SunnyBot uses the Sun to Light and Heat Homes

       Developed by Italian startup Solenica, SunnyBot is approximately the size of a large desk lamp and equipped with an on-board mirror that continuously adjusts to reflect the sun's rays on a chosen area. The idea is to exploit sunlight and recycle it as a light source for other gloomy rooms or to reflect the sun's heat to warm the room, heat a swimming pool or nurture indoor plants.
       SunnyBot is actually integrated with a dual-axis microcomputer that's powered by a row of solar cells and comes with an optional feedback system. The device redirects 7,000 lumens (equivalent to a single 500-watt halogen lamp) with a range of nearly over 656 feet.

Wysips Glass Technology could be the next big thing

A French start-up company is testing a transparent screen that is planned to use solar energy in powering up the phone's battery life by 20%. SunPartner Groups are expecting to see the Wysips panels on phones starting next year. The panel is expected to be less than half a millimeter thick and can be built into the phone or on top of an existing screen.

SunPartner currently reported that the screen is 90% transparent but is a step ahead towards many more expensive transparent solar cells, in which it absorbs infrared instead of pure sunlight for the screen's visibility. Boost of power from the sun would essentially be useful in disastrous situations preventing use of our cell phones being charged. Phones equipped with the Wysips panels could definitely change the world, especially once being built into cars, buildings, or even billboards in the future.

New Solar Gear Introduced

            Inverters are the components within powered devices like solar panels and batteries, which helps convert the power generated into usable power. There has been many research efforts involving solar panel inverters as some people may choose to move from a single large central inverter to smaller "microinverters" embedded on each solar panel. However, Empower Micro Systems, a chip startup that has been running for a year and a half now, has furthered this research and developed a low-voltage solar microinverter based on new chip designs, which has became more reliant, cost-effective, and efficient.

            Empower Micro Systems CCO Jon Bonanno has claimed that the company's inverter technology "is a quantum change in how solar is done." This newly developed chip component can be applied anywhere from a solar panel system to a rack or frame. Bonanno also notes that the inverter is 5x more reliable, 5% more efficient, and costs 20% less than traditionally used inverters. The overall solar system cost can be lowered because of the rising potential of a lower inverter cost, in addition to the dropping prices already of solar panels.
           Empower Micro Systems does not plan on manufacturing the inverter box itself but the company tries to respectfully adopt Intel's code in churning out the chips inside the inverter devices. Bonanno is confident of the power of the inverter technology, which is known as the "Universal Micro Power Inverter." He believes it can "replace all solar inversion options, hands down." The key technologies of the solar inverter includes how the system on a chip synchronizes and controls the power flow at a low-voltage rate as well as the design of the inverter box.
           Bonanno remarks that the company has already signed one agreement with a "top-three" module maker (and is in discussions with many module makers and product vendors) to bring this hardware into the market. This year, it is planned for the inverter to be certified and could be produced in pilot production by the third quarter of 2013.