How to build a Solar Panel

1. Treat yourself to some powdered doughnuts and herbal tea. The powdered sugar on US-style doughnuts contains titanium dioxide (TiO2 or E171). This is a semiconductor that can be used to make solar cells. To extract the TiO2 in a useful form, first scrape off all the powder and put it in a cup of warm water. Stirring this will dissolve all the sugar (there is a lot of it).

2. Running the whitish water through a coffee filter will leave behind a white blob -- this is the precious TiO2, along with some unwanted fat.

3. Because the fat is useless for solar cells, you'll need to put the residue in a hot oven for a few hours to vaporise it. The TiO2 remains as nanoparticles, each around 100nm wide.

4. Throw these particles into high-proof ethanol (vodka will do: use 1ml per doughnut) and shake.

5. Now conductive glass is needed (tough to find, but indium-doped tin oxide is best). With an eye dropper or syringe, drop ten layers of the nanoparticle spirit on the glass, allowing it to dry with each layer. Then put it back in the oven.

6. This is now a solar cell, but it will work only with UV light (the bad kind). Here is where the tea comes in. Leave the nanoparticle solar cell sitting in a cup of hibiscus tea for a couple hours, and soon it will have absorbed the colour, shifting its useful range from UV (useless) to visible light.

7. To collect energy from this solar cell, you'll need a counter-electrode. Take another piece of conducting glass and use a dark pencil to cover the surface with graphite.

8. To get your electricity to your counter-electrode, a generous amount of iodine in high-proof alcohol works well as an electrolyte. Use one part alcohol to three parts Lugol's solution -- available from health stores and aquarium suppliers.

9. Cut a hole in some thin plastic or tape to use as a spacer, and place it on the nanoparticle cell. Drop some electrolyte on top, and quickly sandwich the two electrodes together with some bulldog clips.

10. You're done! A multimeter connected to both of the conducting electrodes should show about half a volt when in the sun.

This article was taken from the March issue of Wired UK magazine.

African huts glow with solar power

KIPTUSURI, Kenya - Sara Ruto's yearn for electricity began with a purchase of her first cellphone for receiving money transfers, contacting relatives, or even calling nearby markets for the prices of chicken. However, powering her phone was no simple matter, due to the fact that there is no electricity to begin with in farming villages residing in Kenya. Therefore, Ruto walked 2 miles to hitch a 3 hour ride on a motorcycle taxi bound to Mogotia, the nearest town with electricity  to charge her phone for 30 cents. It doesn't end there; with such high demand of locals needing to charge their phones, Ruto has no choice but to leave her phone there for 3 days before returning home. However, Ruto's distressful routine ends in February when the family saves up their money as well as selling their cattle for a solar panel made from China costing them $80 but well worth the investment. The solar panel provides enough electricity to charge their phones and also running 4 overhead lights with switches. Ever since Ruto had hooked up her solar panel, her children of six drastically improved their school grades from having light in their home as well as avoiding burns from kerosene lamps.

Sara Ruto holds a small solar-powered LED light, part of a system that also charges cell phones, at her home in Kiptusuri, Kenya. Ruto, who used to travel miles to charge her mobile phone at the nearest town with electricity, purchased a solar panel for about $80 to charge her phone and power several lights.

Ed Ou / New York Times News Service

Thanks to this solar panel, Sara Ruto no longer takes a three-hour taxi ride to a town with electricity to recharge her cellphone.(Ed Ou/The New York Times)

Apple eyes another patent for solar-powered iPhone

Apple yet again faces to amaze me; the company files a patent application, regarding to solar panel technology towards their smaller end devices such as iPhones and iPods. With solar cells embedded over the "integrated touch sensor" (another word for the display screen for people who aren't tech savvy), the phone can act as a "solar charger" powering your phone, but at the same time, waiting for incoming calls outdoors. Though this idea may seem too good to be true, fellow Apple fans, don't have your hopes up too high for patent applications don't necessarily mean "Apple" will launch this device anytime soon. Especially with solar technology being a bit pricey in the current market towards production funds, the official launch of this project may take quite some time.

(Credit: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office)

Bracelet mobile phone powered by the sun!

Two designers, Seungkyun Woo and Junyi Heo, inspired by the process of photosynthesis, incorporates a bracelet designed to make and receive calls and text messages powered by the sun. To explain it more in-depth,  the solar cells, located on the front panel, juices the device. The cradle dock also hosts cells on the back as a backup panel to power your bracelet. There will never be a time that you will go crazy about losing your phone once realizing your phone had been with you all this time. Best wishes to them!