Tag Archives: solar power

Einstein Invented A Fridge That Runs On Heat, Had No Moving Parts

image credit wikivisual TreeHugger has published a lot of posts about absorption refrigerators; they are common in off-grid situations and because they run on heat, they are possibly key to the holy grail of solar powered air conditioning . Jennifer Ouellette explains on io9 that Albert Einstein and Leo Szilard developed and patented an absorp… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Einstein Invented A Fridge That Runs On Heat, Had No Moving Parts

Oriental Hornets Are Literally Solar Powered

Those yellow parts are much more than mere decoration… Photo: Wikipedia . While it’s true that the vast web of life on this planet is essentially solar powered–without the sun’s energy there is no life–new research shows that oriental hornets ( Vespa orientalis ) go one step beyond, employing special structures on their bodies to trap the sun’s rays and turn it directly into energy. Really…. Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Oriental Hornets Are Literally Solar Powered

Solar-Powered Tacos Hit Mexico (Video)

Street food vendors are in a prime position to make use of solar power — they’re out on corners, on roadsides, and under under the glaring sun dishing out to-go meals all day. And many around the world still use charcoal or natural gas to heat their grills. Seems to me like a redundancy. It did to the Swiss inventor featured in the video above, as well — so he introduced solar powered street vending to Mexico. Watch: … Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Solar-Powered Tacos Hit Mexico (Video)

How Saving Energy at Work Can Light Up Africa With Solar (Video)

Image credit: Wieden + Kennedy London I already wrote about the Off-On program’s efforts to turn energy savings in London into money for solar in Africa . We already know that solar can be a life saver in developing countries , and it can be a great boost for school performance too. We also know tha… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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How Saving Energy at Work Can Light Up Africa With Solar (Video)

UK’s First Utility-Scale Solar Power Plant Gets Go Ahead

Image credit: Ecotricity Our commenters may have mixed feelings about Ecotricity CEO Dale Vince’s fancy electric sports car , but it is hard to deny that this man has done more than most to support renewable energy. When I wrote about Ecotricity’s planned utility-scale solar plants in rainy-old England , the company was claiming it could have the project up and running by the end of the year. But TreeHugger sees a lot of promi… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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UK’s First Utility-Scale Solar Power Plant Gets Go Ahead

Lunchbox Heats and Cools Your Meal with Solar Power

Images via Yanko Design For a hot or cold meal on the go, this high-tech lunchbox concept is an interesting solution. Using a giant flower-shaped fan with netting somehow made of solar cells, lunchbox captures energy to heat and cool various compartments storing your different dishes. It’s vaporware, but it sounds cooler than these other very real lunchbox ideas. … Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Lunchbox Heats and Cools Your Meal with Solar Power

Solar Patio Umbrella Lights Up the Night

Images via Yanko It seems like there’s hardly anything new under the sun when it comes to solar power ideas these days. The Day Shade Night Light is one such design. The patio umbrella gathers sunlight during the day while providing shade, stores the energy in batteries in its stand, and provides a canopy of light during the evening. While not novel, the design does have some improved features over past ideas. … Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Solar Patio Umbrella Lights Up the Night

Walmart Adding Thin-Film Solar Panels On 20-30 More Stores

photo: Walmart In continued efforts to deploy more renewable energy at its stores, Walmart announced today that it will be installing solar panels at an additional 20-30 of its stores in California and Arizona, opting at most of the locations to install thin-film solar panels rather than traditional crystalline panels. … Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Walmart Adding Thin-Film Solar Panels On 20-30 More Stores

Carbon Nanotube ‘Light Funnel’ Could Make Solar Panels More Efficient

Photo: Patrick Gillooly, MIT What Can’t We Do With Carbon Nanotubes? MIT researchers have found a way to use carbon nanotubes to concentrate light by about 100x and funnel photons into smaller (thus less expensive) solar panels. “Instead of having your whole roof be a photovoltaic cell, you could have little spots that were tiny photovoltaic cells, with antennas that would drive photons into them,” says Michael Strano, the Charles and Hilda Roddey Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering and leader of the research team…. Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Carbon Nanotube ‘Light Funnel’ Could Make Solar Panels More Efficient

Weird Solar Device of the Day: Solight Concept for Indoor Plants

Image via Yanko Design A new concept design by Lee Ju Won is the ultimate middle man. It sticks to a window to harness the power of the sun to run LEDs that provide light to potted plants that sit under it. Um, what’s wrong with this picture? … Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Weird Solar Device of the Day: Solight Concept for Indoor Plants