Charge your iPod with your bike

The BioLogic FreeCharge will be also be available as a separate unit for about $99 next March.


Source: http://bikehugger.com/2009/09/charge-your-ipod-with-your-bik.html

Solar Roads

The US Department of Transportation granted Idaho-based Solar Roadways $100,000 to develop a prototype of its Solar Road Panel, a section of roadway made of glass and solar cells. The panels are meant to replace typical pavement on roads and parking lots.

Source: http://www.solarroadways.com/

Powerbrella

The Powerbrella is a patio umbrella that has solar panels on its top surface. While you relax in the shade, it uses the sun's rays to provide power for outlets in its base.

Source: http://dvice.com/archives/2009/05/powerbrella-jui.php

Melanin Energy Conversion

A schoolboy from Nepal has come up with a recession-busting new solar panel which replaces the silicon component with human hair. Milan Karki, an 18-year-old student from the region of Khotang, devised the idea after discovering that hair pigment Melanin acts as an energy converter.

Each panel, which is around 15 inches square, produces 9 Volts (18 Watts) of energy, and costs $38 to make. This, it has to be said, is mainly due to the price of the raw materials: half a kilo of human hair costs around 25¢ in Nepal. Karki is hoping to commercialize his invention, which can charge a cellphone or power batteries to provide an evening's worth of light, and eventually mass produce it.

Sources: http://dvice.com/archives/2009/09/nepalese-teens.php
http://www.sankofa.ch/texts/Melanin.htm

Visual Voltage displays your energy usage

The energy aware clock is designed to make you aware of your energy consumption
on a daily basis.

Source: http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/8/view/7501/visual-voltage-exhibition-at-design-vlaanderen-brussels.html

Plug-In Prius

It'll be packing lithium ion batteries, and with those batteries alone, it accelerates up to 62 miles an hour. But the batteries only work on their own for 12.5 miles, with the gas engine assisting that electro-motor for longer distances. Toyota's not saying how fast that electric acceleration will be, but the company does offer this encouraging statistic: It takes just 1.5 hours to charge up its battery pack on a 230 V power supply.

Home gets money back from Electric Company

The $350,000 house, located between Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, creates so much electricity that its owner receives a check from the power company each month.

Source: http://dvice.com/archives/2009/09/energy-producin.php?p=9&cat=undefined#more

Panasonic: New LED bulbs shine for 19 years

The screw-in bulbs are part of the EverLed line, and they're scheduled to hit stores in Japan on October 21, with monthly production at 50,000 units. No changes to lighting equipment used for incandescents are required.

Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10350053-1.html

GreenSun solar panels

Using jewel-toned plates, the solar concentrators capture from a wide spectrum of light. Even on a cloudy day, they'll produce electricity, although less than on a sunny day with direct light. They're even cheaper than traditional panels, since they don't use as much silicon as standard panels.

Source: http://www.greensun.biz/Technology/

Solar Kiosk Charging Station

The idea is to provide a place for electric vehicles to charge up (in this case, eight of them), giving commuters another option than the outlet at home. It also benefits from the fact that it wouldn't require a lot of infrastructure to be installed, as a city-wide smart grid would.

Source: http://dvice.com/archives/2009/09/this-solar-kios.php

Solar Car Port

Japan-based Sankyo Tateyama Aluminium has begun selling carports [JP] with solar power generation systems installed on their tops.

McKinsey - Evaluating the potential of Solar Technologies