But one French company by the name of Wysips has officially one-upped the competition with a product that transforms any cell phone into a clean power-producing machine. Yes, even yours.

Designed similarly to a screen protector, the product is a transparent photovoltaic film that is placed directly on the screen. Worried your touch screen won’t work? The film is extremely thin (only 100 microns deep), which means a phone’s touch-screen abilities will remain the same, as will the screen view.

Once the phone is placed in sunlight, the film will go to work charging the phone’s battery. It takes longer than plugging the phone into a traditional charger (6 hours in direct sunlight), but anytime it’s exposed to sunlight it will work to top your battery off—meaning fewer charges on a regular basis. In addition, a newer model could provide as much as 30-60 minutes of talk time after just an hour of charge.

Another upside to such a universal product is the fact that it could eventually lead to phone companies making smaller batteries, and thus, slimmer, more eco-friendly phones. Other devices can the technology as well, such as iPads and e-readers.

Since most consumers aren’t ready to ditch their current phones in favor of a strictly solar model, this seems an excellent solution.

What do you think? Would you pick up one of these solar screens?

But while many people have questioned how this massive event will play out in 110-degree heat, scientists and engineers in Qatar are prepared to create a solution before it becomes a problem.

This solution comes in the form of clouds—solar-powered, gas-filled clouds, that is. The clouds, controlled by remotes, will be maneuvered to cover the playing field, shielding both players and spectators from direct and indirect rays.

In addition, the clouds will follow the sun as it moves from east to west, ensuring that the field will remain covered throughout the day.

According to Saud Abdul Ghani, head of the stadium’s mechanical and industrial engineering department, the clouds will be similar to a blimp filled with helium, surrounded by a lightweight carbon structure.

The devices will be able to fly very high in order to block out as much sunlight as possible, and are to be powered by four solar-powered engines.

So how much will this technology cost? It’s expected to ring in around $500,000, making some people question if installing a solar shade over the stadium might be a better bet.

But with 11 years still to go before the streets are crowded with soccer fanatics, there is certainly time to tweak the plan.

Photos via Flickr CC: Larry Johnson & Peter

For instance, scientists have spent years trying to replicate photosynthesis, a process so intricate and complicated it took a multitude of trials to figure out. But they have made a breakthrough—and the impact it could have on off-grid living is huge.

The announcement of the breakthrough was made by the American Chemical Society, an organization of researchers that were able to create an “artificial leaf” capable of turning sunlight directly into energy for later use.

So what makes it different from any other solar cell currently on the market? Just like a regular leaf, it uses water.

In fact, the “artificial leaf” is submerged in water under direct sunlight, allowing it to break down the liquid into hydrogen and oxygen. These gases are then stored in the fuel cell.

While the process is impressive, the amount of energy it can produce is even more amazing—one single leaf could power an entire household in a developing area. They’ve already seen one prototype work for 45 hours straight without dipping in efficiency.

While the technology itself has been around for nearly a decade now, this particular model could actually make it onto the market because of its low cost. It’s created from nickel and cobalt, making large-scale manufacture feasible.

Daniel Nocera, Ph.D. and head researcher on the team said it best:

“A practical artificial leaf has been one of the Holy Grails of science for decades. We believe we have done it. The artificial leaf shows particular promise as an inexpensive source of electricity for homes of the poor in developing countries. Our goal is to make each home its own power station. One can envision villages in India and Africa not long from now purchasing an affordable basic power system based on this technology.”

Photo Credit: Yoko Nekonomania via Flickr CC

Offshore solar power? The concept may seem a little strange, but an Australian solar power company by the name of Sunengy has not only built a prototype for floating solar panels—they’ve been given the go-ahead in India to build an entire off-shore solar plant.

This one-of-a-kind solar plant has its fair share of advantages over traditional facilities. According to Sunengy, the Liquid Solar Array (LSA) technology offers reduced costs because the panels don’t require the use of pricy supporting structures.

The lenses are also able to track the sun easily throughout the day, and won’t be damaged if submerged underwater. In fact, the water helps cool the cells, which in turn increases cell efficiency and lifespan.

Hydropower currently supplies 87% of the world’s renewable energy, although its availability depends on whether water is available or not.

