Solar Sunday is my weekly roundup of renewable energy and energy efficiency news from around the web.
If you like the idea of solar power, but aren’t convinced by expensive, clunky solar panels just yet, here’s a more manageable option: print your own on an inkjet! Konarka Technologies has just debuted a printable solar panel film that uses a common inkjet printing process to manufacture paper-thin photovoltaic solar cells. Using the existing and very simple technologies of your office inkjet printer, Konarka has essentially replaced ink with the solar cell material, and paper with a thin flexible sheet of plastic.
Now for something completely different
The news media and the government are fixated on the fact that the U.S. economy may be headed into a recession — defined as two or more successive quarters of declining gross domestic product.The situation is actually much worse. By some measures of economic performance, the United States has been in a recession since 1975 — a recession in quality of life, or well-being.
How can this be? One first needs to understand what GDP measures to see why it is not an appropriate gauge of our national well-being.
We love our LEDs for lamps and Christmas lights, but there’s a global application for LEDs that could bring inexpensive and efficient light to the 75% of Africa that lacks dependable access to clean, safe electrical lighting. (In Sub-Saharan Africa over 500 million people presently lack modern energy, and rural electricity access rates is only 2%.) A $13 million World Bank Group Initiative called Lighting Africa was launched in September 2007 to develop and distribute a highly efficient and rugged LED light bulb for the electricity-deprived in Africa.
Organic growth in the LED market
The global Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) display industry is anticipated to experience stupendous growth in the coming five years according to a new report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc.Major OLED manufacturers are upgrading their production techniques to offer quality products, so as to stay ahead in the highly intense competitive environment.
The Active-Matrix OLED displays represent the burgeoning segment in the total OLED display market. Revenues from this segment are expected to overtake passive-matrix segment, and dominate the global market by garnering a share of about 84% of the total OLED market value by 2010.
Tags: economics, leds, solar power, solar sunday
