Category Archives: Gadgets and Tech
Power Assure is here to assure energy-efficiency at data centers, places where energy is wasted on a scale large enough to make our eyes pop out in shock. Anyways, the Santa Clara, California based company has just pulled the veil of its energy wastage reducing system that could just help save all that useful energy in corporate data centers. Based on computing load, this system scales back power usage of data center servers, cutting energy costs by as much as 50%! With the help of a device for the data center and an application, the system analyzes information gathered from the data center and switches between power supply modes according to demand. If demand for a particular server is low, the system makes sure lower power consumption is applied.
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Batteries make a difference. To our lives, our cars, our gadgets, our homes and just about everything that needs a touch of electricity. And without batteries, mobility would indeed be impaired. Its time that the world thinks up of a few ways to better these batteries and chemists Christopher Bielawski and Jonathan Sessler from the University of Texas at Austin have given research a start. Using a process of electron-switching that the chemists have just stumbled across, thinner, lighter and high-powered organic batteries might just seem less of a dream and more of a future reality! Taken that they shun the use of metals, these batteries are lighter with a potential to store more energy than conventional batteries and cost less for production. Batteries like these, if developed extensively, could last weeks or even months!
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Whirlpool is all set to offer the world a host of eco-friendly and environment-conscious appliances, the Whirlpool Green Generation, to be unveiled on the 28th of September this year in London. These energy efficient appliances offer some pretty jaw-dropping energy savings, equipped with cutting-edge 6th Sense technology. Take the Green Kitchen refrigerator for instance, that saves up to 46% more energy, using new insulation materials, variable capacity compressors and heat-exchangers with a better efficiency. Using a drawer design and trapping cold air inside these drawers, the refrigerator’s sensors also detect soil levels in water and keeps clean water from running down the drain, saving it in tanks instead.
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Today, solar energy is being used for loads of applications, powering up lives across the globe. However, the use of this renewable source of energy at times is somewhat unpractical. Solar energy cannot be used in applications where more energy is required all the while. To help make it a lot more efficient, MIT chemical engineers have developed a process, by which solar energy can be concentrated, 100 times over. Using nanotubes, hollow tubes of carbon atoms, antennas are formed to capture and focus light energy that helps solar arrays go more powerful and smaller. The tubes contain a fibrous rope that is 10 micrometers long and four micrometers thick consisting of 30 million carbon nanotubes. These can also be used for various other light concentrating needs like night vision goggles or telescopes.
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Refrigeration compressor technology has just received a boost in technology, thanks to Fisher & Paykel Appliance, changing the way these systems consume power. This new compressor developed jointly by Embraco shortens your electricity bill by up to 30% and will also help enhance refrigerator design, storage capacity, temperature control and environmental impact. The newly developed compressor shuns the use of oil, unlike the ones used before and offers an increased flexibility when it comes to positioning and installation, helping better refrigerator designs. The compressor is also comparatively smaller, with an additional space offering of 15 liters.
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Bags can do a lot more then just carry your stuff around these days. They generate electricity too! At the ‘EU PVSEC 2010’ held in Valencia, Spain, a company known as Konarka Technology unveiled their innovative technology that can be hooked on to bags of different shapes and sizes known as “Power Plastic”. These solar panels help convert interior as well as exterior lighting into electricity that you can use! Be it a backpack, a suitcase, cross bags, duffle bags or just about any other luggage you use, the Power Plastic soaks in the light to generate some power.
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Well, if the sun does decide to ditch all that’s solar powered one day, these Columbia Water and Light’s new solar powered lights sure wont be the one missing it. And why’s that? They use the wind to power up too! The LEDs use energy from the sun to power up, whenever possible, and when needed, switch to wind-power too. Currently, solar powered lights don’t have an alternative renewable energy source, mostly relying on the grid whenever the sun hides away. Also, unlike fluorescent bulbs that last between 6,000 and 15,000 hours, the LEDs used here last 100,000 hours. Costing $6,500, these lights are as bright as ever, and spread out the glow to quite an extent.
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The sun and the wind do act moody at times, and relying on them to have your devices charged up and running certainly isn’t always wise. So, designer Satoshi Yanagisawa came up with this design for a personal electricity charger that has your devices juiced up using nothing but kinetic energy! The device, known as the Cyclus, uses a spring and a 12V DC motor to turn kinetic energy into electricity. To generate energy, a user must simply twist the base module constantly for a good 30 minutes. A good way to keep you occupied while traveling or attending a boring lecture.
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We’ve probably been racing cars right since our childhood, remote controlled ones at least, if not for real. Those little cars that juiced up using batteries, draining out a few every time used, are now in for a change and a green one that too. Remote controlled racecars go environment friendly, using renewable energy sources to power up! The cars power up using a tiny windmill, a solar panel and a fuel cell. Using wind and solar energy, the cars can race around for a good 20 minutes after charging for 10 to 30 minutes. With the hydrogen cells on the other hand, the cars power up for a good 5 minutes after charging for around 3 minutes.
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Now it there really isn’t anyone to blame for your absent mindedness when it comes to energy conservation. We’d remind you time and again to unplug your devices till the idea hits a home-run and you realize the need to conserve energy. We’ve now got a little electrical-device-buddy who’ll help remind you to unplug. By designer Muhyeon Kim, the INSIC wall socket tells you just how much electricity you’ve been using, making you feel the pinch and get eco-conscious. This sure will help you realize just how much energy you could save, along with a few dollars, by just plugging out your devices after use.
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