Apple Experiments with the Solar iWatch

       Apple is "experimenting with wristwatch-like devices", the New York Times reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with Apple's tests. The devices would be made of curved glass and, not surprisingly, run on iOS, the paper said. Apple has discussed such a device with its key manufacturer Foxconn, the Wall Street Journal reported in a follow-up pace.

       A wrist watch could make a lot of sense in the context of Apple's search for way to deliver products that are more accessible in lower income markets, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said in a report last month, the Times notes. Rumors circulated earlier this year that Apple was looking at plastic to bring the cost of an iPhone down to between $99 and $250.

       Apple may have its own energy solution to the power constraints a watch running iOS may face. The U.S. Patents and Trademark on February 5 granted Apple patent No. 8,368,654 for "Integrated touch sensor and solar panel configurations." The solar patent would introduce optical sensing capabilities to the screen as a means to interact with it and to boost its energy generating capacity.

       "The integrated touch sensor array and solar cell stack-ups may include electrodes that are used both for collecting solar energy and for sensing on a touch sensor array. By integrating both the touch sensors and the solar cell layers into the same stack-up, surface area on the portable device may be conserved. In addition to being used for capacitive sensing, the integrated touch sensor and solar panel configurations may also be used for optical sensing," Apple notes in the patent.

         The patent adds: "When an approaching object, such as a finger, is detected the solar panel may switch to a capacitive sensing mode to more precisely locate the object. Alternatively, the solar panel may cycle between solar power/optical sensing mode and capacitive sensing mode."

Solar Funding in Germany Will Stop at 52 Gigawatts

Germany's energy policies have been very friendly towards the continual production of clean energy sources such as solar and wind power. While some of these policies tend to be structural and permanent, others are designed to be "temporary boosts" to help society rely less on fossil fuels and more on renewable energy sources. 

Peter Altmaier, Germany's federal minister of the environment, has announced that Germany will stop subsidizing solar energy by the year 2018 at the latest because the pre-set ceiling of 52 gigawatts of capacity should be reached by that time. 

          

AFP writes: "The system of subsidies, under which solar energy producers are paid a guaranteed price for each kilowatt-hour of power generated, created a boom in recent years, making Germany a global leader in the field. The farm sector in particular seized upon solar power as a chance to supplement income, and the low price of solar panels from Asia contributed to the craze."

New Jersey Approves $446 Million Solar Investment

        New Jersey state regulators had approved a proposal brought up by the utility company, Public Service Electric & Gas (PSE&G), which the plan triggered permission granted to go ahead on two projects increasing the involvement and usage of solar power. The two projects will both be financed by an incremental increase in customers' utility bills.
         According to Associated Press reports, the first project consists of offering nearly $200 million in loans to commercial and residential areas to install solar power systems in their buildings. The second project will help finance an extension of the utility's Solar4All program through 2016 that helps to develop solar installations primarily on unused landfills and former industrial sites, known as brownfields.
          However, the state-appointed advocate for utility customers has criticized the landfill decision as creating an unfair market advantage for PSE&G since the company is expected to recover its costs through rate increases. In return, New Jersey had, instead, approved the proposal under the conditions that adjustments be made in PSE&G's utility rates such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions, raising electric bills for residential customers by $11.45 a year and costs to the same gas customers by $2.18 annually.

The Solar Pocket Factory

        In 2012, solar power has been given an outlook of being expensive and there has been conflicting problems in the portable solar panels, which after a couple of years, lose charging capabilities. That's where Shawn Frayne and Alex Hornstein has thought of plans how to give portable solar charging stations the longevity and price to make them commercially available worldwide and founded "Solar Pocket Factory."
        This project is a kickstarter project, which they attempt to make a perfect development of the pocket factory (and then they claim it to help make a new panel every 15 seconds to ensure the longevity of receiving solar power). For more information, visit here!

Argentina builds Most Powerful Solar Energy Park in Latin America!

      In the Argentinan province of San Juan, the government has authorized to develop what will be the most powerful solar energy park in Latin America. Already Brazil, Germany, and Spanish companies have been expected to invest in the project, which has an estimated price tag of $120 million, in which the provincial government of San Juan has agreed to invest $15 million to $20 million in the project.
      According to a Spanish news source Cronista, the solar park has been producing between 1500 and 2400 megawatts of energy, making it the biggest single producer of solar energy throughout all South American and Latin American countries.
       There is a landmark in Argentina that is also remarkable to many tourists; it is known as the Bueno Aires landmark, the solar-powered Floralis Generica. This landmark is a large metallic sculpture that opens its petals with the sun at morning and closes them at night. For a country that has not exploited its solar power potential to any great extent, it seems there is a promising future in terms of renewable energy for Argentina.

A Bueno Aires landmark, the solar-powered Floralis Generica