Yes, that is a camel with solar panels mounted on its back. I could let you guess what they are for, but I won’t. The solar cells power a small refrigerator, which allows them to deliver heat-sensitive vaccines to remote health centers that serve nomadic communities in Africa. When refrigeration is not needed, the solar system provides lighting at the clinic. To back up the solar system, for the rare times that the sun is not shining in the desert, there is also a foot-powered generator. [Tree Hugger via MAKE]

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Despite its apparent fragility, the solar-powered Zephyr has set a new record for unmanned flight and managed to stay aloft for a total time of 83 hours and 37 minutes (not too far south of four days). The Zephyr makes use of solar panels which power and lithium-sulfur batteries to allow 24 hour flight.

Of course, this thing has military applications, the plan is to use them as a surveillance platform, with the military hoping for indefinite flight. [Associated Press via DVICE]

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When 23-year-old Nicole Kuepper, a PhD student at the University of New South Wales in Australia, Macguyvered up a system to create solar panels out of a process involving a pizza oven, nail polish and an ink jet printer, it could have been described as a Eureka moment, it would later gain her a prestigious Eureka prize. The iJet process could be a means to take make solar power cheap enough for people in developing countries to afford.

More details when they become available. [The Australian via Tree Hugger, DVICE]

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Why aren’t air conditioners solar powered? The power requirements of air conditioners are astronomical so a single air conditioner would require a large surface area of panels to supply its power needs. The GreenCore 10200 gets around that by using a battery pack which is recharged throughout the day.

While the configuration that the GreenCore comes with will not provide enough power to completely run the air conditioner, it will put a dent in the power bill and it can be joined to other solar panels to supply its complete power needs. [Green Core Air via Treehugger, DVICE]

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When you really think about it, MP4 players are just begging to be solar powered. They don’t use a whole lot of power, so you can get away with a reasonably small solar panel. The PowerPlus Toucan is a pretty good idea, if you are the sort of person that spends extended periods of time in the outdoors, watching movies on a 2-inch screen. (more…)

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