Word: solarization
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...name when it comes to the environment and alternative energy," says Dieter Salomon, the lord mayor. "A lot of people, especially from Asia, come to see what we're doing." And Freiburg is doing a lot. Some 3% of the city's electricity comes from renewable sources, such as solar and wind power. The local power company - badenova AG & Co., which is partly owned by the city - has around 8 million kW-h of solar energy capacity, enough to power some 2,000 homes a year. Salomon's goal is to raise that figure to 10% by 2010. Freiburg...
...alight at outdoor-café tables, laptops in hand. With a click, they tap into a bold new energy future: a wireless network powered by the sun. The $10,000 project, which covers a six-block area, allows anyone to connect to the Internet through wi-fi transmitters powered by solar panels on nearby rooftops. The panels collect the sun's rays even on cloudy days and hook up to batteries that store 72 hours' worth of power, ensuring a steady supply. "It was a snap to hook up--no wires, no drilling," says Gerard Cote, spokesman for Downtown Boulder...
...Solar wi-fi is ideal for regions where electricity is scarce--from archaeological digs to disaster scenes, says Sally Lyon, co-founder of Boulder-based Lumin Innovative Products, which invented the system. Fellow founder and former Air Force engineer Ben Adams, who hatched the idea three years ago as he lugged a generator through the Nevada desert to hook up a communications system, is negotiating this month with U.S. and Australian forces to market solar wi-fi in Iraq. Each solar-paneled access point can relay wireless signals as far as 25 miles to other stations and can connect...
March of the Solar Soldier...
Researchers at the Army's Soldier Systems Center in Natick, Mass., would like to ease that load by turning soldiers into walking power plants. Iowa Thin Film Technologies began supplying the Army last year with pocket-size solar rechargers (weight 6 oz.) and tents embedded with flexible, plastic panels that can generate electricity. Soldiers field-testing the tents use them both for shelter and to operate medical or communications equipment. Another solar company, Konarka of Lowell, Mass., has also received a military grant and hopes to do away with solar panels altogether. The firm is developing light-sensitive fabrics that...