Although the green radio is solar powered, it comes with a built-in hand-crank for cloudy days and nighttime boogying. Don't worry though—if you're particularly weak, or just lazy, a minute of cranking the $25 Kikkerland will give you half an hour of playback. [Product Page via Red Ferret via Wired]

The case itself features a sizable 1500mAh battery pack that they claim can be charged by the sun in as little as three hours. It also has a mini USB to USB cable that allows you to charge from your PC or hook up other gadgets for a quick shot of sweet solar juice. The case is slated for release in August in both black and white versions for around $54. [Mobile Fun via SolarFeeds via EcoGeek]

The set has a contrast ratio of 10000:1 and a 20mm thick display panel. It requires about 30% less power than regular LCD TVs and gets its juice from one of Sharp's triple-junction thin-film solar cell modules. The modules are about the same size as the television's screen.

Sharp plans to market the LCD and the energy system as a pair and says that its product could be a hit with both people living off the grid and environmentally-conscious consumers. The company will be exhibiting this, and other energy-saving technologies, at the G8 summit on Monday. [Physorg]

When it was built in 1996, the Pacific Wheel was the only solar powered ferris wheel in the world. The old wheel was auctioned off on eBay for over $130,000 to an Oklahoma City real-estate developer. Grant Humphreys, the developer, plans on incorporating the wheel into a mixed use residential community.

It has appeared in several Hollywood films, including A Night at the Roxbury and Thank You for Smoking. There's no doubt that its younger and more attractive replacement will probably get some screen time as well. [Crunch Gear]

It will apparently weigh in at 770 and 990 pounds for the single- and dual-seat versions, and Falx sees it having many applications, including as a police vehicle (visions of the hover cars from Bladerunner zipped through your head then didn't they?)

So why are we skeptical? Well, sure, the V-22 is a military vehicle and it's highly sophisticated—but it's been under development for over 20 years. Longer, if you include all the X-aircraft that preceded it. Two of the prototypes crashed, and two early production models crashed too. So can this small UK company really overcome the same tricky engineering obstacles faced by the V22, including that difficult transition between the hover and forward flight? We're not sure—it seems rather a lot of advanced engineering and control design. We'd love for it to be real, though. [Falx via Gizmag via Uberreview]

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]

[Project Or via Klemmt via The Design Blog]

Plus, your unmentionables will be protected from perverts and prying eyes thanks to a shade that blocks the view but not the drying power of Mother Earth. I don't know how popular this sort of thing would be in the States, but if it ever sees the light of day as an actual product, it could definitely find a home wherever cramped living conditions force city dwellers to look for smaller, cheaper home appliances. [Design Awards via ecofriend via Wired]

MediaStreet Debuts World's First Solar-Powered Portable Media Player Paired With Charger That Powers Other Mobile Devices

CES, Las Vegas, NV, January7, 2008 - MediaStreet, Inc., an award-winning manufacturer of innovative consumer electronics and services for the digital music and photography markets, announces the world's first solar-powered portable media player, the 1GB eMotion® Solar Portable Media Player. This PMP comes with AC adapter and USB connector (6 varieties) that can recharge most mobile phones, MP3/MP4 players, laptop computers, digital cameras and other portable Lithium battery operated products. All players available immediately.

"We started off developing a product that would allow our customers to charge their portable devices on-the-go using solar energy," says Norm Levy, president of Media Street. "We ended up with a most spectacular device that not only charges your cell phone, laptop and PDA, but it is a robust and power-packed portable media player that you will not want to take your hands off."

eMotion 1GB Solar Portable Media Player

• Transfer music, photos, videos, games on and off player
• 5.5" x 3" x 1"
• SD card slot expansion (2GB SD card maximum capacity)
• Included charger powers most portable devices such as mobile phones, MP3/MP4 players, laptops, digital cameras and other portable Lithium battery devices
• Supports music formats: MP1, MP2, MP3, WMA, WAV, ADPCM, AMR
• Play video: support AVI format film play achieves QVGA@25f/s fluent MPEG4 video (320 x 240) and provides video bookmark function
• View photos: JPEG, BMP, GIF
• Game simulator: supports FC/GB/GBC/MD 8/16 bit simulator expansion developed by third parties; compatible with NES/GB/GBC/SEGA game ROM
• Read books: supports TXT format
• User-friendly menu with relevant animated instructions
• USB 2.0 port
• OS: Windows 98/98SE/ME/2000/XP/Linux 2.4+/Mac OS 9+

