Solar Powered Radio Controlled Precison Watch:
£39.99 
Precision watch with a solar panel face - save £10 on the rrp
This state-of-the-art watch from Precision is designed with the frequent traveller and every day user in mind at a breakthrough price. No need not worry about changing those batteries – its face is a solar panel that changes the watch with everyday wear.It is radio controlled world-wide so need to set the time with automatic update for British Summer and Winter changeovers, also features an LCD display day/date function and battery level indicator. Easy to read face with luminous hands and back light. Water resistant to 50 metres. Leather strap. Manufacturers 2 year guarantee.
For the Guardian readers Offer, quote: T0 1670 for your discount
Solar lights, clocks, radio and now...... the solar watch
Solar Generator on a bike trailer
I have been handing out bike trailers here in West Bridgford for people to get to school, work, allotments and the shops without having to take their cars.
The owner of this trailer needed a way to run power tools to build the other arrays so he came up with the idea to retrofit this cheapy kid bike trailer with a 80 watt solar module, 150 amp hour battery, charge
Solar Batteries?
This is a nice idea. Batteries which can recharge themselves.
Just a prototype idea at the moment, the idea is that the solar cells on the outside casing of the battery can generate electricity and recharge the battery. All you have to do is take them out of your appliance and leave them in the sun!
[ Via HippyShopper ]
Eco security lights to protect you and your home
You might like to think of a security light. Here is a solar version that might be of interest to you. From the Ethical superstore: http://www.ethicalsuperstore.com/products/smart-solar/?sort=0a&page=2 @ £42.99 or from BritishEco.com http://www.britisheco.com/ @£39.99
On the Move Charging
Here at the EcoList we have featured a number of portable chargers which allow you to keep your electronic gadgets (phone, music player, computer) fully charged while you are out and about.
We thought you might like to have a look at what the BBC (and a collection of UK ramblers) think of some of these “one the move’ charging devices.
View the video here.
Solar Powered Urban Lighting
There are solar powered garden lights in many garden which collect energy during the day to power a small LED light during the evening. Generally they are low power and often ugly.
Enter the solar Sunflower. This elegant design works in a similar way to current garden solar lighting but on a brighter, larger, scale. During the day the solar cells, on the top of the stem, collect energy then use it at night to power the bright LEDs built into the head.
Designed for easy attachment of directional signs or display banners this might just be a simple solution to keeping us illuminated and informed.
[Via Ecofriend]
Power Purse
One of the problems with eco and solar power products is that they are often badly designed or simply uninspired.
Not so the Power Purse by Joe Hynek. The surface is covered in small solar cells producing an attractive pattern. These don’t look like they have just been ‘stuck on’. Power generated by the cells is sent to an electronic circuit inside the lining of the bag and then onto two inbuilt batteries which can hold energy for up to a month. A USB port is built into the inside of the bag so that you can attach your mp3 player or phone to charge it.
The bag needs around 2 hours of sunlight on its surface to fully charge a mobile phone. The estimated cost is around £150 which is probably a drop in the ocean for the fashion, techno savvy, 21st century woman.
The handbag is due to go on sale online by the end of this year.
For more information, visit www.solarjo.com
[Via Ecofriend]
Canadian Solar Community
Some people install one or two solar panels on their roof, others take the plunge and go for solar heating but few build an entire housing estate with solar sustainability in mind.
Canada now has a community of 52 homes built specifically to take advantage of solar energy. Okotoks, located in Alberta, can generate 1.5 mega-watts of thermal power during a normal summer day from its 800 solar panels located on the garages of each house. As Alberta has hard winters and often sees temperatures of –33 much of the energy generated in the summer is stored underground in thermal borehole storage ‘tanks’.
The houses in the community are insulated to 30% above the average Canadian home so that they can take advantage of the stored underground heat. This is pumped around the community to heat the homes and provide hot water.
More details about the Drake Landing Solar Community can be found on their website: www.dlsc.ca
[Via Ecofriend]
Take advantage of the sun
The sun is the most readily available source of heat there is - and the cheapest! So, make the most of it by opening up your doors and windows on hot days to let in warm air that will heat up your home naturally. Hanging your clothes out to dry on sunny days, instead of using the tumble dryer or a radiator, is also a great way to take advantage of the earth’s natural heat source and cut energy usage.
Toyota’s Solar Car
Well, the air-conditioning anyway! Toyota have announced that they will be producing a version of their successful petrol/hybrid Prius with solar panels on the roof to power the air-conditioning.
It seems we are still a way-away from totally solar powered cars but this is a step in the right direction. Air-conditioning is generally powered by a car’s engine which has to use petrol to power it. The current Prius is one of the few cars to have an electric air conditioner, so not so much petrol is used. By powering the air-conditioner using solar energy there will be less drain on the electrics, less use of petrol and less Co2 emissions.
