Photovoltaic

The community funding push that Sono Motors launched in early December, 2019, went on a little longer than originally advertised, but the company behind the PV-packed Sion family EV has come out of the other side with more money than was hoped for.

Germany's Sono Motors has given us a taste of what we can expect the production Sion to look like inside and out, and is now looking to future buyers to help raise €50 million to secure production facilities and more.

Engineers at MIT are developing a way to turn the humble RFID tag into a light-powered sensor for the internet of things.

A Spanish start-up called Proton New Energy Future has unveiled Ebörd, a smart table that has a wireless charger built into the entire surface, allowing it to charge multiple devices at once. Better yet, it harvests energy from the Sun or even artificial light.

Scientists at the University of Manchester in the UK have developed flags that are reckoned to be the first to harvest solar and wind at the same time. Not enough to power a house, or even a gadget such as a smartphone, but could be enough for set it and forget it remote sensors.

As of Jan. 1st, 2020, all new homes built in California will be required to have solar photovoltaic systems. The ruling is part of the California Energy Commission's newly-instituted 2019 Building Energy Efficiency Standards, aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

​Glass surfaces that double as solar collectors are potentially transformative materials for architects. A new building going up in Geneva will make full use of recent advances to wrap an office space in colored photovoltaic glass, providing shading and generating energy at the same time.

Tesla has packed a number of its smart energy products into the one tiny mobile package. The Telsa Tiny House is being towed behind a Model X on a tour of Australia in an attempt to spread the word about the benefits of Tesla's products for generating, storing and using your own electricity.

​Following a successful crowdfunding effort, German startup Sono Motors has started taking pre-orders for its electric city car. The Sion EV features photovoltaic panels on the roof, hood, sides and rear to charge the batteries while the electric car sits around waiting for someone to drive it.

Budapest startup Platio has spent the last couple of years developing a modular, self-contained paving panel that harvests the sun's energy to produce electricity. The panels have recently been rolled out in front of a shopping mall, at a harbor and integrated into outdoor seating.

Look past their overt flashiness, and some luxury yachts offer fascinating takes on how to effectively use limited space. With a simple hull design, airy interior and auxiliary solar power system, the Arcadia A85S aims to pack a clean, luxurious floating home into its 85-ft (25.6-m) hull.

Energy harvesting devices that generate electricity from light, heat, and mechanical pressure in a single package may soon be possible. Researchers from the University of Oulu have discovered a crystal mineral material that is able to simultaneously generate electricity from all these sources.