A professor at MIT, Sheila Kennedy and her team at Kennedy and Violich Architecture (KVA) recently launched SOFT Rockers at MIT 150th-anniversary Festival of Art+Science+Technology (FAST) celebration.
SOFT Rockers is a sleek, solar-powered energy recharging station, disguised as a public furniture (teardrop lounge).
Strawberry Tree is designed by Strawberry Energy, a business group of Serbian student-entrepreneurs. It is a solar powered charging booth for mobile phones, cameras and even MP3 players.
Strawberry Tree uses solar panels on top and Lithium batteries make this recharging device can still be used at night. In the middle, there are various types of connections adjusted with the type of gadgets and it is also equipped with chair so we can sit and chat while waiting for the battery recharging process.
Vlada Davydova utilizes the solar panels and lights in a new way, Chaise lounge with solar energy.
Description from Vlada Davydova:
This is a concept how to use free solar energy. With this chaise lounge, that have three different positions, you can turn solar energy into electricity and use it, for example, as a backlighting at evening or night, charge your laptop or phone, if you want to work outside, or even use it for another places.
Solar electricity generator with a capacity of 2 GW may be far from our imagination, but not in China. First Solar Inc., A solar power company from the United States, will build the solar electricity generator in Ordos city, in the province of Inner Mongol. This project is the development of the world’s largest solar electricity generator. The signing between them have been done at September 8, 2009 at the headquarters of First Solar Inc. in Tempe, Arizona, witnessed by Wu Bangguo, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress.
“We are proud of the signing of this MoU” said Mike Ahearn, chief executive of First Solar Inc. was quoted as saying by APP.
Government of the United States and China can work together to reduce the cost of electricity from solar electricity generator connected to the network which will be competitive with electricity from traditional energy sources and create a blueprint for accelerating large-scale development of solar energy utilization of the world to prevent / reduce the impact of climate change, he added.
The MOU underscores a long-term partnership between First Solar Inc. and Ordos City, which First Solar Inc. will also consider making investments in the Ordos solar cells.
“We are very pleased to partner with one of the major players in industry of solar electricity generator technology in the project that will impact on low-carbon production in the Ordos.” said Cao Zhichen, deputy mayor of Ordos. For this project the Government of Ordos city will provide 65 square kilometers of land.
“Discussions with First Solar Inc. on the construction of the factory in China is a demonstration for investors in China that they can be confident of investing in high technology fields,” he said further.
China actively increasing the production capacity of electricity cheaper than solar energy sources as part of its national goal to achieve 10 percent energy supply from renewable energy sources by 2010 and 15 percent in the year 2020 including the energy source of wind, hydro, biomass and solar.
Currently, the installed capacity of solar electricity generator in China around 90 MW. Government of China plans to boost the utilization of solar energy from the initial target of just 1.8 GW in 2020 to 2 GW by 2011 and 10 to 20 GW by 2020 as announced in a press conference of the MoU signing.
The first phase of Ordos city solar electricity generator is building 30 MW of project demonstration is planned to begin in June 2010. The next phase, respectively built solar electricity generator with a capacity of 100 MW and 870 MW is expected to be completed by the end of 2014. While the last phase of 1000 MW will be completed by the end of 2019.
Based on the MoU, during the initial phase of implementation, First Solar Inc. will actively study the possibility of development module and manufacturing suppliers in the Ordos. First Solar Inc. also plans to expand its supply chain for the production of thin-film photovoltaic modules and used module recycling.
