Environmental News, Eco-Friendly Gadgets - FreshAirTimes.eu

Eco Factor: Hi-tech bus stop powered by solar energy.

A simple way to reduce your personal carbon footprint is making use of services such as buses and trains to go to your office and back home. However, tempting car owners to leave their luxuries at home and wait for a bus to their destination to arrive seems a tough ask. MIT architects are envisioning a future where people won’t only be encouraged to travel by a bus, but will also ensure that their relationship with the most modern of technologies is not disturbed in any way.

Passengers waiting for a bus at the “EyeStop” would be able to check their mailboxes, get the latest updates on weather, watch news and even get in touch with their Facebook friends. Other than this, riders can also plan a bus trip on an interactive map and monitor their real-time exposure to pollutants.

The EyeStop also keeps the riders aware of the current status of the bus they’re waiting for and glows at different levels of intensity to signal the distance of an approaching bus. The best feature of the EyeStop is that all those hi-tech features don’t consume a single watt of electricity from the grid as it is powered by electricity generated from the rooftop solar panels.

Via: Treehugger

Japanese homes are already familiar with solar panels and technology thanks to the warm spring, summer and autumn seasons in the country. Still with so many solar panels installed in the country, it still contributes 12% of the global greenhouse gas emissions. But now a new innovation by Sharp will drastically change these statistics. The company has partnered with Eliiy Power to create the world’s first storage battery for household electricity systems.

These cells will store the electricity that is generated by normal roof top solar panels and will be so efficient that they will be able to run the house for a day and a half. With this system Sharp has addressed the main problem with solar panels that they themselves cannot store any electricity and hence provide power just for half of the day. Sharp’s new lithium-ion cell based system, which costs about ¥500,000 (£2,350) will surely refine solar technology. This system is expected to debut next year.

Via: Tech.co.uk

Taking to air and flying through the clouds has always fascinated the human intellect and still continues to do so even after a century of the first flight. It is amazing how we have come such a long way forward in aviation technology, yet one wonders if we need to now think of stuff that is away from the beaten path. The design and working of the carriers that take flight across the planet seem so rigid and it is almost as if we have resigned to following a set pattern. While modern aviation because of all its commercial reasons concentrates on developing speed and safety simultaneously, it seems we have lost flair fro individuality.

I still wonder when that machine is going to come which will finally allow me to fly and when I say ‘me’, I mean only me and none else. Flying is not just about traveling fast and safe but about a certain sense of freedom. I suppose such wings of freedom in future will only be created and powered by the energy of the sun. With the aviation industry getting plenty of stick for being a demon against the environment, it does not surprise one to see them moving forward in an eco-friendly fashion; even if the progress is a bit slow.
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We all know that the world is slowly but steadily moving towards the day when the oil reserves will be over and our civilization will be in need of energy sources that can sustain the human kind. Talking about renewable energy sources the first thing that strikes our mind is the Sun. According to a research the sun showers enough energy on our planet in an hour that if harnessed can provide power to the entire human race for more than a year. Still we cannot simply put solar panels on every square inch of the surface of Earth, so the best option is to develop highly efficient solar cells that can make the most out of the sun.

Cool Earth Solar is one such company that knows the value of solar energy and is continuously working to develop cells that can yield the most out of the sun. The California-based company has now raised at least $21 million to further develop a solar generator which will make use of a technique called concentrated solar photovoltaics. The idea is to magnify the light onto solar cells in an effort to increase the electricity output.

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Researchers from Europe, Japan and the US are considering the viability of building giant solar panels in Earth’s lower orbit that would supply cheap, inexhaustible energy to industry and homes. Building a huge array outside the Earth’s atmosphere would have the advantage of having no clouds to interrupt the flow of solar energy to the arrays. Certainly a viable thought, but it’s a matter of developing the technology to make the solar panels cheaper, to send them into the sky and have the energy conversion to microwaves or optical lasers which then would beam the energy down to Earth.

Via: BBCnews

Oil prices are on a real high and silicon in a short supply. Above all the supply of conventional solar cells made from polycrystalline silicon has tightened and prices have risen as solar energy has taken off. So what’s the next best alternative? Maybe the answer is a sleek new kind of solar technology that could some day set skyscrapers and high-rise apartment windows quietly buzzing with renewable energy production. This emerging technology uses thin films mounted on the glass windows of skyscrapers and other surfaces to harness the sun’s power.

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The Devonshire building in the heart of the campus of University of New Castle has all the ingredients for it to be called the greenest building around. Going by the university’s commitment to the environment, the construction has everything in it from recycled materials to renewable energy.

The six storey building has solar panels on the glazed southern elevation, in order to allow as much natural light inside the building as possible. The blinds help manage the heat. An intelligent system allows these shades to be opened and closed automatically to allow the right amount of sunlight entering the windows. The system not only adjusts according to the time of the day but also according to the season.

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