There is something nice about the idea of using the sun’s energy to keep the inside of a car cool because it has been heated up by the sun in the first place!!!
[Via Cnet.co.uk ]
Solar Heating - The Law in Hawaii
Generally installing solar heating in homes is a question of choice and revolves around how strongly you want to help save the planet and how large your bank balance is.
In 2010 the choice element will be (partly) reduced in Hawaii as they have just signed a law which makes it mandatory to install solar water heaters.
They will not issue building permits for single-family homes unless solar water heating are included in the construction. Hawaii relies on imported fossil fuels for its energy so anything which will help reduce that dependency will certainly be of help. Five years ago, when the idea was first suggested, a barrel of oil cost about $40. The price has now tripled and who knows what it will be in 2010.
[ Via Metaefficient ]
Public Transport in Montreal
Last year we featured the launch of a public bike system in Paris which enabled visitors to loan a bike, ride round the city and they ‘give it back’. Now, a similar system has been launched in Montreal Canada.
Their Public Bike System is made up of a number of ‘Docks’ around the city which each house 6 aluminium bikes. Innovations include a centralised web based inventory so that people can locate the nearest available bike online, solar powered docking stations and electronically tagged bikes.
Payment can be made using credit, debit or special ‘member’ cards and, like other similar systems, you use your bike and then drop it off at any docking station with a free slot. More details at: www.publicbikesystem.com
Renewable Mobile Phone Charging
This week (27th June), the Glastonbury festival opens, attracting masses of enthusiastic music lovers to the Vale of Avalon, here in the UK. All of them have mobile phones, most of them will want to be texting their mates to tell them what they are missing.
To make sure everyone stays connected to the ‘outside’ world, phone network Orange is providing a solar and wind powered charging tent. It will generate enough electricity to charge 100 mobile phones an hour. Any surplus is to be stored in a battery tank.
Orange had something like this last year but the 2008 version is larger and still only a test for more powerful charging stations, which could be deployed at other, massive, out in the middle of know where, gatherings.
More details at: www.rechargepod.com
Cheap Solar Charger
We love a bargain here at the EcoList so have a look at this solar battery charger on offer at Maplin.
Designed to trickle charge 12v lead acid batteries it is ideal for cars that will be left standing for long periods, as well as for maintaining batteries in caravans and boats.
• Keep your battery topped up with solar power, even if the weather is overcast or dull
• Ideal for cars, caravans, boats etc
• Interchangeable connectors: cigarette lighter plug and crocodile clips
• Blue flashing LED charge indicator
• Durable ABS outer casing
• Built-in diode prevents reverse charging
Suction cups for easy mounting
This was originally £19.99, then £14.99 and now £9.99 until 10th June. so go solar, save money on recharging and save money buying the charger in the first place.
More details: Maplin.co.uk
Solar Heater from Beer Bottles
Solar water heaters have been around for a while and appear to work well. Cold water is circulated through glass tubes which face the sun. The sun’s energy causes the water to heat up and this is then stored for later use.
Not everyone has access to ready made solar heaters, or the funding to buy one so you might like to do-it-yourself. Ma Yanjun, a carpenter, from the Qiqiao village, located in Shaanxi Province, China, has made his own using beer bottles.
The bottles are arranged on a board and connected by hoses through which cold water flows. Once the water has passed through all the bottles it is warm enough to use for showering.
Ma Yanjun produced the heater for his mother so that she could shower in warm water. He has now helped 20 families in the village build their own beer bottle heaters and has plans to build a public bathroom for the village when he has enough beer bottles.
[ Via Ananova ]
Solar Powered Video Screen - XXL
Video walls are now part of many major cities - used for advertising, information and, sometimes, art. Beijing is about to officially switch on what is thought to be the world’s largest.
Located on the entire side of the Xicui Entertainment Complex building in Beijing, China, ready for the Olympics, the GreenPix-Zero Energy Media Wall is made up of energy efficient LEDs, can show 2,292 individual colours and is equivalent to a monitor screen covering 24,000 square feet.
The entire screen is solar powered using photovoltaic panels built directly into the structure. During the day they collect energy, which is stored ready for powering the screen at night. The wall was designed by architects Simone Giostra & Partners, New York, with the lighting design and facade engineered by Arup in London and Beijing.
The building will open to the public this month, with a specially commissioned program of video installations and live performances by artists from China, Europe and the US.
More details at images at www.greenpix.org
Solar Rubbish
We featured these a while ago (installed in Devon, UK), and now it seems that the use of solar compacting rubbish bins is starting to spread. Milford, located in the USA, has installed two BigBelly solar-powered litter bins, partly paid for by local residents.
A large solar panel on the top of the bin collects energy from the sun which charges an inbuilt battery. Power from this battery is then used to operate a compacting system. As the bin if filled and the rubbish reaches a pre-determined level inside a mechanized arm compressed it so that it takes up less space and leaving more room for other rubbish.
