Daily Tech News

Solar panels that harness the sun's power to generate electricity provide clean power for homes, communities and businesses, and help cut global carbon emissions. Solar photovoltaic (pv) modules generate electricity from sunlight, which can be fed into the mains electricity supply of a building or sold to the public electricity grid. Reducing the need for fossil fuel generation, the growing grid-connected solar PV sector across the globe is helping create jobs, enabling families and businesses to save money, and cut greenhouse emissions. Key facts Typical cost between US$2,400 and US$3,200 per kWp for small sytems. Total installed capacity was 138.9GWp at end of 2013. Generates 0.8% of global electricity. Rapid market growth, 38% between 2012 and 2013. How grid-connected PV systems work PV modules use semiconductor materials to generate dc electricity from sunlight. A large area is needed to collect as much sunlight as possible, so the semiconductor is eithe...

Aluminum is made from a plentiful material found in the earth's crust. It occurs naturally in a mineral called bauxite. Most bauxite is mined overseas and shipped to the United States for processing. The aluminum in bauxite is formed when the material is refined to remove impurities. The refining process produces a fine, white powder called alumina or aluminum oxide. Electricity "zaps" the aluminum powder with a continuous electric current, which separates the aluminum from the oxygen. The electricity melts the aluminum so that it is hot and bubbly, like lava. Next, small amounts of other metals are added to the molten aluminum to add strength and corrosion resistance to the final product. The molten metal is cast into ingots or blocks, which are then rolled into long sheets and coiled (or rolled up like a sleeping bag). The aluminum is then sent to the can or end manufacturing plant. The aluminum beverage can is made with two pieces — the can body and the can end ...

Although  velomobiles  in general are a rather obscure class of vehicle, the human/solar-powered  Elf  is certainly one of the better-known recent examples. Inspired by its design and performance, Spanish startup evovelo recently put the finishing touches on the prototype of a similar vehicle, known as the mö. Like the Elf, it's propelled by pedal-power and/or an electric motor – and that motor is in turn powered by the sun. The enclosed 85-kg (187-lb) tricycle seats two people side-by-side, plus it has room for things like bags of groceries or an infant seat. Along with pedals it has a direct drive motor, the power of which can be adapted to meet legislation in different countries – it could range from 250 up to 1,500 watts. Besides receiving electricity from the rooftop photovoltaic panels, its 48V/15Ah battery pack can also be recharged via a sealed exterior charging port, or it can be removed and taken indoors to charge. According to evove...

BRG (Bell, Riddell and Giro) Sports has used CES 2016 to introduce a new line of motorcycle, mountain bike and snow helmets featuring 360fly's proprietary 360-degree 4k video camera. The collaboration sees the 360fly camera and app integrated into four different BRG Sports helmets – the BellStar street motorcycle helmet, the Bell Moto 9 off road motorcycle helmet, the Bell Super 2R mountain bike helmet, and the Giro Edit snow helmet. The camera shoots at 2880 x 2880 at up to 30 fps as well as standard 16 x 9 format and the accompanying app is designed for simple editing and sharing. The unit includes a built-in GPS sensor to tag locations, a barometer/altimeter, an accelerometer, built-in Bluetooth and built-in Wi-Fi, and up to two hours of battery life. The camera can also be detached and used independent of the helmet. Additional features planned for inclusion in the helmet and camera combo will allow the user to automatically track the action of the main ...