The Stila for E! Live from the Red Carpet™ is the first solar illuminated refillable compact and powder duo. The package comes filled with sheer pressed powder and kitten shimmer shades, so it is universal to all skin tones.
Solar powered lights will provide all you need to light the yard, deck, or garden with a very easy and efficient. Many people now use solar lighting to decorate and lighting outside the home. Solar lighting is easy to install and can truly add elegance and style of your house outside. Outdoor solar lights are easy to install and will also help conserve household energy use and very safe to use because you do not need to use cable and cord.
Brooklyn design company SMIT (Sustainable Minded Interactive Technology) has created Tensile Solar, a cool and lightweight shade powered by the sun (through CIGS photovoltaic cells).
From Wikipedia:
Copper indium gallium (di)selenide (CIGS) (CAS NO. 12018-95-0) is a I-III-VI2 compound semiconductor material composed of copper, indium, gallium, and selenium. The material is a solid solution of copper indium selenide (often abbreviated “CIS”) and copper gallium selenide, with a chemical formula of CuInxGa(1-x)Se2, where the value of x can vary from 1 (pure copper indium selenide) to 0 (pure copper gallium selenide). It is a tetrahedrally bonded semiconductor, with the chalcopyrite crystal structure, and a bandgap varying continuously with xfrom about 1.0 eV (for copper indium selenide) to about 1.7 eV (for copper gallium selenide). It is used as light absorber material for thin-film solar cells.
Tensile Solar is come in various designs: saddle, tent, pole mount and the last is intended to a larger architectural structures, such as a party tent.
José Vicente has designed SOLARIS, a sun shading system.
Recently, the U.S. military announced a series of solar powered tents that will be capable of powering communication devices and laptops and other electronic equipment in the battlefield.
The solar powered tents divided into 3 types based on the electrical capacity that can be generated, they are Power Shade (3 KW), the TEMPER Fly (800 W) and QUADrant (200 W).
The type of solar panels used is thin film. It is so flexible and lightweight, so there is no problem for bring at the battlefield.
This foldable and portable solar-powered lamp designed by Swedish designer Jesper Jonsson. It is charged in the daytime through solar power to provide energy to turn on lights when it gets dark. To light the lamp, unfold the shade through a circular motion. This allows for a small and portable if you want to bring it with you, but still has a larger surface to emit light when required. A strap with a magnet allows you to hang the lamp in a variety of ways, whether it is closed or opened.
Rainbow Solar Inc. (RSI) has produced a transparent, photovoltaic glass window producing power 80-250 watts. Although this is not the “first solar window,” it seems that the RSI has taken a big step forward.
Mags Harries and Lajos Heder designed an electric garden filled with sunflower solar collector. Installations located in Austin, Texas, and consists of 15 elements such as flowers that capture energy from the sun and light at night. Sunflowers produce enough energy during the day to power the lights at night and all the additional power is channeled into the box for credit. Lighting generated by a series of LEDs arranged in a flower. An unusual form of panels required they must be custom made. In addition, a special transparent blue gel squeezed into the panels to create shade for the bike path below, create a blue light.
Solar Vest CVFR-S09 is designed for your comfort and convenience. It comes with a large storage pockets to store tools or equipment including cameras and batteries + cables and connectors for all currently popular portable electronic. Canvas vest is soft but durable.
Vest that consists of 4 laminated solar panels to be completely weatherproof, so you do not need to change this vest just because of bad weather. You also may remove the solar panels and placing them in the sun while you work in a cave or a shaded field.
As you walk outside, the four solar panels on the back of the vest absorbs solar energy and store it in a high-capacity battery is located in the front left pocket. If your phone or other gadgets need power, just plug it into the battery and allow it charged. Simple as that!
The Solar Vest – Solar Battery + Charger for Portable Electronics is available at Chinavasion website. The price offered about $ 140 USD.
Adventures in microsolar supported by microelectronics and MEMS techniques
Representative thin crystalline-silicon photovoltaic cells – these are from 14 to 20 micrometers thick and 0.25 to 1 millimeter across.
Sandia National Laboratories scientists have developed tiny glitter-sized photovoltaic cells that could revolutionize the way solar energy is collected and used.
The tiny cells could turn a person into a walking solar battery charger if they were fastened to flexible substrates molded around unusual shapes, such as clothing.
The solar particles, fabricated of crystalline silicon, hold the potential for a variety of new applications. They are expected eventually to be less expensive and have greater efficiencies than current photovoltaic collectors that are pieced together with 6-inch- square solar wafers.