Once completely full the bin door is locked to prevent overflow and a red light shows it needs to be emptied. Compacting like this means that the bin can hole up to six times the amount of rubbish and, therefor, does not need to be emptied so often which, in turn, saves on fuel in the collection vehicles.
Denise Zambrowski, Environmental Affairs Coordinator for the Department of Public Works in Milford commented "It's a really interesting invention to help us deal with solid waste management in public places.”
Funding for the $4,000 bins (about £2,000), came from Franklin residents who donated $5 to $12 on their electric bills over several years, and a grant from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, which matched the contributions.
[Via: Milforddailynews.com ]
Hi-Tech Paper Lanterns
One of the problems about solar garden lighting is that many people just do not like the ‘modern’ design so, for your traditionalists out there, you might like to have a look at these.
The Chinese style lanterns have LEDs in them which are powered by small solar panels and have an in built sensor which switches them on when it gets dark. All you have to do is hang them up!
Each pack contains three red lanterns and three white. The white ones have colour changing LEDs in them so they slowly fade through a variety of colours. Simple and practical - no installation and no cost for power. You not only have a chance to decorate your garden but save some Co2 at the same time!
Available for around £29.95 from Firebox.com
Solar Utility Light - Quick and Simple
If you need light in a shed or outhouse then this self-contained unit might be just the job.
Here at the EcoList we have been testing out the SolarMate Point 5 Utility Light for the past couple of weeks so that we can give you an idea about how it works and whether it deserves your hard earned cash.
If you have ever considered buying some form or solar lighting, and been worried about how complicated it might be to install, then this is the unit for you. Solar Technology International, who designed the unit, say that it “can be installed in minutes” and they aren’t joking. Simple take the two units (the lamp and the solar panel) out of the box, plug one into the other, using the supplied 1.8m cable, and you are ready to install it in your shed.
The lighting unit is made up of 10 bright white LEDs. Using the supplied screws you can mount this just were it will be needed inside and place the solar panel on the outside of your building. Both units have well designed mounts so you can quickly adjust their angle: the solar panel so it faces south (at an angle of around 30 - 55 degrees), and receives as much light as possible, and the lighting unit so that it shines where you need it.
There is a small remote control supplied, used to switch the unit on and off and although this seemed, initially, like an unnecessary extra it does make perfect sense. You are, after all, likely to mount the lighting unit out or reach on an internal wall. The remote control means that there is no need for extra wiring for an accessible switch - you simply point it at the light unit and press ‘On’. In case you are worried about losing the remote it comes with a small holder, which you can mount on the wall so you always know where the remote is. A small but very smart addition to the design. There is also a switch on the lighting unit so you have the choice to operate it without the remote as well.This is a ‘utility’ light, ideal for illuminating the dark recesses of your shed and is designed to cover around 9 square meters and function in all daylight conditions - even cloudy skies. During our testing period we have had typical British spring-like weather: overcast, rain, shows and the odd sunny day. The unit has performed perfectly. We followed the instructions to the letter and after installing it waited 4 days for the supplied batteries to be charged from the solar panel. The manufactures calculate that you should get around 3 hours of light a day which is more than enough for occasional use. If you spend more than 3 hours in your shed each day you need to rethink your life!
Apart from the SolarMate providing your with almost maintenance free eco lighting it is ideal for locations without mains electricity. Running a cable to the shed at the bottom of your garden, and having lighting professionally installed, can cost a small fortune (I know - I’ve done it!) so, not only will you be helping to save the planet (a little) by using the SolarMate, you will also save cash as well. If you have a remote building (shed, garage, stable, summer house or even a tent) then this is ideal.
SolarMate Point 5 costs £24.99, with free delivery in the UK, and can be ordered online from www.solartechnology.co.uk
The unit comes with a two year guarantee, is packaged in cardboard and only has a small amount of plastic to protect it during transport.
Life should be simple and there is no reason why wanting to use an eco alternative shouldn’t be simple too! [A]
Solar Power in the Mojave Desert
American utilities company Pacific Gas & Electricity announced a solar power project which will produce enough energy to power 540,000 homes in California each year.
They will commission 5 solar power plants from BrightSource Energy which will be built in the Mojave desert, during the next decade, and generate around 900 megawatts of electricity.
BrightSource uses what it calls distributed power towers, or DPTs, in which sunlight from thousands of movable mirrors are concentrated to heat water to more than 1,000 degrees in a boiler to make steam. That steam feeds a turbine that makes electricity.
“...this is the biggest commitment ever in the history of solar,” said John Woolard, BrightSource Energy’s chief executive officer and president. “It’s a fairly significant undertaking on both sides.”
Shame they announce these things on April 1st!
[Via: Metaefficient ]