But according to Phil Connor, Sunengy Executive Director and Chief Technology Officer, this LSA installation would not only match the power offered by a hydro dam using only 10% of its surface area, it could also provide an extra 6-8 hours of power each day.

Sunengy is pairing with India-based Tata Power to get this pilot plant under construction by August of this year. If all goes as planned, they hope to market the technology to hydropower facilities, mining sites, and small villages and communities that rely heavily on diesel power generators.

Perhaps one of the largest upsides to the LSA technology is that finding open land to build on is no longer an issue. That will undoubtedly spark much interest in the future.

That is just the case with SunTech, a company that will soon build a massive solar array on the largest, highest place on earth: the Tibetan Plateau.

The land is situated between the Himalayan range and the Taklamakan Desert, and is calculated at 4,000 meters above sea level. Being this high up means a massive amount of intense sunlight—exactly what led SunTech to decide it’s a prime spot for solar.

With plans to build in Chek Kang village in Sangri County, the 10MW array will provide 20,000MWh of renewable electricity every year to surrounding towns and villages.

But while the land may be perfect for this purpose, installing a solar installation here will also push Tibet towards more sustainable economic development.

The Founder, Chairman and CEO of SunTech, Dr. Zhengrong Shi understands the upsides to creating this solar array:

“We’re proud to invest in preserving the region’s fragile ecosystem by providing an economically-viable and sustainable solution for electricity generation. From the desert sands of Arizona to the peaks of the Himalayas, anyone can look up and harness nature’s cleanest and most abundant energy resource.”

Surrounding villages are also looking forward to the new installation, as hard-to-predict weather patterns have made their strict reliance on hydroelectric resources nearly impossible.

So while Tibetans will still use their previous forms of energy, they will now also be able to rely heavily on the power generated by the solar power array.

In showing their appreciation for SunTech’s efforts to bring solar power to the region through this project and several others, a SunTech flag now flies on Mount Everest—a clear indication that this company has all the support they need to make this installation a success.

Photo Credit: Jesse Allen via Wikimedia CC

Soon potential car buyers will no longer have to decide between having the spectacular sports car of their dreams, or the fuel-saving hybrid that doesn’t look quite as fetching. Porsche is now jumping on the hybrid bandwagon with the plug-in 918 Spyder.

With a design mirroring that of the Carrera GT, the 917, and the RS Spyder race cars, the 918 Spyder features a 500-plus horsepower V8 engine alongside two electric motors with an additional 218 horsepower. In terms of fuel economy, it’s estimated that the vehicle will consume 3.0L/100 km with a capacity of more than 4.0 liters.

The electrical energy for the vehicle will be contained in a liquid-cooled lithium-ion battery that can be recharged by plugging it into any standard outlet. Charge times will vary, but in the United States it is expected to take around seven hours. If the car is driven strictly using its electrical capabilities it has an estimated distance of over 16 miles.

Currently, the model contains two seats and a manual roof system that allows the panels to be removed and stored in the front luggage compartment.

Planning on grabbing one for yourself? You might want to think twice. In order to jack up the asking price, Porsche will only be making a total of 918 cars. The asking price in the U.S. will be undeniably high ($845,000 to be exact), although this doesn’t even include the destination and handling charges.

Production for this killer sports car turned hybrid will begin in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen in September, 2013—plenty of time to save until then, right?

With backing from Google, CoolPlanetBiofuels will begin marketing a technology that produces fuel from inedible biomass, like grass, wood chips, crop residue and algae.

The byproduct of these substances captures carbon and can also be added to crops to increase their output. It’s what the company calls “negative carbon fuel.”

According to CoolPlanet, if the excess carbon is used as a soil conditioner, it can “provide up to twice the global warming reduction benefits of today’s cleanest technologies such as solar or wind electricity production, and solar and wind recharged electric vehicles.”

With an impressive technology at their fingertips, the company is ecstatic about the financial support they’ll be receiving from Google.

“While we have made significant progress over the past couple of years,” said CoolPlanet’s CEO Mike Cheiky, “this new infusion of capital, coupled with the expertise of the Google Ventures team, enables our team to scale even faster.”

The funding amount has yet to be released to the public, but Google has an excellent track record of providing substantial amounts to various start-ups in a wide variety of fields.

