.
The electronics company will invest 1.07 [...]