Gizmodo: Solar Panels

Solar Panel-Powered Prius in 2009 Confirmed

Jack Loftus — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 20:55:00 EDT

In a Nikkei article set to publish Monday, it was revealed that Toyota has green lit plans to offer solar panels on its popular Prius hybrid vehicle. The solar panel option will be available on the high-end Prius model when it receives a redesign in 2009. Strangely, the Japanese business newspaper also reports that the power generated by the solar panels will be used for the air conditioning system. The solar panels are being manufactured by Kyocera Corp. Previously, Gizmodo has covered some DIY solar panel options for the Prius, but the news today confirms that an official offering is now forthcoming from Toyota. It's a start, right? [Reuters]

Triumph Brings Out Bra-and-Pants Set with Solar Panels (Guess Where the Beverage Dispenser Is)

AddyDugdale — Wed, 14 May 2008 05:00:00 EDT

This bra-and-pants set in ~~astroturf~~ a fetching shade of public-convenience green towelling is, aspazzarently, part of underwear manufacturer Triumph's Autumn-Winter collection. As well as a whacking great panel of photovoltaic cells on the front of it (useful for winterwear, don't you think?) there's an electronic "scoreboard" and a built-in beverage holder (I am not making this up, I swear) that I thought looked more like those gel-filled pouches that the pneumatically-challenged use to boost their cleavage, and that Google Translate was having an off-day. Until I saw the picture of the lay-dee model showing off the gear with a drinking straw tucked down the side of the bra.

From what else I can gather from reading the blurb, Triumph is going into the household energy business. Expect to see a bunch of dome-shaped solar panels on the top of Japanese building soon. [Impress]

Glasgow Considering Installing Giant 'Solar Lily Pads' in the River Clyde

Adam Frucci — Mon, 12 May 2008 13:13:19 EDT

Scottish architecture firm ZM Architecture has come up with a way to deliver more renewable energy to Glasgow: solar panel lily pads. Yep, they want to populate the River Clyde with a series of gigantic solar islands that'll soak up the rays all day long, sending electricity to the grid while also acting as an aesthetically-pleasing attraction. Initially an entry in the International Design Awards "Land and Sea" competition where it took first prize, the Glasgow city council is now considering testing out a small run of the solar lily pads in the river. [BBC via Inhabitat]

Sungevity Web App Makes Installing Solar Panels a Piece of Cake

Elaine Chow — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 16:30:00 EDT

Eco start-up company Sungevity is launching a new web application on Earth Day (three days away, people!) that will take the guess work out of solar panel installations. Enter your address on Sungevity's website and satellite-imaging software will zoom in on your home, calculate your roof's dimensions, select the right sized solar arrays and calculate how much money you'll save on energy costs.

Once you place an order, the site will ship one of five off-the-shelf prepackaged solar arrays and dispatch an installation crew to your door. An on-line database tracks local building and permit requirements and sends the necessary forms to you for you to fill out.

This is great news for everyone who has ever wanted to jump on the solar bandwagon, but was afraid to because of the headaches that come from any large home project. The system will also help make everything cheaper, since half of a solar system's costs are from installation hassles.

Unfortunately, the service is limited to California addresses right now, but if business is good, we could probably count on a nationwide roll-out in the near future. [Green Wombat via Wired]

Tesla Motors Founder to Lease No-Money-Down SolarCity Solar Panels

Wilson Rothman — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 11:20:00 EDT

When you're green, you're green: Tesla Motors chairman Elon Musk's other gig is SolarCity, a solar energy company that just announced it would lease panels to residents of San Jose with no money down. Typically going solar requires a $20K to $30K install, or at the very least, a $2,000 down payment, so a no-cash-upfront proposition is nice. But further reading suggests it may not be the homeowner's dream come true.

The Mercury News says:

In a typical scenario for a 2.8-kilowatt system, Rive said, a customer with a $150-a-month electric bill before installing solar would end up with a $60-a-month electric bill, an $80 or $90 monthly lease payment to Solar City, and thus "positive cash flow" of as much as $10.

But to me that sounds as arbitrary as it costing $10 more. Maybe you can't put a price on the smug feeling you'll get from being the first on your block with panels, but there's also a small matter of SolarCity's 15-year contract to ask about first. One hopes a long-term contract like that will provide regular upgrades as solar-power conversion gets more and more efficient. [Mercury News via TreeHugger; SolarCity]

GROW Shingles Shame Leaves and Solar Panels

Mark Wilson — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 16:40:57 EST

While the future of solar technology seems to rest on nanotechnological innovation, these GROW panels by SMIT are fairly remarkable. Inspired by leaves, these tiny generators do one better than their biological counterparts, drawing power from the sun, but also capturing energy from the wind as they are jostled by the breeze. Developers currently showcasing the technology hope to sell modular kits through art/design resellers (as opposed to typical industrial outlets). Unfortunately, we're guessing that this more accessible purchase will have a major price trade off. [SMIT via inhabitat]

Foldable Solar Panels Could Be Up To 80% Efficient

Adrian Covert — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 17:00:27 EST

Researchers at the Idaho National Laboratory have designed a lightweight, foldable solar panel design which they predict will function at 80% efficiency (the best solar panel prototypes operate at about 40%). The researchers' secret is the implementation of nanoantennas, which have the ability to absorb not only light, but heat from the sun as well.

