Solar-powered rooftop garden to yield 40 tons of produce

Solar-powered rooftop garden to yield 40 tons of produce

Community gardens have been scattered around cities for centuries, but Gotham Greens is taking the concept, literally, to a higher place. They're building a 16,000 sq. foot hydroponic garden on a rooftop in Brooklyn, NY, scheduled to open this spring.

The urban garden uses solar energy to power the equipment and water collected from rooftop cisterns to feed the plants. Beneficial insects protect the plants instead of pesticides. The company is estimating a yield of 40 tons of produce. Most of it is headed, by bicycle or green vehicles, to Whole Foods grocery stores, but some will go to local restaurants and farmers markets.

There have been many conceptual farms proposed to use space in a new way, but why not use the rooftops of buildings that already exist?

Via FastCompany

Take a look: transparent solar panels

Imagine if instead of looking out your window to see your solar-panel array, your windows were your solar panel array? Sphelar solar cells can be built into windows, whether they're flat or curved. Instead of chasing the sun, they'll capture the sun from all angles.

Sphelar solar cells, from the Kyosemi Corporation, debuted at the PV Expo 2010 in Tokyo. They are solidified drops of silicon, 1.8mm across, that are embedded into glass of any shape. Potentially, the technology could be integrated into a decorative dome on top of a building, glass bricks, or just an ordinary office or home window. Because they're round drops, they'll pick up the sunlight at all times of day.

Although the Sphelar cells are clear, once they're embedded into glass, the window isn't completely clear, so this wouldn't make an ideal car window. However, it could be the newest twist on tinted glass for homes and offices.

Just think if all those shiny glass skyscrapers gracing most city skylines were actually generating their own power?

Via Gizmag

Taiwanese stadium is 100% solar-powered</span>

Taiwanese stadium is 100% solar-powered
Stadium that is runned on Solar power alone, just more proof of real energy from the sun is more valuable then you realise.

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