Thin Film Solar Panels Are Here
Today is the start of the 2010 American Solar Challenge (ASC) race. Solar-powered vehicles will leave from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma and head to Naperville, Illinois today. In three days, drivers will start in Topeka, Kansas and go to a checkpoint in Jefferson City, Missouri before heading to Rolla, Missouri.
Taiwan’s Taipei 101 was the tallest building in the world from 2004-2007. Now, it is looking to become the world’s tallest GREEN building.
The building’s owner, Taipei Financial Center Corp (TFC), is putting in $1.9 million to give this 101-story building a green makeover.
A new report by iSuppli Corp. predicts that by 2013, 31% of the solar panel market will be accounted for by thin-film solar panels. These thin-film panels are rapidly replacing traditional crystalline photovoltaic panels.
Thin-film solar is being used in a variety of new applications, from solar roof shingles to solar tiles (like clay tiles) to solar panels glued right onto the roof. Its flexibility in use is one major benefit of this technology.
Lower cost is the number one factor responsible for its anticipated growth, but there are trade-offs as well.
In Taiwan, a new charger technology claims to be able to charge phones without even being plugged into an outlet. That’s because it taps into the power of hydrogen as a fuel source, and is expected to help put Taiwan in the list of purveyor of green technologies.
Scientists from Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute recently unveiled a charger powered by hydrogen. According to source, the device can fully charge a phone within a couple of hours, although the amount of hydrogen fuel used for that span of time wasn’t mentioned. Tsau Fanghei of the research team says they “hope the hydrogen-powered device can replace current mobile phone recharge systems in 2012.”
Professor Chungpin Hovering Liao of National Formosa University in Taiwan has created the world’s first chlorophyll organic battery. The battery can use any liquid—even urine—to power up. It doesn’t take much time for liquids to start juicing the battery, either. Within 10 seconds of being doused with liquid, the battery starts providing power.