Forget decorative crystalline stadium skins; Gino Zavanella’s recently unveiled stadium is completely plastered in energy-generating photovoltaic panels. Stadium Franco Sensi, set to be built in Rome, Italy, will feature a museum of Rome’s football team, restaurants, lounges, and bars in addition to regular stadium seating.

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Post tags: alternative energy, franco sensi, green architecture, Green Building, green design, rome, solar, stadium, sustainable design

For most sustainability-minded architects, a net zero energy building is the holy grail. But Elithis Tower, located in Dijon, France, has surpassed the net zero energy ideal to become the first energy positive office building, meaning it creates more power than it uses. The building, which was designed by Arte Charpentier Architects, also produces six times fewer greenhouse gas emissions than traditional office structures.

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Post tags: Architecture, arte charpetier architects, elithis tower, energy positive, net zero, solar

The problem with grid-powered electric cars, bikes, and scooters is that you never know what’s supplying their energy. Is it coal, solar, nuclear, or some combination of the three? Enter the E-Move Charging Station, a  solar-powered filling station in Bozen, Denmark that can charge up to eight vehicles at the same time. With the E-Move station, you’ll always know where your vehicles power is coming from – the sun!

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Post tags: "solar energy", Denmark, electric vehicles, emove, ev, phev, solar, Solar Power

GRID Alternatives will lead 200+ community and industry volunteers to install sixteen 1.8-kilowatt solar electric systems in their annual Solarthon this Saturday, September 12th, 2009 at Habitat for Humanity East Bay’s Edes Avenue development in Oakland, California. These systems should generate over $270,000 worth of clean, renewable power over their lifespans and eliminate over 800 tons of greenhouse gas emissions. The event has already sold out, and organizers hope to raise more than $100K to help more California households reap the benefits of solar power

+ GRID Alternatives Solarthon

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Post tags: California, east bay, electric, families, grid, habitat for humanity, low income, Renewable Energy, solar

A retail lot in Austin, Texas recently sprouted a stunning field of solar sunflowers that soak up the sun’s rays to provide shade while generating a steady stream of renewable energy. Designed by public art team Harries/Heder, the installation consists of 15 flower-like solar photovoltaic panels located on a pedestrian and bike path between the village of Mueller and Austin’s highway I-35. According to Harries/Heder, the flowers are “an icon for the sustainable, LEED certified Mueller Development and a highly visible metaphor for the energy conscious City of Austin.”

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Post tags: austin, green design, harries heder, mueller, photovoltaic, renewable energy, solar, sunflowers, sustainable design, texas

Internationally acclaimed designer Michael Jantzen continues to wow us with his architectural and renewable energy wonders. His newest brainchild, the Sun Rays Pavilion, consists of 12 massive columns that rise out of the earth like giant crystals reaching for the sun. Appropriate, because the acutely slanted building relies on the sun’s rays alone for power. Jantzen has many other designs for renewable energy pavilions, like his Wind Shaped Kinetic Pavilion or his Solar Wind Pavilion. This latest design is outfitted with photovoltaic film to generate electricity in order to power the pavilion and sell any excess to the grid.

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Post tags: michael jantzen, pavilion, solar, solar pavilion, sun rays pavilion, Sustainable Building

Recently Chetwood Architects unveiled a stunning proposal for a futuristic London Bridge that sprouts a towering vertical farm in the midst of the Thames river. The bridge’s solar-powered spires are crowned with wind turbines and house a self-sufficent organic farm and commercial center that takes advantage of renewable energy generation, efficient use of water, solar heating, and natural ventilation.

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Post tags: bridge, bridge design, Design Competition, hydroponics, london bridge, londong, rainwater, solar, vertical farm, Wind Power

Solar Ivy (or SMIT Grow) is a spectacular system of thin, fluttering solar panels that generate energy by sparkling in the sunlight. The wind and solar power generating photovoltaic leaves can be easily integrated on the side of a building to produce energy. The concept, designed by Brooklyn based SMIT (Sustainably Minded Interactive Technology), consists of a layer of thin-film material on top of polyethylene with a piezoelectric generator attached to each leaf. When the sun is shining or the wind is blowing, energy is being generated via Solar Ivy.

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Post tags: modular, piezoelectric, piezoelectric generator, renewable energy, SMIT, solar, solar ivy, Wind Power

If you live in New York City, you may soon have the chance to check out the Waterpod, an incredible self-reliant eco-habitat, exhibition, and living space designed to showcase sustainable grassroots technology. The Waterpod just launched this Saturday, and it will now dock for public viewing at various locations in Manhattan’s five boroughs. We had the chance to conduct an exclusive interview with Lonny Grafman, the project’s sustainability advisor, about this floating model of self-sufficiency.

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Post tags: "energy efficiency", greywater, lonny grafman, mary mattingly, new york city, solar, Sustainability, waterpod, Wind Power

Music becomes a sustainable experience with Shepeleff Stephen’s solar-powered, bluetooth-connected Q-Sound (quantum sound) headphones. The Romanian engineering student’s sleek design combines flexible, hexagonal solar panels, wireless technology, and rotating earpieces for a futuristic yet practical product that powers itself on the go.

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Post tags: alternative energy, bluetooth, green design, Greener Gadgets, headphones, q-sound, renewable energy, romania, solar, solar panels, solar powered headphones, sustainable design

What if keeping your laptop charged was as simple as setting it out in the sun? That’s the promise behind a brand new netbook that may just break the biggest barrier to ultra-portable computing: battery life. It won’t run graphics-heavy computer games, but iUnika’s new $180, 1.5 pound solar-powered Gyy netbook is ideal for anyone looking for an inexpensive on-the-go computing solution.

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Post tags: "solar energy", alternative energy, green design, Greener Gadgets, gyy, iunika, solar, Solar Power, sustainable design

This past February, the Dubai Chamber of Commerce authorized the development of a “free zone” dubbed Food City. GCLA, a green landscape architect firm, proposed a master plan for the city sector to turn it into an incredible off-the-grid, self-sufficient metropolis. GCLA’s future-forward urban quarter incorporates an extensive list of sustainable urban planning ideas, including vertically stacked landscape surfaces, artificial roof landscapes, renewable energy systems, aquatic farms, and thermal conditioning.

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Post tags: dubai, energ, gcla, landscape architecture, solar, Sustainability, uae, urban, Water Issues, Wind Power

The Arizona sun is strong–so strong that one Phoenix man is using it to power up his motorcycle. Richard Gryzch’s Solar Flyer motorcycle, named after the Radio Flyer red wagon, has a 50 mile range and can supposedly top 90 MPH. The inventor is so sure of his bike that he sold a home and a number of other motorcycles to finance it.

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Post tags: alternative energy, bike, DIY, motorcycle, Renewable Energy, solar, solar flyer

Next time you head to the park, consider bringing a Suntrica wearable solar charger. The Suntrica SolarBadge and SolarStrap are pocket-sized, durable, lightweight chargers covered in flexible thin film solar panels.

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Post tags: green gadgets, solar, solar panels, solarbadge, solarstrap, suntrica, thin film

Today we’re excited to announce the launch of our new Energy 101 series, in which we’ll be exploring the future-forward technologies that stand to upgrade our grids, reduce our energy footprint, and slow the speed of global warming. Unless you have been living in a cave for the past few years, you’ve probably heard terms like “energy conservation”, “off-grid energy“, and “smart grid” tossed around. But before getting into the nitty-gritty of transitioning to renewable energy, we should stop and examine where exactly our power comes from now.

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Post tags: Electricity, geothermal, Renewable Energy, smart grid, smart meter, solar, Wind Power