10W solar charger for $9.99

How do you feel about using the power of the sun to power your gadgets? Now you can, and it won't cost you much: a 10W slim solar power with USB socket can be yours for under $10.

Tesla's Solar Roof comes with infinite tile warranty

Tesla solar roof tiles are finally available and bearing gifts: not only it's cheaper than estimated, but it comes with an infinite warranty as well.

Elon Musk wants a solar roof over every house

Tesla may be doing a great job promoting electric vehicles, but Elon Musk hopes it can kickstart change at a much broader level. Just like he said in his "master plan", he also wants to revolutionize solar energy production via solar roofs.

SolarBooks uses the Sun to charge your iPhone in 2 hours

If you - like me - consider to be amazing we can create electricity directly from Sun light, you'll definitely like what I bring you today: the SolarBook.

JUSE will never really charge again

JUSE was a crowfunding project that promised to deliver solar-powered smartphone cases that would mean you'd never have to charge it again. Well, you won't, but not for the best reasons... JUSE is yet another failed Indiegogo project that scammed investors out of their money.

North Carolina town rejects solar farm - some residents fear it would suck energy from the sun and stop plants from growing

In Woodland, North Carolina, it seems some people fear solar panels will suck up all the energy from the Sun.

Foldable Solar Fridge on Indiegogo

You probably have though of it already, if it's when the Sun shines the most that we need to keep the things cool, why not create a solar powered refrigerator to make the most out of it? Well, it seems someone finally decided to make it a reality and has taken it to Indiegogo to accomplish it: a foldable solar powered portable fridge.

Solar Liberator - a solar panel anyone can use

Solar power is one of the most amazing clean energies around. I think no one can complain about having "free" energy coming down from the sky and just begging to be harvested. But while the thought of filling our rooftops with solar panels can be appealing, the reality of its implementation is often enough to scare us out of considering it. Thanks to the Solar Liberator project on Indiegogo those days might be over.

Having solar panels on a rooftop is just a small part of what a domestic solar installation requires. If you're relying on solar power you'll certainly like to be able to use it during the night or should some cloudy weather hide the Sun for a couple of hours. That means you'll need a battery bank, added components (charge controllers, etc.) with added installation costs.

With Solar Liberato, the solar panels are completely self contained, and all you have you to do is plug into a power socket and it's done! The difference being that instead of using up power, these panels will provide power to your home.

There are also smaller portable units (the home version is a large 500W panel) with 25W and 100W, that will allow you to charge and power your gadgets away from home. And yes, all versions include a inbuilt battery (50, 200, 1000Wh) that can be upgraded to four times that capacity with an external pack. In the smaller units you also get a wide range of ports and jacks, including USB (standard, mini and micro) and 9/12V jacks, as well as regular AC sockets.

Prices are $99 for the smaller 25W version, $239 for the 100W unit, and $799 for the home capable 500W you can connect directly to the power grid.

Japan wants to capture Solar Energy in Orbit

Japan may still be struggling with the terrible consequences of Fukushima, but it's also looking ahead for a better way to solve its energy problem, in a cleaner and more sustainable away that is also  immune to natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis. How? By placing the energy plant off the ground... in fact, placing it in orbit.

These solar collectors would stay in orbit, free to collect the sun's energy without having to worry about bad weather and beam down the energy to receiving ground stations. It's a nice idea, that has been thought of before but never implemented due to its high costs. But maybe now the time is right for such an approach, though I think people will worry about the way the energy will be beamed down: either via microwaves or lasers.

One can envision such a power plant be used as a weapon, in a true sci-fi apocalyptic "death ray from above" scenario. But... when we think about it, any significant power generation system can be turned into a weapon: just take a look at atomic energy.

I imagine there will be a number of failsafe measures to prevent the improper use of such a system, including shutting down the power beam should anything happen to the base station - just because an earthquake can't reach orbit it can still damage the receiving end on the ground, though it should be much easier to deploy a new receiver (or even relocate it) than it is to rebuild an entire power plant.

In any case, I think I'll patent mirrored roof tiles and microwave reflecting roof insulation... just to be safe. ;)

Solar Headphones on Kickstarter

I think it's safe to assume everybody loves the idea of harnessing the power of the sun and charge their electric devices using clean and unlimited solar power (and the fact that is "free" also helps). However, although there have been great technological breakthroughs that make solar power more efficient than ever, we're still far away from that "solar dream".

