Archive for Solar
June 22, 2007 at 9:32 pm · Filed under Solar, Off Grid, Green Tech
Here is the first outerwear product in the world that can recharge a cell phone, iPod or other device using solar power.
Italian ZEGNA presents the first commercially available jacket with integrated solar solution based on “iSolarX” – a flexible and highly efficient wearable solar technology.
The solar modules are mounted on a neoprene collar; the electricity generated from solar energy is transmitted through conducting textile leads and stored temporarily in a buffer battery or fed directly to a connected device.
The electronic basis of the new “Solar JKT” from Zegna Sport is the iSolarX wearable solar technology platform, developed by Interactive Wear AG in close cooperation with its technology partner SOLARC of Berlin. This enables the easy and convenient integration of solar cells together with their associated leads and miniaturized charging electronics (for e.g. cell phones, mp3 players or other mobile electronic devices with a USB connector) into apparel and accessories of any sort. For iSolarX applications, the main focus is on reliability, ease of use, optimal wearing comfort and high energy efficiency.
The iSolarX solar technology platform is made up of these functional elements: the solar modules, the textile integration kit, and the charging electronics. Read the rest of this entry »
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June 20, 2007 at 2:20 pm · Filed under Solar, Green Tech, Money and Finance
Japan was the largest producer of solar power until Germany exceeded it in 2005. European countries have been expanding their production of solar power more rapidly than Japan. Germany now accounts for 39 percent of total production, while Japan’s contribution is 38 percent. Germany, which will host the summit meeting on global warming in June, has a reputation for being environmentally conscious, and subsidies for solar power have been increased, with the stable price of such power helping to make solar power generation more popular. However, in Japan, subsidized projects by the New Energy Foundation, aimed at generating solar power for private residents ended in fiscal 2005, and now only local governments have subsidized projects.
Source: Daily Yomiuri Online
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May 11, 2007 at 6:43 am · Filed under Solar
South Korea plans to break ground for the world’s biggest solar power plant as it tries to diversify its power sources and use cleaner energy, the government and developers said. The $170 million plant, being built in Shinan, near the southwestern tip of South Korea, is part of an effort to seek new and renewable energy sources and is scheduled to be completed by late 2008. The plant will produce more than 27,000 megawatt-hours of electricity a year, enough to supply 6,000 to 7,000 households, said Kim Ji Hun, president of the Korean subsidiary of SunTechnics, the German solar power company that will build the plant.
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April 7, 2007 at 9:43 pm · Filed under Solar, Green Tech, Climate
Top hurricane forecasters Dr. William Gray believes the recent uptick in strong hurricanes is part of a multi-decade trend that will lead to dropping ocean temperatures in the next five to 10 years. Link
New solar cells developed by Massey University don’t need direct sunlight to operate and use a patented range of dyes that can be impregnated in roofs, window glass and eventually even clothing to produce power. Link
US set to ban incandescent light bulbs, hoping it will lower electric prices and shed coal plants faster. Unfortunately, it will do the opposite. Link
Scientists discover global warming on Mars. Link
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February 19, 2007 at 9:04 pm · Filed under Solar
This is a cool little gadget. The Freeloader Solar Power Charger. This new solar charger for gadgets offers a nice design, nice price, and nice feature set, so what’s not to like? It comes with a variety of plugs and sockets including USB, and will store solar power for you for up to 3 months on its internal battery pack. Available from next month at £29.99 from www.solartechnology.co.uk. Freeloader takes power from its solar panels or via a supplied charge cable that plugs into a computers’ USB. Once charged, Freeloaders internal battery can power an iPod for 18hours, a mobile phone for 44 hours, PSP for 2.5 hours a PDA for 22 hours and much much more. The freeloader comes with 120mA premium quality crystalline solar cells and a 1000mAh environmentally friendly Li-ion battery. The downside is that expected battery lifetime is no more than 2 years. Included is converters for everything phone, pda and usb device you may have.
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February 16, 2007 at 9:54 pm · Filed under Solar, Off Grid, Green Tech
‘When killer tornadoes destroyed the mobile home of Joe DeMar earlier this month, the Lake County man just managed to escape with his life. But in the hours after the storm, he faced another crisis: no electricity to power his nebulizer, an electric device that pumps oxygen and misted medication into his damaged lungs. Before state or federal help arrived, Joe got a visit from Bill Young with UCF’s Florida Solar Energy Center asking if his solar-power generator could help him out.’
