By Imran Rana

The demand for solar panels has increased considerably, thanks to extensive power and gas outages and high tariffs that have not only hurt industrial activities but have also disturbed the monthly household budgets.

By JUERGEN BAETZ 

Germany plans to reduce government subsidies supporting solar power by up to 30 percent within a year because higher-than-expected demand has made the scheme far more costly than authorities initially expected.

Chinese Solar Companies Next To Go Belly Up

by Marc Carter

If you read Inhabitat, you probably know that we’re big fans of green transportation, but we do think it’s important to see the bigger picture when it comes to electric cars.

by Andrew Michler

Two solar power giants in the US are embroiled in a legal face off which has industrial espionage and intrigue written all over it. Commercial solar supplier Sunpower is hitting solar installer SolarCity with a lawsuit claiming it stole confidential information.

by Andrew Michler

The dream of going wireless with a laptop or iPad becomes pretty meaningless when reality hits and you’re left with a battery drained to nothing. But Voltaic‘s new solar backpack brings things back into balance, giving you the option to recharge your laptop and other gadgets even if the sun isn’t shining! Incorporating a battery with a sewn in 10 watt monocrystal solar module, the setup has two power ports and four voltage settings connected to the 60 watt battery. The new backpack gives you the ability to recharge just about any portable device whenever you need to.

by Andrew Michler

Samsung just threw their hat into the growing LED market by launching a new line of bulbs that can suit practically any lighting need. The line features 7 energy-sipping bulbs that should fit practically any socket in the house. The new bulbs join the ever-expanding options available to shoppers who are looking to save money and get just the right light. Read on for a closer look at these new bulbs, and to learn how they stack up against the competition.

by Andrew Michler

China just took a massive step forward for renewable energy as it flipped the switch on the world’s largest battery, which will help integrate a solar project and a wind farm into a smart grid. Capable of storing 36 megawatt hours of power and taking up the area of a football field, the giant battery bank was built as a joint venture between solar and electric car company BYD and the State Grid Corporation of China to improve a large wind and solar electric installation’s efficiency by 5-10%. It looks like we have a race to see who will have the largest battery in world as utilities struggle to make solar and wind technologies usable for longer periods of time.

by Andrew Michler

One of the holy grails of clean technology is now one step closer to reality as Noble Prize-winning chemist George Olah just developed a breakthrough low-cost plastic material than acts as one of the most effective CO2 absorbers ever created. Olah directed a team of researchers at the University of Southern California to take a common plastic which soaks up CO2 at moderate levels and fuse it to a silica substrate which vastly increases its surface area – and thus its effectiveness.

by Andrew Michler

Switzerland-based industrial machine behemoth ABB just announced plans to throw its weight behind a massive network of electric vehicle charging stations across Europe, the US, and Asia. The company plans to integrate chargers into smart grid systems and allow drivers to juice up their electric vehicles while they are out and about. The announcement is a big nod that the nascent electric car market is set to boom – sources project that over 5 million EVs will be sold each year by 2017, and the charger market is valued at $1 billion.

By Andrew Michler

by Marc Carter

London designer Omer Sagiv created this solar-powered concept car that looks like it’s straight out of the latest sci-fi movie. The concept car is referred to as the SPV (Solar Power Vehicle) and Sagiv states that it’s made of aluminum with flexible thin modules fixed to it and that the shaft in the center of the SPV functions as an in-built cooling system. The aerodynamic shape of the concept allows it to collect energy in any sunny environment. Even better, the concept can also use the extra energy that it collects from its solar panels to power its owner’s house!

by Mihai Sandru

Someone has finally taken the issue of recharging electric vehicles into their hands! I’m talking about industrial robotics supplier ABB, who plans to set in place a massive 3-continent network of charging stations.

Nadim Inaty

Green wheels on a simulator, which converts the kinetic energy produced by the human body into electricity. Several machines are connected to a central storage unit of energy, where electricity can be supplemented with road lighting and traffic lights. Designer Nadim Inaty imagines that the device can be placed in public places, and allow users to donate a portion of its running time in exchange for a place to start. If you are in any case, why not?

By James Holloway

Walney wind farm off the coast of Cumbria in the UK yesterday became the world’s largest offshore wind facility. One hundred and two turbines over 73 sq km (28 sq miles) provide a maximum output of 367.2 MW. It’s claimed the facility will provide enough power for about 320,000 homes – half as many again as the total number in Cumbria.

The project’s first phase, Walney 1, has been providing power since January 2011 from 51 137-meter-high (450-ft) turbines, each with a 107-m (350-ft) rotor diameter. The completed second phase, Walney 2, adds another 51 turbines of even greater size to the installation. These 150-m (492-ft) tall turbines have three 18-tonne (19.8-short ton) blades with a total diameter of 120 m (394 ft). Despite the differing dimensions, all turbines are Siemens-made 3.6 MW turbines. All told a single wind turbine weighs a hefty 550 tonnes (606 short tons). The Walney 2 installation was completed in an impressively tight six-month window.