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With photosynthesis, plants are already busy converting sunlight into usable energy. The question then is how to use plants' natural solar-power abilities to generate energy for us. In this video, an MIT researcher explains how to do just that. More »
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Take a look at this video. See the little bubbles racing to the water's surface? What you're looking at is an "artificial leaf," unveiled yesterday by a team of researchers at MIT. On either side of this leaf are specially-designed catalysts that, with the help of a little sunlight, allow it to convert the water that its submerged in into hydrogen and oxygen. More »
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Lots of people around the country are outfitting their houses with energy-harvesting solar panels, and not just for the environment, but for government kickbacks, as well. Some companies will even foot the bill and install your panels for free, provided they can collect on the federal subsidies. More »
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Plants use photosynthesis to turn sunlight into energy every single day. This ability appeared to be completely unknown in the animal kingdom, leaving the living solar battery that is Superman as the only animal to ever harness the sun's rays for power. But now we've discovered that a type of hornet is doing its own homegrown photosynthesis, absorbing sunlight and turning it into useful energy. It's the first animal we've ever discovered that possesses this ability...and we might be able to harness our own version of it for alternative energy. More »
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Is that a solar panel in your pants, or are you just happy to see . . . oh. It is a solar panel. Why do you need one? More »
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This once-in-a-lifetime photo captures a blast that tears through 8,000 cubic yards of rock in an old phosphate mine. It's just one of the marvels captured in the best engineering photos of 2009. More »
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An unmanned aerial drone flew continuously for fourteen days and twenty-one minutes, shattering the previous world record by 250 hours. Climbing to heights of 70,000 feet, the plane uses powerful solar panels to keep flying day and night. More »
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The blimp, everyone's favorite steampunk mode of transportation, has gotten an eco-friendly upgrade. Solar-powered airship Nephilios represents the culmination of a years-long French project to build a completely carbon-neutral flying machine.

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Here's a Spanish cemetary which installed solar panels on top of the mausoleums a year or two back. It's a fitting image, because Spain has just buried its enormous push for solar energy, thanks to the financial crisis. More »
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If the world really does get flooded like in Waterworld, energy supplies will be scarcer than ever. So we'll need this craft, the world's largest solar-powered boat, with 5,382 square feet of solar panels. More »
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While it may look like some sort of metallic snowstorm, this is actually an assortment of tiny photovoltaic cells, each less than a millimeter across. And these minuscule cells could be the versatile, flexible future of solar power. More »
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Inventors rolled out this prototype of a solar-powered aircraft today. The Solar Impulse will fly for the first time in December and make a 36-hour flight in 2010. And in 2012, a larger verison will fly around the world. More »
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Purely electric cars may be green, but it's tough to find a parking place close enough to an electrical outlet. But one designer has come up with the perfect solution: solar-powered sculptures that charge your car while you park. More »
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You already know that the sun can be dangerous because of the harmful effects of UV rays, but were you aware of the problems posed by it failing to protect us from cosmic rays? More »
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This alien citadel beams mind-control rays into space, ensnaring any pilot who flies close enough. No, wait. Actually, this is the first hybrid solar-power plant: part solar, part hybrid turbine, so it can generate power 24 hours a day. [Inhabitat] More »
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Oxygen and hydrogen are both excellent energy sources, and we've got tons of both on Earth. Unfortunately, that energy is mostly tied up in water molecules that require still more energy to split apart. But what if you could split water molecules with a modest electric current, under conditions you can duplicate on your kitchen counter? Researchers at MIT have discovered a process, using the simple apparatus above, that could put a solar water refinery in every home. More »
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A Spanish company has built a "Solar Power Tower" near Seville that could easily become the world's first orbital solar death ray. It generates electricity via sunlight without photovoltaic cells, using 624 mirrors called heliostats to focus sunlight on a receiver at the top of the tower. The system generates temperatures hotter than the surface of Mercury. More »
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