 But although you can't (yet) use solar power for your entire power needs, there are a few things you can use it for. While we've seen solar powered smartphones before, it's quite a awkward proposition considering our smartphones spend most of their time inside our pockets and bags - places that aren't exactly... sunny. That's why these solar headphones on Kickstarter make a lot more sense, as it's the kind of device you're much more likely use in a place where the sun can actually shine: your head.

According to its creators, these OnBeat Solar Headphones can generate up to 0.55W and store the solar power into its 1000mAh battery (evenly place on each earphone to balance its weight) which you can later use to charge up your portable devices via USB plug.

If you're interested, the price is 69£ (cerca de 79€) with deliveries planned for February 2014.

Researchers Hijack Plant Photosynthesis to Generate Electricity

We're still waiting for a revolutionary way to generate clean and endless energy in order to let go of fossil, nuclear, and other "dirty" ways we currently use. And when it comes to solar power, why not look to the examples we have in our own backyards, that are the culmination of millions and millions of years of evolution: plants!

Plants may not look like much, but when it comes to solar efficiency, there's nothing close. A plant can achieve nearly 100% quantum efficiency, converting each incoming photon to an energy carrying electron - compare that to most common manufactured solar panels, that are just 12-17% efficient. So, researchers at Georgia University have decided to hijack the photosynthesis process and let the plant to most of the work, while they reap the benefits. By modifying some proteins, they've redirected the converted energy to the outside before the plant uses it to create glucose for itself.

This means that in the future, solar maintenance and green initiatives might end up requiring more gardening skills than the "technical" ones we currently used to. But as long as it gives us green, clean, and sustainable power... what's there not to like about it? Can you imagine using a solar power simulator where you input your power requirements and in return you get what kind of plants are most suitable for your location and how many you'll need to generate the required energy? It sure would give a much more literal meaning when it comes to "green energy", and it may happen sooner than we think.

For what is worth, I can't wait for solar power (and other "green" energies) to become the norm rather than the exception. In Spain, for the past few months, renewable energy generation has accounted for more than half of the total power generation - though most of it comes from hydroelectric plants, and just a few percent comes from solar power - but as technology evolves... Maybe in a few decades, we'll see solar power reaching the top spot when it comes to power generation.

Solar Powered Car Parks

A few years ago I read something about using solar power parks as way to generate energy - and possibly even use that same energy to power up the electric cars parked beneath the panels. Little did I know that there is a portuguese company specialized in solar power installations that has already turned that concept into reality.

We don't need to be a conspiracy "nut" to realize that the oil industry has definitely done all it could to delay the development of efficient electric vehicles. And truth be told, our power grid would definitely have a hard time  - and most likely would fail - if it had to handle a switch to electric vehicles overnight; with millions of people arriving from work and wanting to charge their cars... at roughly the same time.

We need more intelligent power grids. And perhaps even more important, we need to decentralize power production. Doesn't it make perfect sense that the power should be generated as closest as possible to the point it is needed the most? That means that every single home and building should have as many power generation systems as it possibly can: solar power, wind power, thermal power, etc.

And that applies to car parks as well. It makes perfect sense to have a car parked right there where power can be harvested from the sun to recharge it, minimizing the impact on the power grid and avoiding costly (and inneficient) power routing or distribution.

Sure, solar power efficiency still has a long way to go before it becomes a real alternative to non-renewable/dirty power sourcesm. But, if we were able to put men on the moon in under a decade in the 60s... can you imagine just how much we could really push solar power forward in the next ten years... if the "world" really put its mind onto it?

Solar Powered Plane - Solar Impulse

It sounds incredible... To be able to fly without fossil fuels. Can you imagine a future where solar airplanes cross the skies?

In that sense, Solar Impulse might be just one of the first steps. A plane that needs nothing but light itself to power its electric engines and fly around the world non-stop..

Let's hope it won't take long for this kind of technology to evolve even further and become the norm for the rest of the aviation fleets.

Dell Solar Parking Lot

This is how all parking lots should look like:

This new solar parking lot at DELL has 512 solar panels, and provides shelter for 56 cars, and can generate up to 131,000 kWh per year.