Last month, for instance, Google gave $42 million to a weather insurance start-up. So things are certainly heating up for CoolPlanetBiofuels.

The company made a substantial effort to decrease its energy consumption starting in 2009 with creation of an “Energy Scorecard.” This helped track data and score the energy-saving strides made at 500 of AT&T’s top energy-consuming facilities. In turn, the real estate managers at each site were able to provide feedback that led to the 4,200 projects tackled the following year.

According to AT&T Director of Energy John Schinter, the use of an Energy Scorecard had several positive effects. “We provided our employees with the needed tracking tools, training and incentives for them to be successful in their tremendous efforts to reduce AT&T’s energy use and realize significant cost savings.”

Some of AT&T’s biggest cost-savers:

• Replacing tower light controllers and incandescent bulbs with LEDs
• Removing switches at 11 central office sites—this alone cut down 300,000 kilowatt hours
• Installing desktop power management software on 169,000 computers, cutting costs by $614,000 annually

Continuing with their goal of getting employees involved, AT&T set up an online program to train their real estate managers on energy management. They have also continued to decrease the energy intensity of data carried on their network by 15% compared to 2009 (down by 23.8% from 2008).

Participants in the Environmental Defense Fund’s Climate Corps program in 2010, AT&T is setting a precedence of eco-friendly business practices that other companies should consider getting on board with.

You already know that solar panels can lower your energy usage and support the environment, but GreenRay Solar wants to help you visualize those savings.

Along with web design agency Bartlett Interactive, GreenRay created an online dashboard application that allows consumers to see exactly how much energy their system is currently producing and, in turn, environmental benefits such as number of trees planted and cars taken off the road.

Using a variety of means—statistics, charts, graphs, and icons—the site shows a breakdown of energy creation by the day, week, month, and entire lifetime of your solar panel installation. The information is specific to each array, taking into account different variables like amount of sunlight available on any given day.

It’s an added product feature that consumers love, but GreenRay Solar is certainly reaping the benefits as well. Harry Bartlett from Bartlett Interactive explains, “There’s a great demand by consumers to see how much energy they are producing, as well as any information that quantifies an environmental impact or benefit. The GreenRay dashboard is a rich source of data that consumers can easily understand and appreciate.”

Installers are able to use the tool as well by periodically checking on the panels they’ve installed and ensuring that they perform optimally. Engineers at GreenRay can also use the data collected from the program to improve their products and placement of solar arrays.

Other solar companies may be a bit behind on the curve, but it seems undeniable that they will soon be following suit with programs like GreenRay’s SunTrak. In turn, homeowners might just be more invested in getting a solar panel installation of their own.

With the recent launch of the world’s first hybrid solar energy plant, it looks like Florida is putting its reputation as the Sunshine State to good use. Martin Next Generation Solar Energy Center will not only help to push the state to the forefront of the solar market, but will also showcase an example of how new and old energy forms can work together.

The plant is located in Martin County, sprawling over 500 acres of Florida Power and Light Company (FPL) owned land. With nearly 200,000 solar thermal mirrors currently being used to track and contain the energy released by the sun, it has the ability to power an impressive 11,000 homes. But solar power isn’t its only means of collecting energy. It’s also working with the existing natural gas plant, thus the reason it’s considered “hybrid.”

This 75-MW facility is expected to reduce fossil fuel consumption by 41 billion cubic feet of natural gas and 600,000 barrels of oil. In turn, this could mean 2.75 million tons less of greenhouse gas emissions and $178 million in fuel cost savings over a 30-year period.

Martin Next Generation Solar Energy Center is FPL’s third large-scale renewable energy project in the past two years. In addition to delivering an additional 110 megawatts of renewable energy to the state, all three projects have led to the creation of 5,000 much-needed new jobs.

Seeing as this will be the first plant to combine solar energy with natural gas, state leaders and residents hold high hopes for The Martin Energy Center. Eric Draper, executive director of Audubon of Florida summed it up, “Today we are creating Florida’s future as the clean energy state. By investing in emissions-free solar power, FPL is creating a brighter future and reducing the risk to our citizens from the environmental and economic risks of fossil fuels.”