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Mobile E-Home: Solar-Powered Electric Motorhome Recharges on the Road

22 Sep

[ By WebUrbanist in Technology & Vehicles & Mods. ]

Electric vehicles are often limited by recharge options, a design problem this Dethleffs camper tackles with solar panels and German engineering.

Their E.Home has a maximum range of over 170 miles but can potentially run indefinitely (at least by day) thanks to over 300 square feet of thin solar film covering most the exterior. These panels to generate up to 3,000 watts of electricity, powering up a sodium-nickel-chloride battery.

Of course, the less energy needed the better the range, so the manufacturers have also added phase change materials to help keep the interior warm when it’s cold and deflect heat on hot days. Infrared heating panels in the floors, walls and furniture also provide targeted supplement heating on demand.

Thinking forward, the camper includes various other cutting-edge technologies, like driver assistance and vehicle monitoring systems. Give it a few more years and these things will presumably end up driverless, too — the ultimate in automatic, go-anywhere mobile homes (with even more room to relax without a driver’s seat!).

[ By WebUrbanist in Technology & Vehicles & Mods. ]

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Posted in Creativity

Solar-Powered Pipe to Desalinate 1.5 Billion Gallons for California

29 Aug

[ By WebUrbanist in Conceptual & Futuristic & Technology. ]

coastal water purifying pipe

Designed to address the pervasive drought and long-term water problems of the West Coast, The Pipe is an offshore water purification plant that combines sustainable energy, public works and experiential architecture.

solar pipe

A finalist of the 2016 Land Art Generator Initiative design competition, focused on projects around the Santa Monica Pier, the solar-powered Pipe filters brine and channels drinking water to the adjacent city. Saltwater is returned to the Pacific Ocean. Khalini Engineers, a Canadian company, employed an electromagnetic desalination system for their entry, driven by energy from the sun (10,00 MWh/year). With that power and overall system capacity, the Pipe could produce 1.5 billion gallons of fresh potable water annually.

pipe interior

“The sustainable infrastructure that is required to meet California’s development goals and growing population will have a profound influence on the landscape, ” say Rob Ferry and Elizabeth Monoian, co-founders of the Land Art Generator Initiative. “The Paris Climate Accord from COP 21 has united the world around a goal … which will require a massive investment in clean energy infrastructure.”

technical

“Above, solar panels provide power to pump seawater through an electromagnetic filtration process below the pool deck,” writes the design team, “quietly providing the salt bath with its healing water and the city with clean drinking water. The Pipe represents a change in the future of water.”

pipe view

“What results are two products: pure drinkable water that is directed into the city’s primary water piping grid, and clear water with twelve percent salinity. The drinking water is piped to shore, while the salt water supplies the thermal baths before it is redirected back to the ocean through a smart release system, mitigating most of the usual problems associated with returning brine water to the sea.” In addition to its primary functions, The Pipe also represents an aesthetically pleasing offshore object that would change viewer’s conceptions of near-coastal rigs, conventionally associated with oil production.

[ By WebUrbanist in Conceptual & Futuristic & Technology. ]

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Solar-Powered Art Etched with a Magnifying Glass & the Sun

11 Oct

[ By Steph in Art & Drawing & Digital. ]

sun powered pyrography 1

Magnifying glass clutched in his fist, Jordan Mang-osan uses nothing but focused rays of sunlight to burn detailed drawings onto panels of wood. A native Igorot from the Cordilleras of the Philippines, the artist draws inspiration for both his imagery and his unusual techniques from his heritage, using indigenous materials.

sun powered pyrography 2

sun powered pyrography 3

pyrography art 4

Other than a pencil used to draw on his initial designs, a magnifying glass is his only tool, and no paints or inks are required. Mang-osan holds the glass steady to burn one tiny detail at a time onto the wood.

pyrography drawings 6

pyrography drawings 7

It takes several months to complete a single work, slowly moving the glass just millimeters at a time in a technique that’s similar to pointillism. It’s another unusual way to harness the power of fire to make art – see 14 more pyro-centric sculptures and installations including ‘fire sculptures,’ portraits drawn in soot, and graffiti set ablaze.