Sharp, the world’s leading provider of solar cells, has provided solar modules for the largest commercial solar electricity system in the U.S. to date, recently installed at Google’s corporate headquarters in Mountain View, California. In addition to roof-mounted arrays, the system also features a new structure that encompasses two carports under which employees can park – and if they drive a plug-in hybrid, recharge – their cars.

“Sharp shares a common goal with Google, which is to create products and technologies that benefit society and improve consumers’ lives,” said Ron Kenedi, vice president of Sharp’s Solar Energy Solutions Group. “With this system, Google is setting an example for other corporations as to the tremendous environmental and financial benefits of solar energy. But even more so, Google is demonstrating that solar electricity is just like regular electricity, and it can power anything – from computers and copiers to servers and hybrid electric cars.”

Sharp provided 9,212 208-watt modules for the project, which was designed and installed by EI Solutions of San Rafael, California. The 1.6-megawatt system is designed to feed into Google’s overall operations, reducing the amount of electricity the company purchases from its local utility. The system utilizes almost all available roof space on the Googleplex campus. Read the rest of this entry »

When Apple introduced its ingenious MagSafe power cord on the MacBook Pro last year at Macworld, gobs of people couldn’t think straight due to the enthusiasm of such a great invention. It didn’t take long for many to figure out that they would be out of luck once they boarded an airplane, however. While Apple did later introduce an airline power supply, it had many short comings such as the inability to charge your battery while in use. Further, there was no DC adapter for cars which more of us will use than the EmPower ports found usually only in First and Business class of most commercial airlines.

So here we are, a year later and one more laptop line that carries this great power port but still no fix to Apple’s portable power solution. Enter the heroics of Mikegyver! Mikegyver has taken off-the-shelf product and converted it to work with Apple’s MagSafe power port on both the MacBook and MacBook Pro lines. Further, the professionally modified power supplies will charge your battery while using your Mac as well as work in cars! What else could one want? How about two different versions? Both will power your Mac laptop in a car and plane while the modified Kensington All-in-one adapter will plug into a AC wall outlet.

Now Mikey’s stuff ain’t cheap. This apparently is rocket science since Apple hasn’t even come up with a solution for this problem and those lab coats Mike wears in the lab while creating his solution costs some money. So, prepare yourself. The top of the line Kensington All-in-one adapter is going to cost you $229.95. Gulp. Okay, the next one down will only set you back $139.95 (on sale from the $165.00 price.) If you return your Apple supplied power adapter, then you can get one for $75.00. Remember, Apple doesn’t just sale these MagSafe cables at the Apple Store, so Mike’s got to buy the entire AC plug to make his magic work. That coupled with the cost of the other devices he’s purchasing makes things a bit pricey. Plus Mike deserves kudos in the form of greenbacks for his hard work. Heck, Mike’s such a nice guy that he even gives you instruction how to do this all yourself! What a man!

If you find yourself on a plane or out in the middle of no where often in your vehicle, then you’re going to want to look at Mikegyver’s site long and hard and visit his store. Many other happy customers have.

Tekkeon announces myPower™ GO, universal emergency power for popular mobile phones, PDAs, digital cameras, iPod, MP3 players, and many more small portable devices. This tiny new device, which uses four AA batteries, comes with multiple tips to enable users to get more from their mobile device up to six hours of talk time on a mobile phone, one and a half more hours on a PDA, or eight extra hours of video on iPod. myPower GO also doubles as a battery charger, charging four rechargeable AA batteries via a USB port.

“myPower GO can be used to power and charge many different devices as it’s not dedicated to a single device,” says Tekkeon president Jerry Yang. “That means that users can carry a single power unit to provide emergency power for most of their small mobile devices.”

myPower GO connects to the power jack on a host of portable devices. Ten adapter tips are included for connection to:

• Blackberry (mini USB)
• Motorola mobile phones
• Nokia mobile phones
• Samsung mobile phones (most models)
• Sony Ericsson mobile phones
• iPod (using the iPod USB cable)

Add-on adapters are available for Bluetooth headsets, digital cameras, other mobile phones, MP3 players, PDAs, portable games, and portable media players.

The myPower GO package includes:

• myPower GO rechargeable lithium polymer battery
• USB power output cord
• Ten adapters for connection to most devices
• Carrying pouch
• User guide

myPower GO retails for just $19.95 and is available through retail and major on-line stores including Buy.com, DataVision, eCOST.com, Maxwho.com, Mobile Planet, Newegg, PC Mall, Shop4Tech, and Tiger Direct, and from the Tekkeon store at www.Tekkeon.com. myPower GO comes with a one-year limited warranty.

I’m sure that most of you reading this article at one point or another have had your cell phone battery run out on you right when you need to make that important call. Or had your notebook go clunk on you just as you receive that important email. Well, if you want to prevent that sort of thing from happening again, check out iGo powerXtender, another item on the very long list of new gadgets and gizmos displayed at CES last week.

iGo is a power solution that provides up to 10 hours of mobile phone power, 20 hours of portable gaming time, and up to 28 hours of juice for your MP3. All from 2 AA batteries, which are included! Wow, you don’t usually see that everyday. Available for purchase separately are the power technology tips. Use iGo to charge to power you iPod for a little while, then swap out the tip to add some juice to your cell phone.

iGo is pretty iCool, it works not only with mobile phones, but with Bluetooth headsets, smartphones and PDAs, digital cameras, gaming devices, and MP3 players. Once you have one, you’ll never have to replace the unit itself, just change the batteries. With dimensions at 3.6×1.9x.89 in., iGo is perfect for travelers and people on the go. Consumer and vendor Allen J Hobbs of Georgia said that: “Because of the flexibility of iGo, its the only power solution I recommend to my customers for wireless phones, computers, and other portable electronics – not to mention I use it myself.”

