“One way solar could soon become more widely used would be to integrate solar panels onto a wider array of commonplace materials and technologies without inconveniencing the ways we currently use those things today. “Even though <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2020/06/23/two-thirds-of-americans-think-government-should-do-more-on-climate/">over two-thirds</a> of Americans feel the government should do more to protect against climate change, most are unwilling - sometimes defiant - to change their collective energy routines drastically due to inconvenience. Some rooted in practical issues (i.e - not enough EV power stations, bad locations for alternative energies, general power supplies), others…not so much.

Powered by Convenience

If achieved, energy harvesting devices could be discreetly placed on top of windows, display screens, or even human skin

Researching New Materials To Integrate Solar Energy

However, a team of researchers in Japan have now made promising <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-15352-x">steps toward solving this transparency issue</a> The process is based on a conductive material called Indium Tin Oxide (ITO), which is both transparent and colorless.ITO is one of the most widely used <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indium_tin_oxide">transparent conducting oxides</a> because of its electrical conductivity and optical transparency, the ease with which it can be deposited as a thin film, and its chemical resistance to moisture.(Completely unrelated and 99.9% different, but this reminds me of <a href="https://www.tssbulletproof.com/blog/optically-clear-aluminum-provides-bulletproof-protection-2/">newer bulletproof glass technologies</a>. The .1% being that they’re both clear.)

Transparency Materials Still Less Than 70% Clear

With their manufacturing approach, Kato’s team made the device over 1,000 times more effective at converting incoming light into electrical energy than existing ITO-based solar cells.The team’s choice of materials was far more transparent than previous designs: allowing some 79% of incoming light to pass straight through.

Efficiency and Transparency

If the material becomes more commercially viable in the future, Kato’s team believes it could one day be integrated into phones and other everyday electronics. (for now, I guess I’ll just have to make do with one of these useful <a href="https://www.outdoorgearlab.com/topics/camping-and-hiking/best-solar-charger">portable solar chargers</a> 🤷‍♂️…🙃)

This Conversation Brought To You by…THE SUN!!

Tech got us here, tech can *help* get us out…

A new solar panel design can efficiently convert light into electricity, while still allowing almost 80% of incoming light to pass through.

The Future Is Now

Transparent solar panels could soon turn windows into energy harvesters

<ol><li>Musical showers</li><li>Gamify saving</li><li>Beat the budget</li><li>Detox night</li><li>Power by numbers</li><li>Form an appliance alliance</li><li>Meal sharing</li><li>Pedal power</li></ol>

8 creative energy saving ideas

Get a waterproof Bluetooth speaker. Pick a different song from your playlist each morning (or play one at random). Start your shower when the song starts and finish it when it finishes (and don’t cheat by going for the 8-minute-42-second version of Purple Rain !).

1. Musical showers

If you’ve got kids, turn saving energy into a weekly or monthly competition, with prizes for whoever saves the most (or something smaller each time they do something that saves energy). Or you could use a penalty system to award ‘bad’ points for wastage with the winner being whoever has the fewest points at the end of the week or month.

2. Gamify saving

Check out your previous year’s energy consumption ahead of the next billing period then set out to beat it (meaning use less, not more). Maybe put your target in dollar terms and put the difference – the amount you come in under budget – toward something you want.

3. Beat the budget

As a variation on ‘date night’, pick one night a week to use next to no electricity (no cooking, no TV, no devices, and no more than one light on at a time). Get fish and chips and make your own entertainment, from board games to reading to a family art project.

4. Detox night

Not counting the fridge, which has to be on all the time, count how many other appliances and devices you have that could be plugged in at any one time – the absolute maximum. Now pick a practical but challenging number (maybe four or five?) and work hard not to exceed that by turning one off before turning a different one on.

5. Power by numbers

Find a few like-minded friends and neighbours and take turns having a night at each other’s places. You’ll use a little bit more energy on the night it’s your turn to host but save considerably by not being home on the other three or four nights each month.

