Solar Updates: Something Old, Something New
It seems like every week it’s something new and unusual that I find to report to you on the solar front, but this week it’s a spring wedding – something old and something new.
Unique Solar Lighting
Solar lighting isn’t all that new anymore and yet companies are still able to make something unique out of the concept. Qnuru has come up with some very singular designs with their solar lights. Not only are the fixtures distinctive, they operate a bit differently than most other solar lights. The Qnuru lights offer LED fixtures in odd shapes and sizes, made from as many recyclable materials as they deem fit to use and operated through “intelligent power management.” And even though I can’t really tell you what that is (perhaps the lights are smarter than I am) I can tell you that these first-rate lights have solar panels that trigger the LED lights and since I don’t see any panels actually on the lights, I’m guessing that they are installed elsewhere in/on the home and that the power management system is designed to pick up the power generated by the panels and converts it into energy the fixture can use for the LEDs.
Photo Credit: Qnuru
Award-Winning Solar Cooker
Another old concept, the solar oven, has been taken to a new level and may, in fact, soon be mass-produced to help fight hunger in Kenya (well, it might, at least, help fight undercooked meals). The Financial Times and HP Climate Challenge contest named a simple solar oven creator as their $75k winner. Jon Bohmer, who was located in Kenya at the time, designed what he calls the Kyoto Box, which is basically a black cardboard box inside a foil-lined cardboard box that absorbs the sun’s heat and concentrates it onto the clear-lidded pot placed in the center of the box to cook food. Some were baffled that such a simple and so-yesterday idea could be the winner of the contest, but apparently the powers-to-be at the challenge loved the idea, which is renewable and feasible for cheap production. The solar cooker, which can be made for $5 or less, is capable of being produced at the rate of about 2.5 units per month – and that just may be what a factory in
Kenya is planning to do.
Elegant Solar Water Feature
Simple is good, but simple elegance is even better. You can now use solar power to ritz up your landscaping. A solar powered water fountain is now on the market, in a very simplified and inexpensive version. The device, which is completely cordless and wireless, operates from the solar energy provided through the small solar panel that comes with it. The nozzle is installed in your pond or other water feature and uses the solar energy to create an upward spray, giving your yard that relaxing falling water sound.
Solar Bicycles for the Lazy Riders
Photo Credit: TrendHunter.com
Using solar power is just one of those things you never lose. Even if you stop for a long time it’s easy to remember how – just like riding a bike. And now (drum roll), it IS for riding a bike. Solar powered bicycles can make even the laziest of people appear to be getting their exercise! Actually, this thing is really cool – it’s a lightweight, foldable bicycle that uses solar power to operate the pedals for you. The Solar Man (why not Solar Woman – asks the girl-writer?) also uses the sun’s rays to work the rear bicycle light as well as the bike’s information display panel. While it can be seen as the lazy man’s bike, it can also be seen as a great way to transport yourself in a green way to places that were, before now, too far to pedal to on your own.
Posted on April 28th in Solar Products by Jennifer.