Also shown at CES was the iGo everywhere85. This sleek little guy is designed with notebooks in mind. It’s combination AC ad DC adapter plugs into any standard wall, auto, and/or airplane outlet. The everywhere 85 also comes with the iGo dual power accessory so you can charge your phone or MP3 player and your computer simultaneously. This one is also very small at just 4.83 inches long and .96 inches thick. If you need portable juice, then you should think about taking iGo wherever uGo.

If you’re tired of relying on the grid, then you need the N-Gen XRT Fuel Cell. Ya, you’ve been hearing all about fuel cell technology from auto manufacturers, but now you can actually use it! Jadoo‘s fuel cell gives you portable power from its built-in 110 VAC and 12 VDC output jacks. It’ll deliver 100 W of continuous power.

SvenOnTech is told that by, “Utilizing the company’s patented N-Stor Fuel Canisters, the N-Gen power unit has multiple fuel runtime options. For example, using Jadoo’s N-Stor360 can provide 360W-h (30A-h) of predictable continuous runtime. There is no degradation or memory effect as exists with a standard battery.” Use it with the award wining XRT product, you’ll get up to 2200W-h (180A-h) of runtime and 110VAC support can be achieved. Not bad, aye? Who needs the grid?!

The worst thing about electronics is those large bulky power connectors. The reason? DC. Direct current. We found way back in the day that AC, alternating current, was easier and more efficient to transmit great distances. While we love the electrical genius Tesla, his DC transportation just wasn’t safe enough to implement. So this leaves us with the need to convert that long-distance runner AC back into DC which our electronics can handle. Instead of putting all the bulk of that conversion, and weight, into the device itself, it goes into the power supply. And because of that, one can never get use of every plug on a regular power strip. No more with Powersquid, baby!

SvenOnTech first reported about the squid after witnessing the marvel at Macworld and everyone can now own a squid for their electronic toys. Flexity told SvenOnTech that, “This breakthrough “power strip” solves the problem created by the bulky transformer block plugs on many digital accessories (Mp3 players, cell phones, laptops, etc.), which often cover more than one outlet on a conventional strip.” As if that doesn’t sell you enough, Flexity went on to say that, “It also provides greater reach and ease of use.” Bam!

So drop by the Powersquid site and take a look and nab a few tentacles for your home, office, or camper today.

iGo manages to take all of your various power supplies of all your electronic items and condense it into one “brick” with individual small little tips to match your devices power input. By doing this, you lighten your load for powering your devices on the go to nearly nothing and add smart to your tech warrior title.

You once had to share power time with the iGo strip and wait until your little gadget was done charging before hooking up the next one to replenish its battery. Well, now you can juice up two at a time with the new iGo Splitter!

iGo told SvenOnTech that the new splitter when used with a compatible iGo adapter will, “charge and power two mobile devices simultaneously, such as a mobile phone, Bluetooth accessory, MP3 player and more.” Compatible devices would include iGo auto/air40, everywhere15, auto15 elite, everywhere, auto and wall power adapters and dualpower accessory.

For $15, this is a great addition to an already excellent family of power accessories. If you don’t have an iGo set-up for your electronics, then I highly recommend you go purchase the whole package before your next trip. You’ll thank me for it!

Dude, what up? Why is my MacBook Pro just shutting off by itself? No warning, no pop-up from OS X, no nothing. Just off!

Seems like I’m not the only one having this problem as the battery looks to be the issue. Sean Bonner has been reporting his problem for some time now and even has an account of an Apple Store employee tipping his hand that they know about this problem…without actually admitting it is a problem.

In my particular case, I’ll be working and off goes my MacBook Pro. At first, I just assumed my battery was dead and I had ignored the warnings. But when it happened after yanking the green lit MagSafe power cord, I knew something was up and turned over my MBP to find a full row of green lights on my battery. ‘I knew it!’ I thought to myself.

Now it’s happening more often than not while running on battery and it’s becoming annoying. The problem with this is if I call Apple Care, I’m afraid of losing my Mac for a week. Ugh, a whole week without my Mac? Heck, a half working Mac is still better than a fully working PC! But, I want this fixed and maybe I’ll complain about the whining, too, and get a new fan and logic board. We’ll see.

I’ll keep you posted how this turns out and let me know if you’re seeing this on your MBP.

If you’re looking at adding 55 hours of play time to your iPod or 20 minutes to your Dell Inspiron (just kidding, it’s more like 30,) then you’ll want to look into getting the newly announced Mobile Power Pack from APC. It’ll power any device that has a USB or mini-USB port such as an iPod (with an adapter), Treo, UTStarcom XV6700, or many other hand-held devices. (And yes, the Dell notebook is a joke, I mean, the part about powering it up via the APC thing…though Dell’s are jokes, too. ) With 10Wh of juice, this bad boy will surely help you get by for some extra time of fun for sure.

[Via Engadget]