The sheet of solar panels is similar in size and weight to a sheet of plastic wrap But like any breakthrough, this is still in the theoretical stage, as researchers have only simulated the function of the solar cells and design tweaks still need to be made. [Idaho National Laboratory via Eco Geek via Oh Gizmo via New Launches]

San Francisco Working on Ambitious Solar Plan, Rebates and Loans for Solar Installations

Adam Frucci — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 13:05:39 EST

The city of San Francisco is working on a groundbreaking new solar energy initiative, working on adding a combo of loans and rebates that would make installing solar panels a cheaper and more attractive option for local residents. Under the proposed plan, businesses would be eligible for rebates of up to $10,000 while residents would be eligible for $3,000 to $5,000 discounts off the cost of installing panels.

The goal is to bring the number of solar installations up from 660 to 10,000 citywide over the course of the next 10 years. So what would it cost for you to go solar under the initiative?

For a typical homeowner in San Francisco, installing a 3-kilowatt, rooftop solar electric system costs $24,000, according to Barry Cinnamon, president of the California Solar Energy Industries Association. Between a $4,000 city rebate, a similar $7,000 refund available through the state and a federal tax credit of $2,000, they would be able to get the price down to $11,000, Cinnamon said.
If that amount were underwritten through a city-backed loan, the costs would be spread out over time and eventually recouped in under a decade through lower electricity bills, he said.

The plan needs to be approved by both voters and the city Board of Supervisors, but if all goes well it should be up and running by this summer. If this initiative works out, look for similar plans to be enacted by other large, hippie-filled cities. [CNN]

Solient Solar Concentrators Crank Out the Power Cheaper Than the Electro-Grid

Charlie White — Fri, 11 May 2007 09:11:40 EDT

Hey, there's going to be a half-price sale on solar energy this year, as soon as these way-cool solar panels from Solient Energy find their way onto your roof. In its first iteration that'll be available later this year, the devices work like a series of slats that track the sun.

Lenses inside these lightweight trough-like panels direct light to highly efficient solar cells, and the best news is that somehow these Solient guys have figured out how to manufacture these suckers at a price that's half as much as those old-timey solar panels we're using today.

But wait, that ain't nothin' yet—wait until you see the next-generation design, after the jump.

This one is even more sophisticated, because instead of those slats that look like adjustable blinds, this solar array has little rectangular concentrators that can tilt vertically and horizontally, more accurately tracking the sun as its position changes in the sky throughout the day. Solient says this design, due by 2010, will require even fewer solar cells, and the panel itself will cost just a quarter the price of today's solar arrays.

So maybe our dream of going off-grid by 2012 without suffering at all isn't so far-fetched after all. This could be some disruptive technology that will cause us to alter our blueprints once again. Back to the old drawing board, but we mean that in the best possible way. – Charlie White

Solar Power at Half the Cost [Technology review]

Spanish Tower Draws Solar Energy from 600 Mirrors

Louis Ramirez — Fri, 04 May 2007 18:25:54 EDT

It looks like something out of a sci-fi movie. Six hundred mirrors reflecting sunlight onto a massive 40-story tall tower out in the Andalusian countryside. Yet as eerie as it looks, this is Europe's first commercial solar power plant being operated by a company called Solucar. The structure generates 11 Megawatts of electricity—enough power for 6,000 homes. Here's how it works.

The 600 mirrors beam sunlight at the tower, which converts the solar energy into steam. The steam is stored in tanks and used to drive turbines, and before you know it you're powering 6,000 homes. Overall, this is super cool and one lucky BBC reporter even got a tour of the tower. Check out the link, it's worth the read. – Louis Ramirez

Power Station Harnesses Sun's Rays [BBC via Gadget Lab]

Motorola Turns to the Sun to Power its Future Cellphones

Louis Ramirez — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 20:50:17 EDT

Most of today's cellphones are pretty good when it comes to battery life, but Motorola is hoping it can make them better by fusing a phone's LCD with solar panels. The company has a new patent that speaks of a mobile phone with a screen that can both power the device and charge its internal battery. The concept itself isn't new, but we hope the folks at Motorola can turn this idea into a reality 'cause anything that can keep my smartphone juiced for a few extra hours is a welcome feature. – Louis Ramirez

Mobile Screens Become Solar Cells [Mad4Mobiles]

Power User - The Best of Lifehacker

Gina Trapani — Wed, 31 May 2006 13:30:00 EDT

This week at Lifehacker: Build yourself a solar-powered wifi booster for the backyard. Your mousing wrist feeling a little achy? Train yourself to mouse lefty (or righty, lefties.) PayPal your buddy your share of the dinner bill with your cell phone. Add encryption to Gmail and sync your Google calendar with your mobile phone or handheld.

Solar-Powered Toyota

Travis Hudson — Thu, 18 Aug 2005 11:30:24 EDT

Steve Lapp, Canadian and energy efficient car collector, has thrown together a solor-powered Toyota Prius. His design has improved the fuel economy by 10%, which is almost two times better than Honda and the redesigned Civic engine. Lapp is predicting another increase of at least 10% with the 270 watts. The unfortunate feature is the cost of design. Solar panels are expensive and it would take driving the car at least 500,000 miles before just the solar panel s paid themselves off. Good luck trying to get the car to last that long.

Solar-Powered Toyota Prius Project [Treehugger]