Israel Debuts the World’s First Self-Cleaning Solar Farm

Source: energiaydesarrollo.org Published: April 1, 2014 One of the challenges with solar power is keeping the panels clean, since dust and dirt drastically reduce the efficiency of photovoltaics. That’s particularly challenging for large solar parks, and especially...

A Giant Basket That Uses Condensation to Gather Drinking Water

Source: wired.com Published: March 28, 2014   Designer Arturo Vittori believes the solution to the Ethiopian water shortage lies not in high technology, but in sculptures that look like giant-sized objects from the pages of a Pier 1 catalog. Photos by Architecture and...

“Ooho” Edible Water Bottle

Source: gizmodo.com Published: March 26, 2014 By Adam Clark Estes We get it. Our love of drinking water from disposable plastic bottles is a problem, enough of a problem that San Francisco actually wants to ban them. But then what will we drink water out of? Ooho, a...

Woven Disaster Shelters Are Powered with Sun-Absorbing Fabric

Source: treehugger.com Published: March 26, 2014 By Kimberley Mok © Abeer Seikaly/2013 LEXUS DESIGN AWARD – Abeer Seikaly – weaving a home Innovative disaster shelters have run the gamut of materials like recyclable plastic, to flat pack wonders, to...

Streetlamps Go Green

Source: iflscience.com Published: March 19, 2014   Pierre Calleja’s algae lamp at TEDXLAUSANNECHANGE A group of researchers at FermentAlg, led by Pierre Calleja, have invented a street lamp that is powered by algae. Yes, algae; those tiny microorganisms...

WaterWheel Rolls Out Solution to Ease Heavy Load

Source: techxplore.com Published: January 8, 2014 by Nancy Owano , Tech Xplore Phys.org) —For those with running water in their homes, water is light, rolls right through the fingers, easily pours out of the faucet, and gives us hygiene and hydration in minutes so...

Odyssey’s Two in One Water Bottle Flashlight

Source: gizmodo.com Published: March 19, 2014 By Andrew Liszewski It’s rarely the case that buying a two-in-one product is better than purchasing each component separately. But ÖKO makes a strong case for merging your flashlight and water bottle when...

Solar Powered Sol-Char Toilet Zaps Poop into Fertilizer Bricks

Source: inhabitat.com Published: March 19, 2014 The Sol-Char solar powered toilet zaps poop into useful biochar briquettes. by Lori Zimmer Researchers at the University of Colorado designed a new toilet called the Sol-Char that zaps poop into biochar using nothing but...

Solar-Powered ‘Energy Bucket’ Collects Sunshine

Source: inhabitat.com Published: March 18, 2014 In a surprising merging of products, the Solar Energy Bucket serves as a multifunctional tool for anyone who likes to rough it. At first glance it appears to be a simple water bucket, but turn it upside down and you’ll...

Don’t Toss It, Fix It—with Pop-Up Repair Shop

Source: mnn.com Published: March 12, 2014 Photo: Ikonoklast Fotografie/Shutterstock Starre Vartan When I spotted the “itinerant repair service for household goods of all types,” Pop-Up Repair, I cheered.  I grew up fixing stuff, and I still do so. I credit...