Hardly a week goes by these days without a new solar panel technology development in the news. You would think the country was plastered in solar sheets with all the work currently being done. Let's hope the stories soon turn to how we're going to make this all affordable enough to support widespread installations. In the meantime, today's innovation.

If you've been following our recent series of articles on solar cells, you've likely noticed the focus falls roughly into two categories: how to make the panels thinner, lighter and more flexible; and how to make the cells more efficient.

We've been talking a lot lately about new designs in solar panel technology. Today's panels divide into two groups: the old-school silicon and glass box and the newly emerging thin film solar sheets, now being offered by several companies. What we haven't yet looked at is how the thin film technology can be used to make a solar installation that isn't staid and wholly utilitarian. Enter Teresita Cochran, a graduate of both Rhode Island School of Design and New York University's Interactive Telecommunication Program.

What to do with a pair of cheap speakers and those extra solar panels you have lying around? Blogger “Radu” got some balsa wood and built a solar-powered boom box. You could do the same: Just attach an MP3 player to the back, let it bake in the sun for a while and rock out to some tinny tunes. Why? Because it’s summer and you can.
Link via Hacked Gadgets. —Mike Haney

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