Thansk UCF News!
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February 11, 2007 at 5:46 pm · Filed under Solar, On Grid, Green Tech, DIY Projects
I promised to tell you more about our use of solar energy. After having re-build our house last year we now make us of solar energy in 3 ways:
* Solar cells for 220 Volt on-grid electricity
* Solar panels for heating water combined with floor heating
* Passive heating through a huge thermo glass area facing south.
First we got the photo-voltaic cells. Our roof is perfect for this, facing south in an angel of 45. The disadvantage of this system is the price, but in 2003 we got selected for a project called “Sun 2000″ in which different organizations and state subsidies paid 60 pct. of the total price. Our price was about 6.000 euro, but what really made this project interesting from a financial perspective was the agreement with the local power company: The system is build to produce 220 V and it is connected to the grid. Normally if you produce electricity for the grid you will only get paid the basic price pr. kW. But when you buy you will have to pay the basic price plus taxes. Since the taxes make about 3/4 of the power bill this would not be interesting for at all. Instead we now can sell power at the same price as we buy as longs as we produce less than we use pr. year. This is great because the system produces about 1/3 of our total power consumption. The system is build of 6 BP panels at 170 WP each which will produces about 800 - 1000 kWh/year. To generate 220 V for the grid and our own use we have 1 Fronius micro inverter. This is no in longer in production, but has been replaced by a new series of Fronius inverters, the IG series. Read the rest of this entry »
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December 27, 2006 at 12:08 am · Filed under Solar
NASA’s twin Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatories (STEREO) sent back their first images of the sun this week and with them a view into the sun’s mounting activity.
A close up of loops in a magnetic active region. These loops, observed by STEREO’s SECCHI/EUVI telescope, are at a million degrees C. This powerful active region, AR903, observed here, produced a series of intense flares over the next few days.
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December 7, 2006 at 2:26 pm · Filed under Solar, Video
Spectrolab, has achieved a new world record in terrestrial concentrator solar cell efficiency. Using concentrated sunlight, Spectrolab demonstrated the ability of a photovoltaic cell to convert 40.7 percent of the sun’s energy into electricity. The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) verified the milestone. High efficiency multijunction cells have a significant advantage over conventional silicon cells in concentrator systems because fewer solar cells are required to achieve the same power output. This technology will continue to dramatically reduce the cost of generating electricity from solar energy as well as the cost of materials used in high-power space satellites and terrestrial applications.
“This solar cell performance is the highest efficiency level any photovoltaic device has ever achieved,” said Dr. David Lillington, president of Spectrolab. “The terrestrial cell we have developed uses the same technology base as our space-based cells. So, once qualified, they can be manufactured in very high volumes with minimal impact to production flow.”
Researchers have been working toward the “40 percent barrier” for the past two decades. In the 1980s, multi-junction solar cells achieved about 16 percent efficiency, and DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory broke the 30 percent barrier in 1994. Today, most satellites use these multi-junction solar cells, and Spectrolab, a subsidiary of The Boeing Company, recently produced its two millionth solar cell using multi-junction technology. The new Spectrolab cell, developed with DOE funding, could lead to more affordable solar power systems here on Earth, costing as little as $3 per watt to install and producing electricity at a cost of 8 to 10 cents per kilowatt-hour. Read the rest of this entry »
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November 21, 2006 at 6:46 pm · Filed under Solar
Next monday Sun21 will set its solar panels for New York in the fist attempt to cross the Atlantic in a solar powered boat. The 46-ft. vessel has no sails or gas tank, only two electric motors that run on batteries charged by photovoltaic cells. By day, rooftop solar panels generate more power than the boat consumes. The extra energy is stored to keep things moving after sundown. How fast does it go? About 5 to 6 knots, same as most yachts. A Swiss crew of five will attempt the record-breaking five-month, 7,000-mile trip to spread the word about the wonders of renewable energy.
The adventures of the “sun21”-crew can be followed on www.youtube.com (as well as on www.transatlantic21.ch) where short film reports illustrate the journey. The “sun21” will put out to sea in Seville on the 27th November in order to beginits record journey.
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