Solar Powered

Another Californian EV startup has unveiled an electric concept SUV – but this time, it's built to do between 10-60 miles per day on pure sunlight. The Humble One will rock more than 80 square feet of solar panels to self-charge even when unplugged.

Light-equipped bike helmets are now fairly common, but most of them still have to be plugged into a charger, and manually turned on and off as needed. The just-announced Omne Eternal, however, lets ambient light do all the work.

At the online-only CES 2021 earlier this month, German mobility startup Sono Motors revealed a collaboration with EasyMile to install its solar technology on driverless shuttles. Now we have a few more details.

Sono Motors has shown the second-gen Sion vehicle prototype at CES 2021, which features 248 photovoltaic panels integrated into the vehicle's body that will top up its battery pack during daylight hours, for up to 20 miles of extra range per day.

With three square meters of solar panel on the roof, and a body so ludicrously efficient that it can squeeze up to four times as much range out of a kilowatt-hour as other EVs, the new Aptera becomes the first EV you can drive daily and never charge.

Austrian boatbuilder Silent Yachts has already gained a fair bit of attention with its solar electric catamarans. Its just-announced latest model should continue that trend, as it's the result of a partnership with automakers Volkswagen and Cupra.

While autoclaves are considered essential for sterilizing medical equipment in First World health care facilities, they're often not available in developing nations where access to electricity is limited. A new solar-powered autoclave may be the answer to that problem.

Brazil's original Antarctic research base, built in the 1980s, was destroyed in a blaze in 2012. Estúdio 41 has designed the Antarctic Station Comandante Ferraz to keep scientists safe in some of the most extreme conditions on the planet.

A couple of years ago, we covered a two-seat electric pedalcycle called the Screecher that rocked a curved solar canopy above the rider to charge its batteries. Now the next generation is going into limited production.

While other truck companies look at fuel cells and electrics, Scania is experimenting with solarized plug-in hybrid trucks. The company believes its solar panel-decorated trailer will be able to deliver fuel savings between 5 and 20 percent.

Known for expanding the boundaries of e-powered ocean navigation, Silent Yachts has turned to vacation resorts. By using its solarized electric catamarans as floating condos, it'd create seaside resorts that are light, flexible and ready to deploy.

On the 400th anniversary of the start of an epic voyage from England to the New World aboard the Mayflower, an autonomous, solar-powered marine research vessel is due to launch on a mission to gather environmental data about the ocean.