M.S.R.P. $169.00, EM-SOL1GIG

Customers who purchase an eMotion portable media player have immediate access to download free professional photographs and stunning digital art images from http://MyDigitalContent.com for play on any eMotion product. All eMotion consumer electronics offer a limited 90-day warranty.

About Media Street, Inc.
MediaStreet, Inc. is an award-winning manufacturer and developer of innovative consumer electronics and services for the digital music and photography markets. Among the company's unique advances is the marriage of digital content to its digital convergence electronics with the formation of two power web portals; one for professional photography to be enjoyed on eMotion frames, www. http://MyDigitalContent.com, and the other, http://Beyond.fm, to find intriguing music, videos and radio casts which can be played on the growing line of eMotion electronics including (musician) branded eMotion MP3 MP4 PMP DVD and Digital Picture Frame products. MediaStreet is headquartered in Deer Park, New York at 44 W. Jefryn Blvd, Unit Y, 11729. For more information about MediaStreet and their extensive line of products and services, please visit www.mediastreet.com.

The PMP supports TXT format files on its reading function, AVI and MP4 for video, and MP1, MP2, MP3, WMA, WAV, ADPCM, AMR music files. There's a slot for an SD card to give you a maximum storage capacity of 2GB, and a firmware update function, meaning you can download the latest software from Yahee's website. And, should you live in Graysville, USA, you can charge the player via the mains with a DC adaptor.

Voice synthesis, and a digital recorder and microphone allows you to record stuff. There are six sound modes: nature; rock; pop; classic; soft; and jazz, as well as different play modes. As well as verdant green, it comes in red, silver and black.

[Yahee via UberGizmo]

According to a statement from Lovegrove Studio, the Solar Trees "communicate more than light... they communicate the trust of placing beautifully made, complex natural forms outside for the benefit of all of society becoming a museum that if folded inside out, the museum as an incubator of change in society... and with this the promotion of environmental science and the joy of the new aesthetics made possible by the digital process.

And there's me thinking they were just street lights. Switching on day is October 8. [Dezeen]

The entire solar kit carries a hefty $478.95 pricetag. If that's too much for you, it's worth noting that the XPower Powerpack 300 Plus and Sunlinq Portable Solar Panel are available separately, for $119.95 and $359.99, respectively. The XPower Powerpack 300 Plus alone is handy enough, as it doesn't need the panels to charge and can even jump-start cars and fill a tire up with air. [Earthtech]

I got very excited when my fabulous colleague Charlie White passed this thing from Duracell and Xantrex* on to me, saying that the write-up would need my touch. "Ah, it's a clunky, chunky boombox for hunky construction-worker types that plays CDs and never breaks, even when you drop something builder-y and heavy on it," I thought. (Yes, my idea of home decoration is painting my nails in front of reruns of Dallas, although I'm good with the vacuum cleaner and spirit level when my man is drilling holes in walls.)

Anyway, this is a battery pack. The Duracell Powerpack 300 is an 18-hour battery (is that any relation to the 18-hour girdle? Just asking, like.) with jumper cables, a flashlight, air compressor and two AC power outlets. So, no CD player, then.

And then there's something below that I thought might be a portable solarium, but I am big enough to admit my mistakes. The Powerpack Solar does the same thing as the Powerpack 300 and, by harnessing the fabulous discoball of the sky that is the sun, it will charge your electric-y things. I guess this is useful if you're a Bedouin warrior living in the Sahara Desert, far from a socket. Isn't that right, Charlie? – Ad Dugdale

*Isn't Xantrex a tranquilizer? Now then, I'm sure I left my nail file somewhere round here...

Duracell/Xantrex Power Devices [CrunchGear]

[Ecogeek via TechEBlog]

Product Page [Via uber-review]