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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Santa Monica’s famous Pacific Wheel is gone, having lost the fight against new fangled technology – and man, the new wheel is blinged out. Sure, the it might not be the biggest. It’s probably not the fastest, either. However, it might just be the LED-iest.
Over 160,000 LEDs were used in this $1.5 million dollar refresh, all powered by the same solar panels that juiced the Pacific Wheel up until it was dismantled and tossed on eBay. The LED array is all hooked up to an imaging controller, allowing for all kinds of visual treats: hearts on Valentines day, snowflakes in December, and a picture of John Stamos whenever a Full House rerun is airing.
On a side note, studies show that the ferris wheel would be 20x cooler if it looked like the above photo without the need for long exposure.
Photo Credit: Inhabitant
Today, Japanese maker Thanko started selling its newest product, a portable media player powered by a small solar panel. The so-called “Solar MP4 Player” is Nippon-only and costs $95.
It supports MP3/WMA/WAV audio and AVI/RM/MPG/VOB/DAT/RMVB video files. Additionally, the player can serve as a voice recorder, an FM radio and it also displays JPEGs. Several games are preinstalled as well. The device is also usable as an audio book player.
The 2 inch TFT display comes with a resolution of 220×176. The player is equipped with a mere 4 GB of internal memory, which can be expanded via micro SD cards.
Thanko claims charging the player for 1 hour via its solar panel is enough to listen to 35 minutes of music or to watch 15 minutes of video.
It’s like something out of a James Bond movie, if Bond were more of a hippie, but it’s cool. It’s a solar-powered speedboat, completely covered in solar panels to provide power. Using just the sun, the boat can reach speeds of 30knots (35mph), a decent clip for a luxury speedboat.
It’s just a prototype right now, but as oil gets more and more expensive you can bet that boats like this one, if not this one indeed, will be making waves soon. (Ha! See what I did there? Making waves!)
Could it be true? The next iPhone will run on solar power? And have two buttons over a circle? And use solar cells? Absolutely not, but a patent points to some ideas by the Cupertino giant that would embed solar panels behind the LCD screens on some devices. That said, it’s going to be a tough job to convince folks to charge their stuff by solar. Consider what the iPhone would look like — and how much it would overheat — if you left it out on the dashboard for a few hours. Solar chargers, sure. Solar watches, sure. Solar iPhones? Not yet.
This product, made by an MD, no less, is a mini solar panel with multiple charging tips and a little leather case. It’s 19.99 British pounds sterling, which, at current exchange rates, translates to $5,432.29.
Nokia old, Nokia new/N series, Sony Ericsson, Motorola/Blackberry/mini USB and Samsung phones as well as a DC 5V tip for PSPs and many digital cameras, an Ipod tip, and one for female USB, you have plenty of connection and expansion options to keep all your products charged.
It weighs less than 80g (14 farthing) and can charge a phone twice before it needs to be officially plugged in.
Convenient, but possibly less efficient than a system that follows the sun. This is probably a good idea for those with good exposure who want to integrate solar power from the beginning. The good news is that it looks and installs just like regular tile-y roof (but bluer), the bad news is it’s almost certainly extremely expensive.
SRS Energy [via Treehugger]
This is the kind of power I can see being used on Arrakis — Dune — the desert planet. This huge array of mirrors automatically adjusts to face the sun, and concentrates its rays onto a pipeline filled with the spice melange — I mean oil, which heats up to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. The oil is then used to vaporize water for steam power, or the heat is transferred (to molten salt!) stored for a rainy day.
Its simplicity is its strength, and the fact that heat energy is easily storeable makes its higher cost (twice that of wind power) worthwhile to pay. There’s more cool technical info in the article if you like that kind of thing.
Solar Without the Panels [Technology Review]
Portable NES and Game Boy emulation without having to stop for batteries? I like. You can also use the solar panels to recharge your cell phone and other small devices. There’s a 3.5-inch screen (320×240), 2GB of internal storage plus the ability to add a 2GB SD card, MP3 player, video player, and e-book reader. All for $123. It’s actually being sold as a 2GB MP3 player but, come on, NES emulation!
