Here is a very cool do it yourself way to make solar rechargeable batteries. This method was designed by Knut Karlsen and what he did was basically wrap solar cells around his batteries connect them and left them in the sun. With time they slowly began to charge and there you have as many rechargeable batteries as you need. For the full set of steps on how to make these you can head over to GreenUpgrader. More pictures are available below.

Currently the competition to be number one in the Solar industry is close but just recently California signed the world’s largest solar deal. This deal is set to give California 1,300 MW of solar energy which is enough to power over 840,000 homes. Over the course of a year this project will produce 3.7 billion KWH of power and will avoid the use of two million tons of CO2.

For some time now there has been talk of a solar powered cell phone and finally Samsung has released its first solar powered cell phone. Now many of you may be thinking solar on a cell phone that would just look ugly but Samsung has made it a very sleek and nice design. The phone features the solar panels on the back of the phone and it can generate enough energy to actually charge up the phone.

A while ago we introduced to you some Solar Power trash compactors that where set to be installed in various parts of Shanghai. These compactors would use the solar energy to compact all the trash into a nice cube that could be easily picked up. Each trash can would in turn hold more trash and keep in nice and clean seeing as how the trash can would not have an overflow problem like many do in big cities.

The US Department of Energy’s just recently had a competition with the theme of a Solar Wall. Well an architecture from Chicago firm called Solomon Cordwell Buenz has won that competition with an amazing design. The Solar Wall will be 32,000 square feet and is set to cover the south elevation of the DOE’s Washington DC headquarters in a very elegant design.

A couple of days ago we noted that the U.S. finished on top in the wind industry and with a new year comes more competition meaning more renewable sources of energy. Well on that note China seems to want to be number one this year and is planning on building the worlds largest Solar Farm. The China Technology  Development Group Corp. and Qinghai New Energy Co. announced that they had plans to build a 1 GW Solar Farm which would in turn be the largest in the world.

Over the course of 2008 we have seen Solar Power Plants popping up left and right. Well just recently Iran has opened up their very first Solar Power Plant. The Energy Minister Parviz Fattah recently told reporters that “The country backs the use of alternative and renewable energy sources. In future alternative energy sources will be greatly developed in the country. The growth of investments in this sphere is expected.” The plant is not a huge one and is being used to see whether or not they see a future in further bigger projects like this one.

Solar Energy is being used for everything these days and will continue to make it’s way through all the things that we use on a daily basis. Here is a very cool solar powered clock that was designed by Shuo Yang. Not only is this clock solar powered though, it is also made using recycled paper and you can actually see straight through the clock. The empty space in the middle lets you insert a picture behind it or you can just leave it empty making for a very unique and well designed clock. You can check out Shuo Yang’s blog for more information and pictures.

Many times walking through a city have I realized several over flowing trash cans. Well in Palm Springs a company called Big Belly Solar uses solar panels on trash cans to power a compressor which is placed inside. Each trashcan compacts the trash into a nice 40 pound brick therefore making the cleanup easier as well as making the trash cans hold a lot more trash.

We have all run out of batteries at one point or another and have had to make a trip to the store just for some batteries. Well to solve that many people have bought rechargeable batteries so they simply charge them up and re-use them. Well Energizer is taking this one more step forward and is set to be releasing a Solar Battery Charger. It has a very nice sleek design and also comes with a USB port to plug in your electronics. The price for these is set at $49.99 which I don’t think is to bad seeing as how it doesn’t require the use of outlets.