Hasta La Gadget!

Panasonic’s new D Series Windea is bringing to reality the next step in the evolution of the “smart house”.
Some of the key functionality with this unit:
– Visitors to your house will trigger a message to your smart device – you can correspond via your smart device – so that even if you are out, you won’t miss contact with your visitors
– Energy consumption in your house can be tracked – electricity, gas, water. You can compare different days and have …

Aside from providing clean energy from a practically infinite power source, solar power now has another advantage over traditional power sources: it can be generated on nearly any surface. It’s all thanks these new solar panels that are thin and flexible enough that they can be attached like stickers. Let’s see you make a stick-on gas tank.

The peel-and-stick solar panel was invented by a group of researchers from Stanford University’s Mechanical Engineering department, led by Phd candidate Chi Hwan Lee. The researchers were able to fabricate the panels via “a unique silicon, silicon dioxide and metal “sandwich.”  Solar cells are deposited on a thin film of nickel that is in turn deposited on the aforementioned silicon/silicon dioxide (Si/SiO2) wafer. The researchers separate the resulting solar film from the wafer using thermal release tape. Finally the solar film is peeled off of the tape using water. The resulting solar film can now be attached to a variety of surfaces using ordinary adhesive such as double-sided tape.

We may not understand that process in its entirety, but I’m sure you’ll find the group’s other findings to be exciting. Not only did they make stick-on solar panels, they did so using existing machines and materials. Even more exciting is the fact that Chi Hwan Lee and his colleagues believe that the process can also be applied to other components, including printed circuits, transistors and even LCDs. This could go a long way into ensuring that the next Google Glass will be Google Gontact Glens. You get the idea.

[via Nature & Stanford Engineering via Springwise via Electric Power]

Aside from generating heat, most electronic devices also emit electromagnetic fields. A rapid prototyping enthusiast named Dennis Siegel has found a way to tap into those fields and store them as usable energy by way of AA batteries. Think of his harvesters as the real life equivalent of the mutant Bishop.

Siegel wrote about his project on his website but he didn’t go into detail about his build process, only that he used “coils and high frequency diodes” to capture the electromagnetic fields. He also said that he made two different types of harvesters that convert electromagnetic fields of different frequencies. Using the harvesters couldn’t be simpler. They’ll automatically gather and store energy as long as there’s an electromagnetic field nearby. The harvesters also have an LED that glow in proportion to the strength of nearby electromagnetic fields. If you still can’t follow that, watch this creepy dude:

Siegel didn’t mention if he’s interested in making a commercial version of his project. But even if he is he still has a long way to go – his current prototypes need literally an entire day to charge one AA battery. Still, it’s nice to imagine that someday our gadgets will be powering each other and even themselves.

[via Dennis Siegel & Fast Co. Design via Visual News]

I think it’s definitely a good idea to try to replace some of the world’s nuclear power plants with clean and sustainable sources of energy. After the disaster at the Fukishima power plant, Japan has unveiled a plan to decrease its reliance on nuclear energy and move towards greater use of wind power.

To help with this transition, the Japanese Agency for Natural Resources and Energy plans to build the world’s largest offshore wind farm by 2020. It will be located near the current site of the now-defunct Fukushima nuclear power plant. The wind farm will have 143 wind turbines on floating platforms anchored to the sea floor. Once fully operational, the wind farm could generate up to a gigawatt of power.

This latest project is part of Japan’s initiative to become completely energy self-sufficient by 2040.

[via New Scientist]

Panasonic has developed a revolutionary hot water pipe that can actually turn the heat into usable electricity, as long as there’s also a source of cold water. The conversion process relies on the temperature difference between the hot and cold water, and since the entire pipe is used to harness heat, the power output is three or four times higher than previous efforts. More »