Energy Sipping Technology: Solar Electronics

I’ve been traveling a lot lately and trying to work most efficiently with limited power sources. It has meant I’ve needed to be creative about maximizing my power supply across various devices in order to get things done. Soon, it may get even easier to go green with innovations in solar electronics.

T-shirt charges your phone by absorbing ambient sound, by Bryan Nelson at Mother Nature Network — T-shirts made of high-tech fabric enables music festival attendees to test capability to charge their phones via t-shirts.

The End of the Power Cord: Solar and Typing Powered Laptops, by Sarah Laskow at Good Magazine — Highlights how laptops are going to be powered by solar electronics and not just be recharged via solar power.

Solar Panels You Can Make With an InkJet Printer, by Scott Cameron at The Thin Green Line — Researchers have discovered how to print solar cells with ink-jet technology, which Scott supposes will lead to many solar-powered small electronics and gadgets.

How Wasteful is it to Keep My Chargers Plugged in When Not Connected to Their Devices? — In an Inhabit Ask a Tech Geek series, Peter Rojas responds to this question with recommendations on how you can make a difference in your power usage.

If you want to keep your finger on the pulse of other innovative topics, you might check out this inspiring summer reading list at Brain Pickings: Summer Reading List: 10 Essential Books for Cognitive Sunshine and An Optimist’s Tour of the Future.

As I was looking for posts to include in this article, I came across The 30 Most Underrated Innovations of 2010 at HuffPost. It’s still a timely article if you’re wanting to catch up on technology innovations.

Flickr Photo Credit: ePsos.de, Green Leaf of a Bio Plant in Nature