Venture stores solar power with molten salt
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SolarReserve forecasts $1 billion market in next ten years for storing electricity made with concentrated solar power.
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US researchers demonstrate a system to transfer energy to devices without the need for wires.
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Long-lasting, rechargeable cell phone battery relies on hydrogen gas for power.
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A small booth at the back of the show floor is attracting a lot of attention.While I stood around, two people exchanged business cards with the man working the stand, promising to place orders for the product. It was nothing related to the iPhone or the latest mobile social-networking service -- topics that are consuming this year&#39;s CTIA Wireless IT and Entertainment conference in San Francisco.Instead, the booth was stocked with a relatively simple device: the Solio, a small solar-powered charger that can power up any mobile phone as well as MP3 players, GPS devices, and digital cameras.A key feature of the Solio is the battery. The solar cells charge the battery, which in turn charges the device. That means you can leave it outside during the day, when you might be using your phone, and bring it in to power the phone overnight. One charge of the Solio can power two mobile phone batteries.The Solio also can be plugged into an electrical outlet so that&#160;people can use whatever power source is available and think of it as their universal charger, said Mike Levin, vice president of business development for Better Energy Systems, the company based in Berkeley, Calif., that makes the Solio.Various models cost from $79 to $199, depending on durability and the speed that the solar panels can charge the batteries. They&#39;re available currently in the United States at outdoor goods store REI and will also soon be available in T-Mobile USA stores, Levin said. The company is working on getting them stocked in the big-box electronics retailers.Solios have been on the market already for a couple of years and a few hundred thousand have sold, Levin said.The most expensive model is made of magnesium oxide and can withstand very hot temperatures. The company is targeting government users and other people who might travel to locations with extreme temperatures for that one.According to research commissioned by Better Energy Systems, an average person who uses the solar capability of the Solio to charge their phone 60 percent of the time would pay off the $100 unit in about 10 years, in terms of electricity savings.While Solios might be a neat gadget for many people, Better Energy Systems has some interesting prospects in the developing world. The company&#39;s sustainability officer is exploring several potential applications, Levin said. One is using the capability of the Solio to power a one- or three-watt LED light. People in developing countries could use the Solio to replace their kerosene-powered lights, which aren&#39;t kind to the environment.In addition, Better Energy Systems is working with the Grameen Foundation&#39;s Village Phone project. The project offers small loans to people who can then buy a mobile phone and rent it on a per-call basis to their neighbors. The project currently relies on batteries to power the phones, but Better Energy Systems is hoping to offer users Solios instead.
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A small U.S. startup has announced technology for running Wi-Fi routers in remote places using only the power of the sun.
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Preconfigured containers offer resource-constrained companies a viable option.
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Photovoltaics made of nanowires could power small devices and lead to cheaper solar panels.
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Sandia National Laboratories' "Sunshine to Petrol" project uses solar energy to recycle carbon dioxide and recover the building blocks of hydrocarbons, which can then be used to synthesize fuels like methanol and gasoline.
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Blog: Envision Solar seeks to put solar panels on the roofs of parking structures, but financing could prove to be tricky.
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The company continues to bolster its growing position in renewables.
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Scientists have struggled for years to make electricity from the sunâs light, at a cost competitive with other power sources. Now they are close, using the sunâs heat instead.
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The Climate Computer In 2002, a couple of hardware geeks thrust a crazy, fresh idea on the computing community. Chris Hipp, a co-founder of blade maker RLX, and Wu-chun Feng, then a researcher at Los Alamos National Laboratory, concocted a very powerful cluster with servers based on laptop chips from Transmeta. The cluster failed to outperform similar Xeon-based systems, but it could run in a desert warehouse with no special cooling and with less failures than other Los Alamos boxes protected by very expensive air conditioning systems.â¦
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Upstart NRG Dock shows off a general-purpose solar panel and battery to power electronics.
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If voters approve, the city would combine refunds with loans to help citizens meet their energy needs through solar power. It's the most sweeping program yet devised by a U.S. municipality.
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Solar-wafer maker allays investor concerns of rising costs.
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SMA has an inverter that keeps the solar system going even during a blackout.
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The semiconductor supplier may reinvent itself via an exciting entry into energy.