Here’s a cool set of DIY colo-changing LED coasters.  Basically, it runs on solar power, LEDs light up in red for hot drinks and blue for cold drinks.

Looks pretty simple to make, maybe a good idea for your next circuits projects.

Smart Coasters are cast-plastic coasters for your drink that light up red when you put a hot drink on top and light up blue with a cold drink. The design is fully analog– no microcontrollers and no programming– and they incorporate a solar cell so that the whole thing is hermetically sealed: waterproof and washable. Complete step-by-step DIY instructions are included for both the electronics and the resin casting.

via evilmadscientist, hungryscientist

Well, it took me all day to get all my sites running today, there’s was a massive DoS attack by some hackers I had to take care of.

With that cleared away, here’s how to make some inexpensive solar cell panels.

Mike Davis is an astronomer. To practice his hobby away from the light-pollution of cities, he bought some land in a remote part of Arizona. But there was a problem: No electricity…. But he’s a resourceful fellow. He built some home-made solar panels using inexpensive blemished and damaged solar cells from eBay!

via treehugger

Tree Solar-Charger for your iPhone/iPod Touch!

Though just a concept now, this solar tree is a customizable Tree Solar Charger you can build using artificial branches.  Once you build it, plug in your charger and you are ready to go.

This is a quite amazing concept.

Recharge your cellphone and camera with this universal & usb solar-cell tree charger.

Thanks to 54 tiny photovoltaic panels this device will store energy in a battery during the day, allowing you to reload your stuff whenever you need.

All wires are plugged and hidden under the electronic bonsai tray.

This object is made of several modules fitted together by a 3.5 jack connector.

You can rotate each part individually and produce an endless number of different shapes.

It’s ecological and decorative.

via gizmodo, Design Page

Flare facade, is a living outer skin for any building.  Composed of individual 3-D triangulars, these things can individually controlled via a computer to create some really amazing animation effects without the use of LEDs and electricity. (Pic and Video after the jump)

Continue reading ‘Flare facade is living outer skin for any building!’

Sharp is working on solar LCD TVs for houses without electricity.

The only question I have is, if they don’t get electricity, will they get any TV reception at all?  (Maybe air reception is good… real good…)

LCD prototype which uses just a quarter of the power (or a third measured annually) of a conventional CRT with the same screen size. That’s low enough to be suitably powered by a Sharp, triple-junction thin-film solar cell module whose surface area is roughly equivalent to that of the LCD screen.

via engadget

Do you ever feel the need for a some outdoor fluorescent lighting?  Here’s a rechargeable, solar-powered fluorescent lantern to help you do just that.

Solar Powered rechargeable lantern includes a swiveling fluorescent lantern for 360° illumination, and a powerful spotlight.

1-watt solar cell gathers energy from the sun to recharge the sealed lead acid battery.

via 7gadgets

Organic thin film solar cell leaves…  Wow, you could build a whole tree with these!

Continue reading ‘Organic Thin-Film Solar Cell Leaves!’

Hi All,

I must have had my watch set to a day earlier, Earth Day was yesterday but I figured 1 day late is never too late for eco-friendly gadgets.

So here’s a round-up of various different eco-friendly and green gadgets you can buy to save the world:

Solar Alarm Clock - Great stuff, they should make all alarm clocks with a solar panel. How hard is that? Probably not that hard, look at all the caculators made today, they come with a solar panel. I think it’s just a simple matter of “thinking” by engineers. (Yes, engineers should really focus on making the environment better too, not just numbers…)

Solar Powered USB Bikini - This is great stuff, more celebrities like Pamela Anderson should promote solar-powered bikinis. (Think of how many hot girls would do the same…)

Recycled Bike Chain Clock - At $20, you can beat any other recycled bike chain clock out there, if there is any… Now, if you can make this thing solar powered by adding a small solar cell hacked off a calculator, it will complete the masterpiece.

Recycled Parts Collector’s Motorcycle - As a motor-head myself constantly trying to go fast on my 2007 GSX-R600, this one is a thing of beauty, simply priceless…

via Make

Satellite Solar Cooker - This one is classic, you could probably cook almost anything as long as you have sunlight.

Solar skateboard - Wow, I love finding new inventions that people invent through Google Patent Search, this one is my favorite.

Solar Cap - Make sure to get one of these for your next ball game for sheezy.

Solar Power Cells for your jacket - You can now convert your jacket into a “solar-powered” jacket simply by lugging this device and re-charge all your daily gadgets such as cellphone, iPod, etc…etc…

via Engadget

Solar Roof - That’s right, if you own a home, it’s time to get that Photovoltaic energy from your new Solar Roof. If you can afford it and you don’t have it, it’s time to serious think about getting one…

Solar Laptop Charger - Ha, this one is basically a gigantic collection of solar cells but hey, you can power your laptop using the sun’s energy. It’s a must if you are thinking about heading out to the desert and go camping. Make sure to bring a broadband card with you too so you can access the internet or use a blackberry as a broadband modem like me.

Yey, that completes our plethora of gadgets dedicated to the Earth day and making our Earth more green.

You can also check out the “Earth” section for more eco-friendly related articles on Zedomax.com or also check out “Gadgets” section over at Keetsa.com, our sister blog that focuses only on eco-friendly and green.