6. Form an appliance alliance

A bit of a variation on the previous idea. Cook enough food for several meals in one big cook up and share it with two neighbouring couples or families – having arranged for them to return the favour, of course. Two or three meals for the energy cost of one, plus the extra variety of meals you might not cook for yourself (plus a couple of nights off from cooking).

7. Meal sharing

Save money and get fit at the same time by turning your old-school stationary exercise bike into a generator. Here Popular Mechanics explains how to do it yourself, or you could invest in something like the Pedal-A-Watt generator stand (a standard bike just slots in to it), or the Upcycle EcoCharger. As the Green Microgym website explains: “the 50-150 watts you create can power a phone, tablet, laptop, and even a TV with no more effort than a regular workout”.

8. Pedal power

There are eight creative energy saving ideas. Now let's hear yours so comment your creative way to save energy (and cut your power bills).

Once you’ve shopped around for the best deal – and ended up with us here at GloBird Energy – there are still some other things you can do to keep your power…

Energy

The technology enables rapid prototyping, which means that teams developing a new product can quickly experiment with different designs and materials, accelerating the product’s path to market. It’s also highly customizable and resource-efficient.

Applications of 3D printing in architecture and construction are developing rapidly. The technology has become relatively widespread in the project design stage — architects can print models of properties, commercial real estate, and infrastructure.The Dubai Future Foundation debuted what it claimed was the first 3D-printed building in 2016. The city-state says that by 2025, 25% of its new buildings will be made using 3D printers.

1. ARCHITECTURE AND CONSTRUCTION

This has major implications for the speed and accuracy of construction. For example, emergency housing could be 3D printed immediately after a natural disaster. Machine construction of infrastructure projects could eliminate the risks that come with human error.

3D printing has the potential to modernize classrooms and better prepare students for technical careers.Educators can produce visual aids — like artifact replicas — to bring a lesson to life. Students can engage in hands-on learning experiences that bring theory into the real world.<a href="https://www.cbinsights.com/company/makerbot-industries">MakerBot </a> is one of the most prominent players in 3D printing for education. Its printers come with hundreds of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics) lesson plans. MakerBots are now available in 5,000 schools throughout the US.

2. EDUCATION

The main value of 3D food printing lies in convenience and customization. As specialized diets become more commonplace, 3D-printed food is poised to enable more <a href="https://www.cbinsights.com/research/future-of-cooking-tech-trends/">personalized </a> on-demand eating experiences.Originally limited to sugary, processed confections, the technology has made strides to encompass a much wider range of options.Big names in 3D food printing include <a href="https://www.cbinsights.com/company/beehex">Beehex </a>, a pizza printer that serves large food service operations, and <a href="https://www.cbinsights.com/company/yissum-technology-transfer">Yissum </a>, a company that employs a natural, calorie-free fiber to bind food components.

3. FOOD

<a href="https://www.cbinsights.com/company/natural-machines">Natural Machines </a>‘ Foodini can print a variety of foods using natural ingredients, so long as they are able to be pureed. Natural Machines claims that the possibilities are unlimited. The Foodini is currently available for commercial kitchens, with a goal to bring it to home cooks in the future.Some food companies are already using 3D printing in their production process. Dairy-free milk startup <a href="https://www.cbinsights.com/company/muufri">Perfect Day </a>, for example, uses 3D printing to make dairy proteins without cows.

3D printing could help bring prosthetics to those most in need, especially in developing countries affected by conflict or disease. Volunteer organization Enabling the Future uses 3D printing to make the $50 e-NABLE mechanical hand.In the US, prosthetics are typically priced anywhere from $5,000 to $50,000, and the process of obtaining one can take months. 3D printing drastically cuts costs and production time — a 3D-printed prosthetic can typically be made in a single day.

4. PROSTHETICS

Drug characteristics like shape, color, design, strength, release profile, and distribution of ingredients cannot be easily modified in conventional manufacturing processes. Now companies like vitamin startup <a href="https://www.cbinsights.com/company/multiply-labs">Multiply Labs </a>, which leverages 3D printing to build made-to-order personal supplements, are demonstrating the power of printing pills.The FDA’s Office of Testing and Research is further exploring applications of 3D printing for drug products.

