Tag Archives: solar

Solar Goodness

picture-1.png Solar power is always seeing new advancements. It can be something fun like building your own solar powered iPod charger or finding that solar dyes can be used for creating electricity. This month Georgia Tech has developed a solar panel that uses nano-towers to create a more efficient solar cell.

The difference is in the design. Traditional solar panels are often flat and bulky. The new design features an array of nano-towers – like microscopic blades of grass – that add surface area and trap more sunlight.

Net Metering in the USA

Net metering is a novel concept that allows property owners who produce their own energy to sell surplus power back to the electric grid. There are many, many, many reason why this should be adopted and the International Business Times looks at people are selling energy back to the grid not for profit, but for philosophical reasons. The profit must help the decisions though.

“Net metering essentially allows people to become mini-power producers. Programs vary state to state, but they are typically coupled with financial incentives that make it easier to invest thousands of dollars for photovoltaic panels, windmills or fuel cells. Since sun and wind are intermittent, customers still rely on the grid for steady service. The meter runs backward when more energy is produced than a customer consumes.”

Solar Power Tower

towerOver at Gear Factor there is a short and sweet post on a tower that uses solar energy to power itself, and to make it rotate.

“We didn’t want to build just another building or tower, we wanted to create something unique – a precious place to live – a genuine contender to be one of the great buildings in the world,” said Tav Singh, director of Dubai Property Ring, the Dubai arm of UK-based property investors UK Property Group.

Build Your Own Solar iPod Charger

For those of you with iPods, you may want to ensure that you never have to worry about the battery dying. This is a neat use of small scale solar power, it’s a homemade solar panel that attached to a backpack using velcro that connects to an iPod.

The instructions are easy to follow, and one step is sipping on some coffee (which is hopefully fair trade and organic). If I had an iPod I would try making this, not just for cheap power, but for solar style.