Imagine using only the energy from the sun to power your home. You would never have to pay an electric bill again and or be impacted by power outages. It may sound great, but there are numerous advantages to having a solar home that is on-the-grid when available.
Have you always dreamed of living in a Japanese town lit up entirely by LED lights? If so, you might want consider purchasing a lot in the town of Azabu no Oka. The town, which is currently under construction, features LED lights on streets, sidewalks, and parks. Each home also … [continued]
US chemical engineers have built the world’s smallest fuel cell, clocking in at only 9 cubic millimeters. While the hydrogen-fueled cell is currently a prototype, it could one day replace batteries in portable electronics.
Plastic solar cells are coming soon to a portable gadget near you thanks to University of Chicago researchers and Solarmer Energy. Solarmer’s prototype plastic cell measures 8 square inches and is expected to have 8 percent efficiency as well as a three-year lifespan. Until now, plastic solar cells have only … [continued]
Sometimes, the best solutions are the ones that nature gives us. Researchers at the University of Bristol in England think that one easy way to counteract global warming is to plant crops that reflect more sunlight. Plants reflect different amount of sunlight depending on their waxiness and growth patterns.
Just looking at this mock-up of a human-powered river gym makes me seasick, but architect Mitchell Joachim and personal trainer Douglas Joachim’s design won third place in New York Magazine’s “Create a Gym Contest”. The gym’s creators explain, “Often the average urbanite exercising at the gym performs controlled repetitive single … [continued]
Antarctica seems more like a dead zone than a haven for renewable energy, but solar and wind power are slowly taking hold on Antarctic research bases. The Rothera base already has a $58,000 set of solar thermal panels that generate 15 kW of energy, and soon it will receive $11,000 … [continued]
Even the most dedicated turbine-inspecting human may occasionally miss something. Fortunately, a new robot named RIWEA can detect the tiniest delaminations and cracks on rotor blades— even below the surface. RIWEA was built by researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Factory Operation and Automation in Germany, and comes equipped with … [continued]
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has announced that BMW is giving the city a fleet of MINI Es as part of a feasibility test. In fact, BMW will be testing 500 electric MINIs worldwide. Other cities included in the program are Los Angeles, London and Berlin. >> Read the … [continued]
A few years ago, I slept at a campsite next to a trailer running an obnoxiously loud diesel-powered generator all night long. If AMP’s silent, solar-powered portable generator had been around, I may have gotten a full night’s sleep. The silent, all-weather generator is installed in a trailer with photovoltaic … [continued]