5. PHARMACEUTICAL DRUGS

To date, there is only one FDA-approved, 3D-printed drug: Spritam®, an anti-epileptic seizure medication, is designed to disintegrate within seconds after swallowing. The producer, Aprecia Pharmaceuticals, claims that the drug’s unique structure cannot be achieved through conventional manufacturing.

The automotive industry was one of the pioneers of 3D printing. For automakers, the technology offers faster, more cost effective product development cycles and end products that are strong and lightweight.So far, automotive companies have primarily used 3D printing for pre-production tasks. As consumers demand more digitally connected and environmentally friendly vehicles, the technology has allowed automakers to design, test, and validate new concepts faster than ever before.

6. AUTOMOTIVE

Automakers from Ford to BMW are exploring how to leverage the technology for customization. Today, producing small batches of customized auto parts and tooling is often cost prohibitive because they are formed with molding, which requires a significant up-front investment.3D printing eliminates the need for molding in many cases, so big players like <a href="https://www.cbinsights.com/company/stratasys">Stratasys </a> could eventually enable fully customized vehicles to reach a mainstream market.

Many in the art community have been quick to embrace 3D printing. Today, an artist can draw a design by hand and then 3D print it using materials like metal, glass, and ceramics.In 2014, the Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery revealed a 3D-printed portrait of President Obama. Other artistic feats enabled by 3D printing include a sculptural replica of a classic Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers,” and a project that analyzed the entirety of Rembrandt’s work.

7. ART

3D printing also can make art more accessible outside of museums. VerusArt, for example, uses 3D printing to create textured reproductions of famous paintings and displays them for schools. Unlike in museums, students are able to touch the replicas and feel the exact brush strokes used by the original artists.Similarly, the Prado Museum in Madrid recreated a number of famous pieces in their collection as 3D paintings to make them more accessible to blind and visually impaired visitors.

allowing designers to test concepts more quickly and offer customers lower prices. A custom table that would typically cost thousands of dollars could cost just a couple hundred when printed.3D printing also works well for controlling the density of a material, which means that it can produce more lightweight furniture.Ashley Furniture implemented 3D printing in one of its manufacturing warehouses. The company can now print small parts for different furniture types that are being assembled. This has reportedly been a cost-effective and time-saving development.

8. FURNITURE

With 3D printing technology, packaging companies can quickly develop new packaging designs and new equipment to manufacture packaging. Anubis 3D, for example, invented a 3D-printed robotic arm that assembles its packaging more efficiently.3D printing can also be used to fuse product and packaging. Energy drink company Smart Cups has developed 3D-printed, biodegradable cups that contain some of the drink ingredients. The drink is created by adding water to the cup.

9. PACKAGING

Gun safety advocates and law enforcement officials have been especially concerned about the printing of plastic guns that could go undetected by metal detectors.Just as governments have not been able to fully eliminate counterfeit currency, it may be impossible to completely stop 3D-printed guns — especially as printing technology becomes more accessible.

10. FIREARMS

Drones are made up of several small parts that often need replacing, making them good candidates for 3D printing.Today, consumers can buy ready-made printable drone kits online. If their drone crashes, they can 3D print spare parts like propellers, antenna holders, and protective equipment.Commercial manufacturers could someday print the entire frame of a drone, with parts uniquely customized for specific use cases.

11. DRONES

Customization is crucial to medical implants. Each person’s anatomy is different, and in surgical settings, time is of the essence. 3D printing could be leveraged to drastically improve healthcare outcomes in cases involving implants.A research project in Australia produced a system for bone cancer surgery in which an implant is 3D printed just as the cancerous bone is being removed. a situation that would normally require two operations can be condensed into one.the FDA recently approved a 3D-printed spine implant created by <a href="https://www.cbinsights.com/company/centinel-spine">Centinel Spine </a>

12. MEDICAL IMPLANTS

From artificial corals to prosthetics for wildlife, 3D printing has proven useful in environmental conservation.Because 3D printing is fast and can use a wide range of natural materials, it may serve as a viable alternative to traditional environmental restoration techniques. Scientists are even using 3D-printed tags to track species in danger of extinction.3D printing has been heralded as an environmentally friendly method of manufacturing in general. Printers can perform well with a variety of recyclable materials.

