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‘Solar’ Stories

Scientists develop printable liquid solar cells

, Apr 26th 2012 Discuss [0]

Scientists at the University of Southern California have developed new solar cells in the form of a liquid that can be painted or printed onto clear surfaces. The new technology is cheap to produce and relies on stable solar nanocrystals that are only four nanometers in size, which is so small you could fit 250 billion on the head of a pin. These particles are then suspended in liquid like pigment and can be printed like ink. Read The Full Story

Solar tornado wide as five Earths caught on camera

, Mar 26th 2012 Discuss [3]

Sun observers have released clips of a vast solar tornado, as wide across as five Earths, that broke the surface of the star back in September 2011. Caught on camera by NASA's Solar Dynamic Observatory and spotted in the footage by the Institute of Mathematics and Physics at the University of Aberystwyth in Wales, the "coronal mass ejections" spurt from solar prominences and the coronal cavities above them. Read The Full Story

Venus Express blinded after massive solar storms

, Mar 8th 2012 Discuss [0]

For those of you unfamiliar with the term "Venus Express," do not worry: it's not a train heading into outer space - it's already out there, and it's a spacecraft in crisis. There aren't any humans aboard this spacecraft at the moment, it being the eyes and ears of the European Space Agency around the second planet from the sun in our solar system, but concern remains as 40 hours have passed since the most recent solar storm has pushed over the unit and it's gone "blind." The cameras aboard this spacecraft have been rendered inoperable for the time being with officials racing to get them back online before they're lost for good, they meanwhile relying on gyroscopes to keep the unit online and on track. Read The Full Story

Solar lighted cover for Kindle

, Jan 8th 2012 Discuss [3]

SolarFocus has released the first solar-charged cover for the Kindle e-Reader. As if your Kindle didn't already have great battery life, they've gone ahead and integrated a 1500mAh battery into the case. There is also an LED light that pops out once a button is pressed on the cover. Read The Full Story

SolarKindle case packs sun-charged battery and reading lamp

, Jan 8th 2012 Discuss [1]

E-Ink's power-sipping frugality makes it an ideal partner to solar panels, and so it's hard to believe SolarFocus' SolarKindle idea hasn't been offered before. A combination case, recharging system and LED light for the Kindle ereader, the new accessory is fronted by a bank of solar cells that recharge an integrated 1,500 mAh battery pack. That battery can be used to top up your Kindle's power, turn on the flip-out LED lamp, or both. Read The Full Story

Apple plans solar power for data center

, Oct 26th 2011 Discuss [0]

When it comes to reducing the power that large data centers consume a seemingly small reduction can have huge savings in power consumption and the cost of operating the data center. Apple is getting ready to install a large solar panel farm on land it already owns in Maiden, North Carolina. Apple has been issued permits needed in Catawba County to reshape the 171 acres of land it owns adjacent to the data center. Read The Full Story

13 year old Scientist Makes Solar Power Breakthrough

, Aug 19th 2011 Discuss [44]

The manufactured collection of solar power has been a regular staple in our everyday environmentally friendly means of collecting power docket for quite a few years now. Our method of doing so, of collecting that power with a bit flat array of solar panels to collect the sun's energy. There's a little man by the name of Aidan Dwyer who may have just changed the way we look at collecting solar power forever this year as he created an contraption that closely replicates how trees collect solar power to create the most effective means for doing so in history. This little guy is 13 years old. Read The Full Story

Sexy Dunhill solar charger looks like Apple gear

, Aug 8th 2011 Discuss [3]

I have seen a bunch of different solar chargers for gadget and gear over the years. Generally, the folding solar chargers that I have seen or tested don’t look good and many of them have very suspect build quality. This doesn't appear to be the case with the new Dunhill Solar Charger. This thing is made from aluminum and has a leather pouch to store it in. Read The Full Story

Samsung NC215S solar netbook shipping delayed until mid to late August

, Jul 13th 2011 Discuss [4]

Yesterday I talked a bit about the cool Samsung NC215S solar netbook that had landed on Amazon for pre-order. I also mentioned that the netbook had been expected to ship early this month and never did. The big feature that sets this netbook apart from the pack is the solar panel on the lid to help keep the rig powered up. I also like the fact that it uses a matte screen rather than a glossy one so it will have less glare. Read The Full Story

Solar powered Samsung NC215 hits Amazon pre-order

, Jul 12th 2011 Discuss [0]

As solar panels, become more efficient and able to create more power we will see more and more devices that adopt the tech to help keep their batteries charged up and running. Samsung has an interesting netbook called the NC215 that uses a solar panel on the lid to keep the battery charged and the netbook working. Other than the solar panel on the lid, it looks like your typical netbook and has typical hardware. Read The Full Story

Solar Magnetic Energy, Better than Photovoltaic Cells?

, Apr 22nd 2011 Discuss [5]

Researchers at the University of Michigan have discovered a new property of light that allows them to harness the magnetic attributes of light. Electromagnetism being a classically unified force, the relationship between light and magnetism is well known, but the magnetic component was thought to be weak enough that it could be safely ignored. Stephen Rand, a professor at UMich, said of this, "You could stare at the equations of motion all day and you will not see this possibility. We've all been taught that this doesn't happen. It's a very odd interaction. That's why it's been overlooked for more than 100 years." Scientists are so awesome. Read The Full Story

Artificial Leaf to Cheaply Provide Power For Developing World

, Mar 28th 2011 Discuss [2]

Yesterday we came to another major breakthrough in technology that's going to bring us a future without dependence on petroleum fuels. Last week we talked about a breakthrough in nanotech-batteries that charge in a fraction of the time needed for conventional batteries. Yesterday, scientists at the 241st Meeting of the American Chemican Society released details on a new design, an advanced solar cell married with fuel cells. Instead of transforming sunlight into stored sugars for a plant's metabolism, the artificial leaf uses the energy to transform water into hydrogen and oxygen for later combustion. Read The Full Story
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