Category Archives: Gadgets and Tech
It’s time to chuck those old roofing tiles that protected your abode from the elements all along. Instead, tile your roof with OneRoof Solar’s fantastic roofing solution. Basically, these tiles integrate solar panels and are building-integrated photovoltaics that soak in energy from the sun for your consumption. Also, these roofs will be available on lease with OneRoof Solar raising a whopping $50 million with the help of Korean multinational Hanwha Group. Available in 20 states, this sure beats the installation of solar panels separately and work out pretty pocket-friendly too, requiring users to simply pay a monthly fee while the roof tiles are owned by banks or private installation firms.
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OLED technology has been limited to screens for quite a while now, and WAC Lighting has finally pushed it into the mainstream with the SOL Chandelier, a masterpiece of lighting and technology. With the good old filament bulb nearly reaching its extinction given that the world’s looking for energy-efficient ways to lighting up its homes, this OLED Chandelier was created in a green environment too, manufactured at WAC Lighting’s zero-landfill facility. With ORBEOS OLED Panels, this lighting solution is 10-40% more efficient than reflector-based LED lighting fixtures too!
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The last we heard of solar-powered ATMs, was the machines unveiled by Expert Group in Miami that were used to give out, well, money. Sarvajal, an Indian organization however, designed solar-powered ATMs that dispense water! Given that clean water is a luxury, not just to rural areas in India but to about 1/8th of the world’s population as a whole, 60% to 80% of all disease in India are also caused by water. Sarvajal’s water-dispensing ATM machine works with a pre-paid card and treats water with reverse osmosis and ultraviolet rays. Also, these ATMs are connected via cellphone networks which help Sarvajal keep an eye on maintenance issues.
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Energy conservation today is vital if the world’s to be given any future chances of survival, given that resources are depleting on rapidly these days, and the best way to preserve the eco-system is switching to cleaner and greener energy sources, and doing our very best to save up on energy today. We just stumbled across this “Smart Window” technology developed by Ho Sun Lim, Jeong Ho Cho, Jooyong Kim and Chang Hwan Le. Using polymers, counterions and solvents such as methanol, these windows reflect the sun’s rays away during the summer time and turn completely transparent during the winter, helping reduce air-conditioning and heating costs.
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In the future, the now-inescapable situation of having your mobile phone drain out of battery, leaving your mode of communication to the world outside dead and useless, might just be a phenomenon of the past. Doctoral student Xinyu Zhang and Professor Kang Shin from the University of Michigan together have come up with the E-MiLi, or Energy-Minimizing Idle Listening that could help phone batteries survive longer, saving up 44% of a smartphones battery life. The system works for devices that hook up to WiFi networks and simple drops the WiFi chipset’s clock speed down to a sixteenth of its normal speed, waking up only when data is received. That’s not all. The technology works perfectly fine for other devices that use low-key data monitoring!
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Well, it’s about time the computing world turns to some pretty serious green technology, and a good start-off is this CPU powered completely by a single solar cell. Shown-off by Intel, it’s always been common knowledge that powering up electronics can be a pain while using solar panels, let alone a single solar cell! And Intel proved just how efficient computing could get with this CPU, capable of running windows with energy from a solar cell. Now don’t go expecting an entire computer to power up with a cell. The motherboard and the rest of the PC were powered by a regular power-supply.
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Remember how an ink stain on a shirt meant its demise? Or how a ketchup spill from your breakfast in bed on your white sheets meant a sure shot replacement? Well, times have changed, and you no longer need to throw away those garments and furnishings when adamant stains refuse to come off, not with the Portable Spot Cleaner designed for the Electrolux Design Lab 2011 around. Designed by Adrian Mankovecký from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design Bratislava in Slovakia, the Spot Cleaner uses two components; each to be placed on either side of the stained area of the cloth. Powered with sugar crystal battery, it uses negative ions and steam to successfully refresh clothing and remove stains.
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Vacuum cleaners these days tend to suck a lot more than they’re really needed to, and we literally mean that. These home-cleaners tend to suck in a load of energy too, while cleaning up the mess. The Stem concept vacuum cleaner however, chooses to go the greener way, with 43% reduced energy usage. Developed by Cambridge Consultants, this vacuum cleaner is smart, and switches between differential power modes automatically according to the type of surface you’re cleaning. Also, unlike conventional cleaners, this one has its air path from the floor head itself, and is also capable of hibernating when not in use for short intervals.
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When it comes to energy efficiency, OLEDs are right up there, and are expected to change the home-electronics industry for the greener good forever. Israeli designer Meidad Marzan’s UrbanTiles concept uses OLED lights to spice up building facades aesthetically. These two-sided reversible tiles have photovoltaics on one side which collect sun energy during the day and OLEDs that light up using the energy collected at night. These when used on building facades could turn our city skylines into an eye-pleasing treat like never before!
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Juicing up portable electric devices on the go using energy emitted from human bodies is a dream long conceived by researchers and technology-developers. This might now be near-possible with this latest development by Researchers at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Using reverse electrowetting technology that converts the energy generated by moving liquid into electricity, the system will be embedded in footwear to generate about 20 watts of usable electricity, using heat lost from the body during walks. This can charge up small portable devices and in the future, might generate enough juice to power up those hefty energy-drinking mobile phones too!
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