solar

When we first spied the "Mini Solar Racer" last summer, it seemed like a neat little toy that would make a nice novelty gift for our greener acquaintances. Little did we know that it could be a miniature prototype for an actual car.

That, at least, appeared to be the case with the equally unattractive Taiwanese solar-powered car that Gizmodo rightly likens to a golf cart. Even if it does make good on its claims of reaching 44 mph during three-hour jaunts between charges, something tells us that this design won't have droves of customers jamming showrooms. … Read more

A newly created company called SolarReserve intends to commercialize a solar power plant capable of generating electricity and storing it in molten salt.

The venture was created by investment firm US Renewables Group, which has licensed technology from Hamilton Sundstrand, a subsidiary of United Technologies. A plant will be capable of generating 500 megawatts of peak power, the size of a typical power plant.

Solar thermal technology, which uses heat intensified by lenses and mirrors to create electricity, is being pursued by utilities because it is relatively cost-effective. It is also called concentrated solar power (CSP).

But because the sun'… Read more

You can store energy in chemical batteries. Pentadyne Power stores it in moving objects.

The Chatsworth, Calif.-based company has created and sells uninterruptable power supply (UPS) for data centers and large power consumers that stores energy kinetically. A 25-pound mass spins in a vacuum chamber at a high speed. When a utility needs a jolt of electricity, kinetic power is converted to electrical power. When it's not needed, the mass just spins to conserve its energy.

The company uses a relatively small mass to avoid potential mishaps (imagine what would happen if a large mass came unstuck from … Read more

Dealing a blow to the solar and wind industries, the U.S. Senate is expected to pass an energy bill later on Thursday that strips out a tax provision to encourage investment in renewable energies.

The House last week passed an energy bill that extended tax incentives beyond 2008 for businesses and consumers who purchase renewable energy systems.

On Thursday, the Senate delayed passage of the bill until later today, a move which will lead to the removal of the tax provision, according to industry executives and published reports.

The centerpiece of the energy bill is an overhaul to the … Read more

Solar thermal company Ausra will cut the ribbon on a large factory in anticipation of a construction boom in solar power plants in the Southwest United States.

Flanked by government officials, Ausra executives are scheduled to dedicate a 130,000-square-foot facility capable of turning out enough thermal collectors to generate 200 megawatts every month. That translates into about 70 megawatts of electricity capacity per month, according to the company.

At that rate, the plant will be be able to manufacture enough electricity capacity to power half a million homes per year year at equivalent prices to gas-fired power plants, said … Read more

Correction: The distance from the sun Voyager 2 is estimated to reach in 2020 is about 11 billion miles.

SAN FRANCISCO--Thirty years after launch but earlier than expected, Voyager 2 has left the cozy realm of our solar system, where the stream of particles from the sun dominates space.

You might think that space billions of miles from the sun is a placid, empty domain. In fact, Voyager 2 has been heading outward in the same direction as the solar wind, charged particles streaming from the sun, but things started to get a lot more complicated on August 30, when … Read more

If you live in Florida or Southern California, this might be the Bluetooth speaker phone for you. With an integrated solar panel, the Anycom Solar Car Kit gets a boost to its already impressive battery life from basking in the sun. Its slender design also recommends it, but its fiddly and difficult-to-master controls make it a challenge to use without some time with the instruction manual. Read our review of it here.

Battlestar Galactica freaks, take heart. If you're suffering major withdrawl waiting for the series to return in March, you can still pretend you're a Cylon Centurion with an LED-outfitted ski suit, especially if you wear the jacket backwards.

As funky as they may look, these garments may actually serve a practical purpose; after all, if LEDs are being used to improve bicycle safety on the road, surely it doesn't hurt to have a little protection on slopes that can be equally dangerous (skiiers vs. boarders). And as Gizmodo points out, you can wear them in good conscience … Read more

It would be too easy to say that this was a match made in heaven, so we won't. (Even though we just did.) But it's hard to resist when you have a gadget that involves the Scriptures and the sun.

The "Solar-Powered Bible" plays readings of all the books "in a real human voice," according to Inventor Spot, which is a good thing because any other kind of voice would creep us out. And in case you find yourself under a sudden pall of dark clouds, don't take it as an ominous sign--there'… Read more