This company, Chinavasion, has some weird and wonderful products. I have a box full of them that are pending review, so watch out. I’ll see if I can’t get my grubby mitts on one of these as well.
Solar Powered MP4 Player 2GB – Mobile Power Station [Chinavasion] via Technabob
Bolt four sticks onto a giant solar panel and what do you get? That’s right, a $3600 table that charges in 3 hours and can power your laptop and other crud using a built-in 150-watt power inverter hooked up to a NiMH battery.
I’m going to buy this as soon as summer rolls around. And by "buy" I mean "not buy" because I won’t have that kind of money in my table budget in the foreseeable future. If I had money and/or friends I’d consider it, though.
Sun Table [Sudia Design Labs] via Ubergizmo
The Sole Mio is a solar-powered wireless mouse currently being developed by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research. I can’t tell if it’s Bluetooth or RF (maybe they haven’t gotten that far yet) but it uses about 20mA of electricity while you’re using it and it holds 300mAh when fully charged.
I like the idea of a solar-powered mouse, but it’s gotta work. I’ll use a comfortable corded mouse over a cheap-feeling wireless/solar/whatever mouse any day. At first glance, this mouse looks cheap, but it’s still a prototype so I’ll reserve judgment until it’s available.
You best be sitting by a window (like me!) or you’ll be out of luck. If the Dutch can get the technology working well enough to license to other devices, your very-comfortable corded mouse might just be offered as a solar version in the near future.
Sole Mio mouse mouse loves the sun [UberGizmo] via Gizmodo via TU Delft via OhGizmo! via Core77
We’re RICH!
Not content with hegemonic domination of the Internets, Google is now seeking dominion over the open road. Earlier this week (read: yesterday), Google and Pacific Gas & Electric tested a collection of hybrid vehicles that could turn the industry on its head (roof?). Read More
Cell phone battery life has been one of the top problems since its inception. Motorola was there at the beginning, and is at least exploring smart solutions.
Motorola recently received a patent for combining an LCD screen and a solar cell on a wireless device. While the cost of such a concept makes the iPhone seem like a bargain, the concept of having a display that also can have a dual purpose of receiving light for recharging the battery makes a lot of sense.
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Although winter seems to be coming to end in NYC (I’m sure I’ll eat my words next week), these eco-friendly hand warmers, dubbed the Eneloop Kairo, are good for those who find themselves outside more than they want to. The Sanyo device uses solar power technology called Eneloop to recharge its batteries. The hand warmers come with a solar panel, and even if you don’t want to use the warmers, the special AA batteries can be used in other products as well.
Update: It turns out that although these hand warmers do use clean power, they do not run on solar power, according to Aaron Fowles, a spokesperson for Sanyo. Eneloop is the name for a string of clean power products using “energy looping.” This includes batteries that are recharged via the solar panel in the photo above and devices like the hand warmer that contain a Lithium-Ion battery. Disposable hand warmers apparently are popular in Japan, and these devices can be recharged up to 500 times, effectively saving on 500 disposables, Fowles added.
Engadget has a post about the Eneloop solar panels, and Amazon.com also sells the batteries.
Eneloop Kairo [Cocolico via ShinyShiny]
If you’re the kind of guy who likes a camping trip every once in awhile, you’re probably content with leaving your iPod at home for a few days. But not me. If I have to go camping, I’m dragging my iPod, cellphone, Starbucks mug, and North Face gear all out to the wilderness with me along with my Wii. So when I saw the relatively-inexpensive Scotty Pro charger, I began to think about how great this would be during a hike, a trip outdoors, or something of a similar nature.
For $99, you get a solar panel that acts as a backup charger/battery via USB. You can charge everything from your iPod to your cellphone to your latte-machine all with the power of the sun. It takes 7 hours to charge the device fully from the sun or power outlet in your vehicle, but can last up 15 hours powering some devices. It even has rechargeable AA batteries in case your device is too “old school.” I might pick one up if I ever have to go camping again.
Scotty Pro Gadget Charger [Electronista]