The cells are fabricated using microelectronic and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) techniques common to today’s electronic foundries.
Sandia lead investigator Greg Nielson said the research team has identified more than 20 benefits of scale for its microphotovoltaic cells. These include new applications, improved performance, potential for reduced costs and higher efficiencies.
“Eventually units could be mass-produced and wrapped around unusual shapes for building-integrated solar, tents and maybe even clothing,” he said. This would make it possible for hunters, hikers or military personnel in the field to recharge batteries for phones, cameras and other electronic devices as they walk or rest.
Sandia project lead Greg Nielson holds a solar cell test prototype with a microscale lens array fastened above it. Together, the cell and lens help create a concentrated photovoltaic unit.
Even better, such microengineered panels could have circuits imprinted that would help perform other functions customarily left to large-scale construction with its attendant need for field construction design and permits.
Said Sandia field engineer Vipin Gupta, “Photovoltaic modules made from these microsized cells for the rooftops of homes and warehouses could have intelligent controls, inverters and even storage built in at the chip level. Such an integrated module could greatly simplify the cumbersome design, bid, permit and grid integration process that our solar technical assistance teams see in the field all the time.”
For large-scale power generation, said Sandia researcher Murat Okandan, “One of the biggest scale benefits is a significant reduction in manufacturing and installation costs compared with current PV techniques.”
Part of the potential cost reduction comes about because microcells require relatively little material to form well-controlled and highly efficient devices.
From 14 to 20 micrometers thick (a human hair is approximately 70 micrometers thick), they are 10 times thinner than conventional 6-inch-by-6-inch brick-sized cells, yet perform at about the same efficiency.
100 times less silicon generates same amount of electricity
“So they use 100 times less silicon to generate the same amount of electricity,” said Okandan. “Since they are much smaller and have fewer mechanical deformations for a given environment than the conventional cells, they may also be more reliable over the long term.”
Another manufacturing convenience is that the cells, because they are only hundreds of micrometers in diameter, can be fabricated from commercial wafers of any size, including today’s 300-millimeter (12-inch) diameter wafers and future 450-millimeter (18-inch) wafers. Further, if one cell proves defective in manufacture, the rest still can be harvested, while if a brick-sized unit goes bad, the entire wafer may be unusable. Also, brick-sized units fabricated larger than the conventional 6-inch-by-6-inch cross section to take advantage of larger wafer size would require thicker power lines to harvest the increased power, creating more cost and possibly shading the wafer. That problem does not exist with the small-cell approach and its individualized wiring.
From left to right, Sandia researchers Murat OKandan, Greg Nielson, and Jose Luis Cruz-Campa, hold samples containing arrays of microsolar cells.
Other unique features are available because the cells are so small. “The shade tolerance of our units to overhead obstructions is better than conventional PV panels,” said Nielson, “because portions of our units not in shade will keep sending out electricity where a partially shaded conventional panel may turn off entirely.”
Because flexible substrates can be easily fabricated, high-efficiency PV for ubiquitous solar power becomes more feasible, said Okandan.
A commercial move to microscale PV cells would be a dramatic change from conventional silicon PV modules composed of arrays of 6-inch-by-6-inch wafers. However, by bringing in techniques normally used in MEMS, electronics and the light-emitting diode (LED) industries (for additional work involving gallium arsenide instead of silicon), the change to small cells should be relatively straightforward, Gupta said.
Each cell is formed on silicon wafers, etched and then released inexpensively in hexagonal shapes, with electrical contacts prefabricated on each piece, by borrowing techniques from integrated circuits and MEMS.
Offering a run for their money to conventional large wafers of crystalline silicon, electricity presently can be harvested from the Sandia-created cells with 14.9 percent efficiency. Off-the-shelf commercial modules range from 13 to 20 percent efficient.
A widely used commercial tool called a pick-and-place machine — the current standard for the mass assembly of electronics — can place up to 130,000 pieces of glitter per hour at electrical contact points preestablished on the substrate; the placement takes place at cooler temperatures. The cost is approximately one-tenth of a cent per piece with the number of cells per module determined by the level of optical concentration and the size of the die, likely to be in the 10,000 to 50,000 cell per square meter range. An alternate technology, still at the lab-bench stage, involves self-assembly of the parts at even lower costs.
Solar concentrators — low-cost, prefabricated, optically efficient microlens arrays — can be placed directly over each glitter-sized cell to increase the number of photons arriving to be converted via the photovoltaic effect into electrons. The small cell size means that cheaper and more efficient short focal length microlens arrays can be fabricated for this purpose.
