LED and Solar Lights

June 5, 2009

Creative Way To Write Your Way To Your Name in Lights

There are many people out there who dream of becoming published writers, and for most of these individuals of all ages, their creative writing pursuits never develop into anything substantial. Two businesses out there help writers establish their names in print. Cowrite is developing a community-sourced screenplay with multiple writers, and Tikatok lets kids of all ages publish their own storybooks.

Cowrite is a screenplay writing competition which is a pet project of Benderspink, a management

and production company whose credits include popular films like The Butterfly Affect and A History of Violence. For a fee, Cowrite requests that screenplay writers submit 10-pages of a script that fits the established storyline, and the picks and posts the best version each week so the next portion of the movie can be developed until it is complete.

The current script in process is described as a Jason Bourne style feature with a geeky teenage protagonist who finds himself in a world of danger, with the ex-CIA agent he enlists by his side. The first 10 pages of the script have already been posted, which means that one lucky writer already gets to see his name in print, and let’s not forget that $2,000 prize. Once the complete script has been compiled, one writer will be chosen to rewrite all submissions to make one cohesive storyline; because while the idea is to have a community-source screenplay, it still needs to maintain one style and flow to be production-ready.

June 4, 2009

Inspired By Photosynthesis: Dye Solar Cell (DSC) Solar Panels

Photo: Forest & Kim Starr

Photo: Forest & Kim Starr

The application of Dye Solar Cells (DSC’s) in many technologies and new
products is at least a year away, according to Dyesol, the leading company in
the fast-growing DSC sector. DSC technology still has a way to go to
catch up with nature. You see, DSC technology is based on the process
whereby plants convert light into energy and store it. Plants that use photosynthesis
operate 24/7, even when the sun is not shining.

Essentially, it’s working those long hours that will prove DSC energy more efficient than silicon-based
solar cells. The bio-inspired DSC is more powerful in a wider range of light and
temperature conditions and its material flexibility makes it easy to be
incorporated into many commonly used materials from steel in the building
industry to fabric in the textile industry. DSC will also be far less
expensive than silicon-based solar cells and will not leave the carbon
footprint that current solar plants are making. In short, the application of DSC technology to existing and new materials is going to be revolutionary, changing the way we interact with many of our environments.

Photo: Dyesol

Photo: Dyesol

Dyesol, an Australian company, with an international board of directors
and customer base, is creating the DSC’s which will generate heat when
incorporated into glass, steel, paint, nano fabrics and many other
textures. DSC’s are extremely flexible. Layers of dye are formed
and then laid on layers of material from steel to fabric. The dyes can be
colored or transparent.

Dyesol is now working with the Welsh Assembly Government
on a project designed to see if roofing steel can generate electricity.
Additionally, the University of Rome,
the Italian companies ERG Renew and Permasteelisa, and the Australian
Department of Defense have contracts with Dyesol for various applications of
DSC technology.

DSC’s, inspired by photosynthesis, will soon be coming to a roof or window
or winter shirt near you. Probably not soon enough.

June 2, 2009

Room Light Saves Energy by Adjusting its Own Brightness

Saving power is the green way to go these days and Panasonic is making energy conservation ever more effortless.

Saving power is the green way to go these days and Panasonic is making energy conservation ever more effortless.


“Auto-eco Light-control Twin Pa” is a real mouthful but once ordered and installed, you may never need to refer to it again. That’s because this environmentally friendly ceiling lamp automatically adjusts its brightness level to light rooms evenly, no matter what time of day or night it is, regardless of outside weather conditions.

Supposedly in Japan, people often leave lights on during the day so by using this new light, average power consumption can be reduced by up to 60 percent.

Green diode indicates the light sensor is working

Green diode indicates the light sensor is working

The lamp employs a luminance sensor that measures the brightness of an area directly below, much like an old-fashioned light meter used in better cameras. It then adjusts the lamp’s brightness from 10 to 100 percent to match a pre-set level. Adjustments are made in over 65 increments so any adjustments are barely noticeable.

Light up my life... at a regularly adjusted, optimum level.

Light up my life… at a regularly adjusted, optimum level.

The Auto-eco Light-control Twin Pa (memo to Panasonic: come up with a shorter name) is scheduled to be released for retail sale in Japan on March 9, 2009, and will come in 89-watt and 74-watt models priced at ¥35,000 (approx US$390) and ¥32,000 (approx US$355) respectively.

Pricey yes, but Panasonic sees a bright future for the lamp with an estimated 200,000 sales in the first year. (via Tech-On!)

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