Windows are so boring. All you can do is look through them. In this age of convergence, where devices do more than one thing, windows are so old school, right? Wrong! RSi Solar has introduced “the world’s first, transparent, photovoltaic-glass window which generates 80 to 250 watts of electricity”. It offers “an enclosed super-tempered glass window system, with a patent pending, fully integrated, multi-tier PV and heat insulation technology. Up to 9’ x 9’ size”.

Expect to see these photovoltaic windows in “signature projects” in Hollywood and Las Vegas. Both seem like fine locations to use this technology, if you ask me.

Via Treehugger.

This little experiment is fairly complex but it’s an interesting examination of forcing heat through corrugation in order to absorb head and blow it through your house this summer. Doable? Sure. Cheap? Sure. Kind of weird? Absolutely.
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Someday I’ll tell my son about how we used to have to “plug” things in to the wall, at which point he’ll roll his eyes and speed off on his Back to the Future Part II hoverboard to go hang out with the creepy old Doc Brown. Oh the adventures those two will have! Ted, don’t forget to wind your watch! Wait, that’s not the right movie.

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Solar-powering clothing accessories isn’t exactly a new idea. I have seen solar charger bags, a purse (or two), but we are stoked to have finally found something to wear when sporting the solar briefcase: a necktie! Who cares if it’s going to repel ladies like Peter Ha, my Blackberry is always going to be charged. Oh yeah. 

via Wired

Here’s an example of good convergence. It’s the $169 Media Street eMotion 2GB Solar Powered Media Player and Battery Charger. Look at all those features just from the title! Not only does this little handful of sweetness play 8- and 16-bit ROMs, it also doubles as a solar charger for your other devices too.

There’s more! It plays MP3s and 320×240 MPEG4 video files. And the product description says that “it excites and relaxes your emotions in ways no other player has yet approached.” Whoa! That sounds wonderful. A quick jolt of adrenaline followed by a smooth release of natural sedatives. Mmmm. Little fluffy clouds. Mmmm.

Media Street EM-SOL2GIG eMotion 2GB Solar Powered Media Player & Battery Charger [Amazon.com via BBG]

Everybody’s favorite gigantic furniture store filled with flat-packed boxes is getting into solar panels. Cheap ones, too. Ikea is apparently getting ready to pump $75 million into "as many as ten companies in five different areas: solar technology, energy conservation, water saving products, alternative lighting, and new product materials,” according to TreeHugger. The goal of Ikea’s solar initiative is to be selling the “cheapest, best” photovoltaic roof panels to its stores within the next four years.

Hey, this deal is only good until 1:00 PM Eastern today, so hop on it if you’re interested. It’s the Sunforce 5004 60 Watt Solar Charging Kit, sold by Amazon.

The kit includes a PVC mounting frame, 7 Amp charge controller, 175-watt inverter, and wiring/connection cables. And with the built-in blocking diode technology, this charger kit is designed to protect against battery discharge at night.

Might be a good choice for people with small cabins or anyone else who needs a little juice in the middle of nowhere. Again, the price is only good until this afternoon. After that, it goes up to $319.99.

Sunforce 50044 60-Watt Solar Charging Kit [Amazon.com via dealnews]

Driven by the long reaching goals of the Montreal Protocol, drafted in 1987 and since signed by 191 countries, technology continues to achieve success for the ozone reducing accord. The worldwide reduction of CFC pollution has slowed the destruction of the ozone layer. Improvements continue as we head towards target dates of 2030 (2020 for developed nations) to cease the use of HCFCs refrigerants commonly used in the air-conditioning industry.

Scientists from the Universidad Carlos III of Madrid (UC3M) and the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) have harnessed the power of the sun and developed a new air conditioner capable of cooling, without the use of HCFCs.
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Ricoh Japan is planning to set up a  billboard powered by natural energy in New York City’s Times Square in December.

The sign will be equipped with 45 solar cell panels and four wind power turbines, producing a maximum of 98 kilowatt-hours of electricity per day. Ricoh’s American subsidiary says the billboard (47 feetx126 feet) might not be illuminated in case there is not enough solar or wind power.

The Ricoh sign cuts carbon dioxide emissions by 18 tons per year. The company erected an eco-powered neon billboard in Osaka as early as 2003 [JP].

Today Sharp Japan [JP], the city of Sakai and Kansai Electric Power [JP] announced [JP] the so-called “Sakai City Waterfront Mega Solar Power Generation Plan”. Under the initiative, two mega solar power generation plants are to be built in Sakai (near Osaka) by 2010.

One facility will have an output of 10,000 kW, while the second plant is planned to produce 28,000 kW. The complex will be one of the largest of its kind in the world. Sharp and Kansai Electric claim when the plan is realized, the solar facilities will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 10,000 tons yearly.

The solar energy will be used for factories Sharp and other companies operate in Sakai. The city is planning to become one of Japan’s leading “green” cities.

I wonder which job is tougher; blogging or designing “a heat-resistant spacecraft designed to plunge deep into the sun’s atmosphere where it can sample solar wind and magnetism first hand.” One the one hand, blogging makes your hands, fingers, and wrists hurt sometimes. On the other hand, nobody’s ever been anywhere near the sun before. It’s a toss up, for sure.

The mission will be called Solar Probe+ and it could be underway as early as 2015 (provided the earth doesn’t end), taking roughly seven years to complete.

The closest the probe will get to the sun is about 4.4 million miles, which seems pretty far away but I bet it’d burn your eyebrows off if you got that close. The mission seeks to find the answers to two great mysteries about the sun; why it’s hotter on the outside than it is in the middle and how the hell solar wind works.

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