High-voltage output is possible directly from the modules because of the large number of cells in the array. This should reduce costs associated with wiring, due to reduced resistive losses at higher voltages.
Other possible applications for the technology include satellites and remote sensing.
The project combines expertise from Sandia’s Microsystems Center; Photovoltaics and Grid Integration Group; the Materials, Devices, and Energy Technologies Group; and the National Renewable Energy Lab’s Concentrating Photovoltaics Group.
Involved in the process, in addition to Nielson, Okandan and Gupta, are Jose Luis Cruz-Campa, Paul Resnick, Tammy Pluym, Peggy Clews, Carlos Sanchez, Bill Sweatt, Tony Lentine, Anton Filatov, Mike Sinclair, Mark Overberg, Jeff Nelson, Jennifer Granata, Craig Carmignani, Rick Kemp, Connie Stewart, Jonathan Wierer,
George Wang, Jerry Simmons, Jason Strauch, Judith Lavin and Mark Wanlass (NREL).
The work is supported by DOE’s Solar Energy Technology Program and Sandia’s Laboratory Directed Research & Development program, and has been presented at four technical conferences this year.
The ability of light to produce electrons, and thus electricity, has been known for more than a hundred years.
Executive Summary about Solar Film by Christine Douglas
You feel compelled to use solar energy, but at this time you simply aren’t in the position to install a solar power system in your home for one reason or another. Solar film for windows is a cost-effective, yet efficient way to participate in passive solar heating.
Solar film for windows is a light film that is applied to the windows in your home. It rejects 60% of the sun’s rays coming through your home. The first reason is energy.
Solar film for windows is great for many other reasons. It blocks 99% of UV rays, keeping your furniture and home décor safe from fading. The film also protects against weather damage.
Solar film for windows is widely available. You can purchase frosted solar film, creating the look of frosted glass at a fraction of the cost.
Using Window Film and Shades to Protect Your Home Interior From the Sun
Executive Summary about Solar Film by David Kraft
Home builders are reporting a higher frequency of larger and higher quantities of windows in new homes and home remodels being done. Rays from the sun can cause glare, hot spots, and fading to household items. One way to prevent these things from happening is to add a layer of window film to your windows. Window film can help to improve heating and cooling efficiency and block UV rays that cause fading to furniture, carpet, and other interior possessions. Film is available in tints that are not drastically change the color of the window but will still accomplish the goals of blocking the sun’s harmful rays. The key to window films is to have them properly installed by a specialist to ensure multiple years of functionality.
Solar screen shades are an alternative to window film that can accomplish the same things. They are available in varying levels of opacity and are available in motorized models that completely roll up nearly out of sight to allow homeowners to completely enjoy their large windows when they want to. Solar screen shades are simple, yet attractive ways to protect your homes interior and are available in a variety of colors that will enhance the appeal of any interior, regardless of design preference.
Choosing larger or higher quantities of windows in your home opens you up to more risk for faded interior and decreases in your home’s heating and cooling system efficiency.
Article You May Be Interested In Reading: Solar Lighting
Executive Summary about Solar Fountain by Jeff Snyder
A water feature can be relaxing. For those of us that want the stress reducing and atmosphere enhancing benefits of flowing water without the expense and hassle, a free-standing solar water fountain just may be the answer.
Solar fountains are similar to standard fountains in look and function, except the power to run them comes from a solar panel instead of an electrical outlet. The solar panel converts sunlight into electricity, which in turn powers the pump that circulates water through the fountain. This means that most solar fountains available today require direct sunlight to operate.
For one thing, solar fountains are relatively inexpensive. So go ahead and give solar fountains a try.
Solar Fountain Pumps
Executive Summary about Solar Fountain by Christine Douglas
If you want a beautiful water feature in your yard, you’ll need power of some kind. There are many reasons you may choose to use solar fountain pumps. There are many different kinds of solar fountain pumps. The first kind is an all-inclusive fountain with solar power built right in. You simply place the fountain in an area that gets ample sunlight, and enjoy! From bird baths, to cherubs, these fountains are lovely and a great use of the sun.
Other types of solar fountain pumps are for larger water features. Larger solar powered fountain pumps are available in many sizes and styles. If you choose to use a solar fountain pump, there are a few things you need to keep in mind. The fountain can be in the shade if desired, as long as the solar collector is in the sun most of the day.
Check out my other guide on Charger Solar
