nprglobalhealth:

How To Get Electricity To People Living Off The Grid? Skip The Grid And Go Straight To Solar

People talk about a flash of inspiration. But Xavier Helgesen’s eureka moment came in the dark.

A few years ago, the American entrepreneur was traveling through Malawi to meet with clients for his book-selling company, Better World Books. He stopped in Monkey Bay, a town of about 30,000 people, to spend the night. What made this place unforgettable, he says, was that it was “100 percent off-grid.”

The streets were pitch black. People carried kerosene lamps to walk around at night. When a family invited him to dinner, they all huddled under one dim light. “It was amazing,” he says, “to see that was how everyone lived.”

And that’s when Helgesen, 38, who was just starting to learn about solar energy, had his bright idea: “If anybody needed solar power,” he says, “it was the people living off the electricity grid.”

Read the full story here

sunshinychick:

futurescope:

Solar energy that doesn’t block the view

A team of researchers at Michigan State University has developed a new type of solar concentrator that when placed over a window creates solar energy while allowing people to actually see through the window. It is called a transparent luminescent solar concentrator and can be used on buildings, cell phones and any other device that has a clear surface. And, according to Richard Lunt of MSU’s College of Engineering, the key word is “transparent.”

[read more at MSU] [paper] [picture credit: Yimu Zhao]

ncrussell:

theycallmeparrot:

estebanwaseaten:

moyaofthemist:

ilovecharts:

The total area of solar panels it would take to power the world, Europe, and Germany

“In just six hours, the world’s deserts receive more energy from the sun than humankind consumes in a year. (x)

I don’t care how many times I see this I will always reblog it

Stop spending money on war and lies and start spending it on ways to make this planet better.

spiritofthesunserpent:

housewifeswag:

linaevelovesyou:

jackthevulture:

crunchthedestroyer:

askjeansplice:

angelclark:

ENDLESS ELECTRICITY: Here’s A Way Of Turning America’s Roads Into Gigantic Solar Panels

There are about 31,251 square miles of roads, parking lots, driveways, playgrounds, bike paths, and sidewalks in the lower 48 states. If Julie and Scott Brusaw have their way, they will all someday be replaced with solar panels.

For the better part of a decade, the Idaho couple has been working on prototyping an industrial-strength panel that could withstand the weight of even the largest trucks. They now appear to have cracked the formula, developing a specially textured glass coating for the panels that can not only bear tremendous loads but also support standard tire traction.

By their reckoning, at peak installation their panelized roads could produce more than three times the electricity consumed in the U.S.

The material could power electric vehicles through a receiver plate mounted beneath the vehicle and a transmitter plate is installed in the road.

THIS IS UNBELIEVABLY IMPORTANT AND UNBELIEVABLY DISAPPOINTING THAT IT’S GOTTEN SUCH LITTLE ATTENTION.

PEOPLE THINK ABOUT IT, JUST HOW MANY ROADS THERE ARE ALL OVER THE WORLD AND HOW MUCH ENERGY COULD BE PRODUCED USING THESE LIKE SERIOUSLY “THREE TIMES THE ELECTRICITY CONSUMED IN THE U.S”. IT’S NOT JUST GOING TO HELP REDUCE THE AMOUNTS OF GREEN HOUSE EMISSIONS, IT’S GOING TO CREATE JOBS IN THE COUNTRIES IT’S USED IN. IT HAS SO MUCH EXTRA STUFF IT’S UNBELIEVABLE HOW AMAZING THE ROAD COULD BE. 

THESE PEOPLE ARE SAINTS, THEY’VE WORKED THEIR BUTTS OFF AND VOLUNTEERS HAVE WORKED JUST AS HARD TO GET TO THIS LEVEL BUT THEY STILL HAVE JUST UNDER $ 800,000 TO RAISE IN 15 DAYS. 

THIS SORTA STUFF IS HOW WE’RE GOING TO CREATE A GREENER EARTH AND IT’S BEEN VIRTUALLY IGNORED BY TUMBLR. WE NEED TO SUPPORT THIS STUFF AND THESE SORTS OF PEOPLE WHO SELFLESSLY DEDICATE THEIR WORK TO CREATING A BETTER WORLD. 

PLEASASASASASSSSSSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE PEOPLE NEED TO SEE THIS. 

NOT TO MENTION if cars are designed to RUN on this we would no longer need to burn fuel

No more buying gas.  

The indiegogo page for this project is here! Boost and support if you can, this is tremendous!

I remember reblogging this last year and I’m SO glad to hear they met it was funded. 220%.

MY FRIEND WAS TALKING ABOUT THIS AND IT IS SO SMART, I HOPE MORE PEOPLE SEE THIS SO THAT WE CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN

america-wakiewakie:

A fully transparent solar cell that could make every window and screen a power source | Extreme Tech

Researchers at Michigan State University have created a fully transparent solar concentrator, which could turn any window or sheet of glass (like your smartphone’s screen) into a photovoltaic solar cell. Unlike other “transparent” solar cells that we’ve reported on in the past, this one really is transparent, as you can see in the photos throughout this story. According to Richard Lunt, who led the research, the team are confident that the transparent solar panels can be efficiently deployed in a wide range of settings, from “tall buildings with lots of windows or any kind of mobile device that demands high aesthetic quality like a phone or e-reader.”

Scientifically, a transparent solar panel is something of an oxymoron. Solar cells, specifically the photovoltaic kind, make energy by absorbing photons (sunlight) and converting them into electrons (electricity). If a material is transparent, however, by definition it means that all of the light passes through the medium to strike the back of your eye. This is why previous transparent solar cells have actually only been partially transparent — and, to add insult to injury, they usually they cast a colorful shadow too.

To get around this limitation, the Michigan State researchers use a slightly different technique for gathering sunlight. Instead of trying to create a transparent photovoltaic cell (which is nigh impossible), they use a transparent luminescent solar concentrator (TLSC). The TLSC consists of organic salts that absorb specific non-visible wavelengths of ultraviolet and infrared light, which they then luminesce (glow) as another wavelength of infrared light (also non-visible). This emitted infrared light is guided to the edge of plastic, where thin strips of conventional photovoltaic solar cell convert it into electricity. [Research paper: DOI: 10.1002/adom.201400103- “Near-Infrared Harvesting Transparent Luminescent Solar Concentrators”]

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