13. CONSERVATION

3D printing is efficient and highly customizable, and has potential applications across a wide range of industries.

Inspirational

3D-Printed Buses? 35 Industries The Tech Could Transform

“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.”

"The earth does not belong to us. We belong to the earth."

"The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it."

"Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed."

"A nation that destroys is soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people.”

5 Inspirational Quotes to Save Our Mother Earth

Some of the causes of sky-high energy bills are unavoidable – there is little that most governments can do about the wholesale price of gas itself. Fossil fuel companies make huge investments that take years to mature, breeding periods of moderate prices followed by supply squeezes when prices rocket. Gas prices softened over the previous decade and the arrival of the pandemic in 2020 depressed demand.

Regions without domestic gas supplies or which have depleted most of their gas reserves in recent decades get a lot of their gas by importing it. European periphery countries, including the UK and many parts of the Mediterranean, assumed they could rely on global supplies of liquefied natural gas. But tankers from the big gas producers such as Qatar can turn to Europe or Asia depending on who pays the highest price. Now there is a scramble, and Asian demand dominates.

The knock-on effect to energy bills is amplified in the UK and other countries in Europe where electricity is organised through wholesale markets (in which generators bid to operate if the price is right) and in which most homes rely on gas for heating. Average home energy bills in the UK, which rose to over £1,200 (US$1,630) in 2021, are predicted to shoot up by around 50% in 2022. Up to half of the rise will come not from the gas you burn, but from the impact of gas on electricity prices.

The last fixed-price government contracts offered for offshore wind energy in Britain – hardly the cheapest of renewables – were <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/915678/cfd-ar3-results-corrected-111019.pdf">under 5p per kilowatt hour </a>(kWh). That’s less than a quarter of the typical domestic tariff (what most people pay for electricity at home) that consumers are set to face in 2022. Households are paying for their electricity several times what it now costs to generate and transmit it from the cleanest energy sources at scale.

The design of electricity systems has failed to catch up with the revolution in renewable energy. Competitive electricity markets, established in many countries to try and minimise costs, are actually suffering the greatest price rises. This is not because governments elsewhere use taxes to subsidise electricity (though some do), but because in wholesale electricity markets, the most expensive generator sets the price. If renewables are now so much cheaper, why can’t consumers buy electricity directly from them and avoid paying the gas and carbon costs?

Energy markets aren’t designed to cope efficiently with sources like renewables which cost a lot to build but far less than fossil fuels to run. Governments offer long-term, fixed-price contracts to generators for their output of renewable energy. This has been the biggest driver of investment, while competitive auctions of these contracts, to companies keen to build renewables, have slashed building costs the most.

A new golden age

A decade ago, many energy experts projected a “<a href="https://www.iea.org/reports/golden-rules-for-a-golden-age-of-gas">golden age of gas </a>”. Countries are likely to continue burning gas for some years. But with the drive to cut emissions and the advent of cheap renewables, electricity is likely to dominate the energy system in future, powering heat pumps, electric vehicles and more. This golden age of electricity cannot arrive as long as the price of electricity is decided by fossil fuels and their carbon costs.

When there isn’t enough renewable power being generated or stored – like on cold and calm winter days – the green power pool would buy electricity from the wholesale market for limited periods and quantities. To minimise those costs, contracts could give discounts to customers who can use electricity outside of peak times, or those with two-way electric vehicle connections who can sell power back to the grid.It won’t happen overnight. It won’t cut bills tomorrow. But new electricity needs a new market – one which cuts energy bills at the same time as decarbonising the energy system.

New means of generating electricity need new energy markets.

Transparent solar panels could soon turn windows into energy harvesters

8 creative energy saving ideas

3D-Printed Buses? 35 Industries The Tech Could Transform

5 Inspirational Quotes to Save Our Mother Earth

Renewables are cheaper than ever – so why are household energy bills only going up?

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