Green Tech

Picture brightens on auto-tinting smart windows

Windows that shade automatically have been part of high-tech home demos for years, but there are signs that smart glass is leaving research labs and heading into more actual buildings.

Building-materials maker Saint Gobain earlier this week acquired Sage Electrochromics, and another smart glass startup, Soladigm, signed a distribution deal with Guardian Industries, one of the largest glass manufacturers.

Materials scientists have toiled for years developing glass that can automatically tint based on the amount of light coming in, but technical challenges have meant that the technology is hardly used.

The investment by large companies in tintable window glass signals more

Toshiba, Bridgelux bet on silicon to slash LED lighting prices

Toshiba and Bridgelux think they're worked out the key ingredient to making LED lighting mainstream: silicon.

The two companies today announced a partnership to manufacture LED light sources using much of the equipment typically used in semiconductor fabs. They intend have a commercial-scale facility operating next year, according to Bridgelux CEO Bill Watkins. As part of the deal, Toshiba has invested an undisclosed amount in Livermore, Calif.-based Bridgelux.

LED light sources, which are used in everything from TVs and consumer light bulbs, are typically made with a semiconductor -- gallium nitride -- on a layer of sapphire. Bridgelux more

EPA rates range of 300-mile Tesla Model S at 265 miles

Tesla announced a goal of 300 miles for the range of its Model S electric sedan early in its development. As the company came closer to production, it said that only the top-trim Model S, with an 85-kilowatt-hour battery pack, would achieve the 300-mile figure. Less expensive versions of the car, with 60- and 40-kilowatt-hour batteries, would hit 230 miles and 160 miles, respectively.

Today, in a somewhat technical and involved blog post from Tesla founder Elon Musk and CTO JB Straubel, the company revealed that the 85-kilowatt-hour Model S only achieved a range of 265 miles.

The post initially more

BMW gives ActiveE drivers incentive to fuel up with the sun

By driving electric cars, BMW ActiveE drivers have already kicked the gasoline habit. But now the auto manufacturer is giving them a little help in the effort to quit fossil fuels for good. BMW has partnered with Real Goods Solar to offer EV customers discounted residential solar panel systems so they can charge up using only the sun.

Real Goods Solar will install solar panels at homes of ActiveE drivers at a 35 percent discount. The Colorado-based company operates offices in California and Connecticut, and offers several purchase plans, including the typical upfront system purchase, a zero-down 20-year lease of more

Fisker Karma involved in house fire but battery not cause

Fisker Automotive received worrying news last week when a Karma sedan burned in a house fire in Texas. The cause is still being investigated, according to the company.

The fire started shortly after a new Karma owner parked the car in a garage, according to a report in Autoweek. A fire investigator told Autoweek that the Karma, which was not plugged in, was the origin of the fire, but the cause was not known.

Fisker released a statement saying that the electric car's battery pack was intact and "does not appear to be a contributing factor in this incident." more

Siemens electrifies trucks with trolley technology

City buses, streetcars, and regional rail lines all over the world run on electricity, garnered from overhead lines. Now Siemens wants to apply the same technology to long-haul trucking with its eHighway concept.

Siemens, an industrial and automotive supplier, contends that the majority of vehicle pollution comes from big diesel trucks transporting goods over many freeway and highway miles. Its eHighway would eliminate tailpipe pollution from these trucks for the majority of those miles.

On a test track in Europe, Siemens has been running trucks using its diesel-hybrid drive technology. Conductors on top of the trucks make contact with overhead more

Two weeks of smartphone charging in your pocket

Retailer Brookstone will sell a portable fuel cell able to charge smartphones a dozen times before running out.

Fuel cell maker Lilliputian Systems today announced that Brookstone will be the first retailer to carry its portable USB power source, which will be sold under Brookstone's brand. The fuel cell device is about the size of a thick smartphone, and the lighter fluid-filled cartridges are about the same size as a cigarette lighter.

It's a big step forward both for Lilliputian Systems, a 10-year-old spin-off from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and for portable fuel cell technology in general. more

The future of clean tech? Try hacking code

BOSTON--Internet, meet clean tech.

A weekend hackathon here showcased the promise -- and limits -- of applying mobile and Internet software development toward efficiency. To advocates, the "cleanweb" will succeed where clean tech fell short.

The Cleanweb hackathon, held in a warehouse-turned tech incubator in South Boston, on Sunday afternoon finished up a day and a half of furious coding by about 80 programmers, with some spending the night to finish their demos.

The 16 teams presented a very varied set of applications but they have one thing in common: they all seek ways to use natural resources more efficiently more

Liquid-cooled LED bulbs ready for summer

Switch Lighting's LED bulbs have similar technical specs to its competitors, but the startup is counting on clever design and good looks to stand out in a crowded field.

The company plans to make its first three general-purpose light bulbs available this summer to lighting distributors and today is expected to introduce a three-way bulb and a 240-volt bulb for markets outside the U.S.

Its first bulbs are replacements for 40-watt, 60-watt, and 75-watt incandescent lamps. Costing between $40 and $50, they are primarily aimed at commercial customers. Switch Lighting is also working on a less expensive consumer-oriented more

Toyota unwraps Tesla-powered RAV4 EV

Toyota showed off its RAV4 EV, the electric version of the RAV4 compact SUV, as a concept about a year and half ago at the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show. The wraps came off the production version of this new electric car this week, showing some speedy automobile development indeed.

More impressive is that the deal between Toyota and Tesla to develop the electric RAV4, on the heels of Toyota's decision to sell Tesla its NUMMI auto manufacturing plant, came less than two years ago. This is a car with a completely different drivetrain than that of the car on which it is based. Most model updates take longer to put into production.more