Solar Powered

Hunting round for batteries to power toys that come “batteries not included” is a common problem on Christmas morning. If there are none to be found then you’d better hope junior likes playing with the box because that new whizz-bang gadget can be decidedly underwhelming without any juice. The Solar Pegasus Flying Horse solves this problem by incorporating a solar panel in the mythological winged horse’s carriage to harness energy from the sun, or nearest available lamp, to power its batteries and keep the kids entertained long after traditional batteries have run flat.  Read More

You may not have heard of Chinese mobile phone maker Umeox Mobile, but odds are you’ve come across one of their handsets at one time or another without realizing it, as its phones are generally re-branded and sold by operators around the world. The company's latest offering announced this week at Mobile World Congress 2011 is due to hit stores later this year. Named after the Greek god of the sun, the Umeox Apollo sports a built-in solar panel on the back for keeping the phone running when you can’t get to an outlet – provided you can get to some sunlight, of course.  Read More

Five years ago we first reported on Tamarack Lake Electric Boat Company's Loon, a proposed production solar-electric boat. At that time, creator Monte Gisborne told us that “exhausting hydrocarbons directly into your own lake isn’t much different from urinating in your family room.” In 2009 the 8-passenger watercraft received a design overhaul, and production was scheduled to begin later that year. Now, with a just-announced deal in place to manufacture the boat at facilities in the city of Rome, New York, full-scale Loon production should finally be commencing within the next few months.  Read More

There’s a number of small portable solar chargers available which are designed to keep mobile gear such as MP3 players and mobile phones powered up when there’s no electrical outlet around. But with people cramming more and more devices on their person or in their cars when heading off the grid, we're seeing a growing number of larger and more powerful units designed for more power hungry devices. The latest is thid portable solar-powered generator from Wagan Tech which provides 1,500 watts of power for seven to eight hours.  Read More

With a speed of 88.738 km/h (55.077 mph), the University of New South Wales’ Sunswift IVy has claimed the Guinness World Record for the fastest solar-powered vehicle. The record-beating run took place on January 7 at HMAS Albatross navy base airstrip in Nowra, Australia, and outdid the previous record-holder by more than 10 km/h (6.2 mph).  Read More

The three world records that QinetiQ applied for after its Zephyr High-Altitude Long-Endurance Unmanned Aerial Vehicle completed a successful 14-day flight in July 2010, have been confirmed. The aircraft has now officially been ratified as staying in the air longer and achieving the highest altitude of any surveillance craft in its class, and setting the absolute duration record of 14 days and 21 minutes.  Read More

The lack of support infrastructure is one of the major hurdles for alternative fuel vehicles that use batteries and hydrogen fuel cells. Honda’s vision for solar-powered home-based hydrogen production station is one effort to ease the transition from fossil to alternative fuels and now the company has revealed plans to trial a solar-powered public EV charging station and conduct testing of a range of electric vehicles and technologies in real-world urban transportation environments, starting with Japan.  Read More

San Diego residents can feel particularly warm and fuzzy this festive season as their Purdy Farm Christmas trees have been lovingly trimmed and lit up via solar power. In what is believed to be a world first, Stellar Solar's Mobile Solar Station has been contracted to power the Purdy Farm Christmas tree lots in Del Mar, Carlsbad, and San Diego. The Mobile Solar Station is being used to power the compact fluorescent lights (CFL) on the lot perimeter and the electric chain saws used to trim customer's trees.  Read More

The world’s largest solar-powered boat – TÛRANOR PlanetSolar – departed from Monaco on September 27 in an attempt to become the first boat to circumnavigate the globe using only solar energy. Aside from getting another world record under the boat’s belt, the aim of the expedition is to demonstrate that, through the use of existing materials and technology, high-performance solar mobility can be realized today.  Read More