Category: Solar

  • K3 Wind And Solar Power Charger

    Kinesis Industries has released the next version of their wind and solar charger the K3 (like the K2).  The core of the unit is a large 4,000 mAh battery for storing power.  You can fill up that massive battery via AC wall power (or USB), a solar panel, or wind power.  That power can then…

  • Open-Source Solar Desalination Oven

    Designer Gabriele Diamanti has created a solar oven called the Eliodomestico that can make salt water drinkable. Furthermore, the invention can be made out of cheap and readily available materials enabling local craftsmen in the developing world to build the oven for themselves. The system works by using a black boiler on top which heats…

  • Micromax X259 Solar Phone

    The Micromax X259 Solar Phone has a large solar panel on the back which is used to recharge the batteries.  The bummer is that it is currently only in India. The Micromax X259 has a 2.4-inch QVGA screen (240 x 320p), a VGA camera, and a 4.5 hour talk time per charge.  The solar panel…

  • Small Japanese Village Switches To Solar Power

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    As you might imagine, the folks in Japan are a bit gun shy when it comes to nuclear power.  The Fukushima nuclear disaster is still fresh on their minds. A very small village, Sanno in Hyogo Prefectrue, with a population of just 42 people is going all-in with solar power.  The small town of Sanno…

  • Hybrid Solar Tubes Heat Water And Create Electricity

      This is the first time I have seen a thermal solar hot water heater that also creates electricity.  It tends to be one, or the other.  This hybrid solar tube technology is called the Virtu Tube and is made by Britain's Naked Energy.  The Virtu Tube's have a photovoltaic panel enclosed in a vacuum…

  • Swiss Village – World’s First Solar Powered Ski Lift

    The tiny Swiss town of Tenna has put itself on the eco-map by building an innovative solar-powered ski lift. The solar lift is one of the world’s first of its kind, and utilizes a “cable car system” where the solar panels are integrated directly into the lift. Approximately 80 solar panels are incorporated into a…

  • Solar Joos Orange

    Solar Joos Orange

    Let's start with the name "“ Solar Joos Orange.  Sounds like a name I would make up, I like it.  Now on to the important bits, this is basically a solar panel paired with a lithium-ion polymer battery and a USB port.  So what is the big deal?  The big deal is that the Solar…

  • IKEA Solvinden Solar/Wind Powered LED Lamps

    IKEA's Solvinden (sol=sun & vinden=wind) line has added a few lamps that I want to buy.  I didn't even know I was in the market for lamps.  IKEA's new new Solvinden lamps (202.248.10 and 202.250.32) run off of batteries that are charged from the sun or wind.  The lamp shades are mini wind turbines that,…

  • Green Home Uses Salvaged Car Parts

    At first glance the house looks pretty normal, in fact a bit better than normal.  The building standards used for this house are anything but normal.  A husband and wife team, Karl Wanaselja and Cate Leger of Leger Wanaselja Architecture, built this house with some extremely green tricks. The upper outside walls of the house…

  • Solar Kindle Case With Battery And LED Lighting

    Kindle readers rejoice, you can now read in the day and night without plugging in your Kindle E-Reader.  Not sure of the name of this product, but several are thrown around; the SolarMio, SolarFocus, or SolarKindle.  Either way, this solar kindle cover/case allows you to charge an internal 1,250mAh battery that, when fully charged, will…