Off the coast of Washington State on Lopez Island is a new 11-home community designed for sustainability, energy efficiency and affordability. Key specs include straw bale construction, organic plas...
There are all sorts of levels of urban homesteading. We'd argue that if you grow your own tomatoes and can the extras for winter, you're a bit of a homesteader. But then there are the more dedicated/e...
Anyone with a pool knows the drill. Right after a dip in the pool, you need to take a quick shower. While there are other systems out there, this is the first that we've seen that will heat the water ...
We love the tongue-in-cheek sunflower design of this solar powered CD player/charging station combination, but haven't found any evidence it has yet made it into production. With the CD controls an...
We love the idea of harnessing the power of the sun to cool our homes — it just seems so fitting! This design concept is intended to reduce dependency on conventional air conditioning units b...
Sure, it would be great if all our homes were juiced via solar panels, but since a lot of us rent and we can only demand so much from our landlords, we have to make do with what we've got. One way to...
Scheduled for construction in 2010, LSarc architects has designed a three-story home that is totally energy neutral. An eight kilowatt solar array, connected to the main energy grid and net metered...
I was impressed to learn that these "barrel-style" roof tiles pictured above actually contain photovoltaic cells that generate electricity. They're constructed from a light-weight performance polyme...
When Toronto-based architect Paul Raff was designing this home for a family of four, he knew he needed to find a way to bring the warmth and light of Arizona — from which the family had just m...
Eco Pool Technologies's Solar-Breeze is to the pool like a Roomba robotic vacuum is to your living room. Except this helpful pool cleaner doesn't require any outlet, taking advantage of two long, thin...
This new design by Shanghai design student Yun Li is a unique take on a solar powered lamp. The layered device absorbs solar power during the day, then gives it off when the device is separated in ...
Spending time in your backyard or on your patio is great... until the mosquitoes come out. Even with Citronella candles and bug spray, it can feel like a losing battle. So we're intrigued by these...
Natural sunlight is always a great way to light and heat your home. The heliostat by Practical Solar takes a different approach than Solatube, and uses a computer to track the sun in order to reflec...
Qnuru's new line of solar lighting combines high efficient LED lights coupled with quality solar panels and enclosed in as many recyclable materials as possible. See some of their distinctive designs ...
There have been a couple solar lamps floating around before but none this impressive. This prototype from Sony uses a new technology that mimick's photosynthesis using a new dye-sensitized solar cell,...
As much as some of us would love to have a spread of solar panels soaking up energy atop our roofs, we're intimidated by the price tag. And rightfully so: a 2-kilowatt system could set you back as muc...
Renters don't have much say in whether a building gets solar panels or not - it's completely up to the landlord. And seeing as landlords don't pay our electric bills, we aren't expecting the footsteps...
In same vein as the recent Solar and Wind Photovoltaic ‘Leaves’ post, the Wind-lit: Solar lights also harness solar and wind energy and provide outdoor illumination......
The GROW hybrid energy system is a naturally inspired mechanism of flexible, leaf-like solar panels that harness both solar and wind energy. Check out how the "leaves" shimmer...quite beautiful and me...
While the weather during this time of year does not allow it, we do like to work on our laptop out in the backyard. While our Wi-Fi connection means no need for a wired connection to the internet, our...
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