Gizmodo Australia » powerhouse

Dow Powerhouse Solar Shingles Could Finally Have You Hugging Trees

Sean Fallon — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 21:40:00 +0000

Residential solar has two main obstacles — expense and aesthetics. Even if I could afford it, my landlord probably wouldn’t allow it. All of this could change thanks to Dow Solar Solutions and their Powerhouse shingles.

The shingle will use thin-film cells of copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS), a photovoltaic material that typically is more efficient at turning sunlight into electricity than traditional polysilicon cells.

Dow is using CIGS cells that operate at higher than 10 percent efficiency, below the efficiencies for the top polysilicon cells — but would cost 10 to 15 percent less on a per watt basis.

As you can see, the panels look like standard asphalt shingles — and they can be installed without any specialised knowledge. In fact, they only take about 10 hours to install on average compared to the 22-30 hours for traditional panels. Since a basic roofer could handle the job in a short amount of time, installation costs should be more manageable. Plus, Dow claims that their Powerhouse will be 30-40% cheaper than other solar shingle designs.

This could finally be the innovation that gets homeowners on the solar bandwagon. It’s still not cheap of course, but the energy savings, boost in home values and government incentive programs might make the upgrades worth it. [Reuters via Treehugger via DVICE]

Get Your Star Wars Merchandise At The Powerhouse Museum Exhibition

Nick Broughall — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 22:30:37 +0000

One thing I forgot to mention in yesterday’s coverage of the new Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination exhibit at the Sydney powerhouse Museum is that it’s a merchandisers dream. And not just the regular Star Wars crap you can pick up at Go-Lo for a couple of bucks either – they’ve got full-sized Master Replica lightsabers, Lego sets (although not the Death Star diorama or the Millennium Falcon), R2-D2 plush back packs and more bobble-heads than I’ve ever seen gathered at one place at a time – seriously, if there was an earthquake, there would be enough bobbling to cause an aftershock just inside the Powerhouse. Nothing there is cheap, but if you’re a collector, you may find something at the exhibition you haven’t been able to pick up in Australia before…

[Powerhouse Museum]

Star Wars Universe Invades Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum

Nick Broughall — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 03:45:35 +0000

Sydneysiders bitter about the fact that the Game On gaming expo seemed to bunny hop right over the nation’s largest city can feel some relief today with the opening of the “Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination” exhibition at the Powerhouse museum. The exhibit brings together props and costumes from all six of the Star Wars films, and combines them with interviews from key people involved in the production of the films. But then it combines all of that with an intelligent look at the science in the sci-fi, by showcasing just where we are today in creating some of the technologies of a Galaxy far, far away.For most people, the exhibit will be a chance to look at some of the props from the original trilogy – Luke’s landspeeder is on display (although disappointingly with wheels), as are the actual models of the Millennium Falcon, Chewbacca’s suit and some of the weapons from the films. But even though the exhibition is on two levels, there isn’t enough Star Wars paraphernalia to make the entrance quite worth the money. Luckily, there’s plenty of recorded audio and video interviews with some of the engineers on the original films, detailing where ideas for vehicles, landscapes and sound effects came from.

The key element in this exhibition, however, is in the interactive science parts. Adjacent to Luke’s Landspeeder is a section dedicated to maglev, the closest thing we have to landspeeder technology. Using Lego (hooray!) and magnets, you can create your own primitive vehicle to traverse a maglev track, with instructions to guide you along the way. Similarly, you can create your own robot, teach it to navigate a simple obstacle course and then give it a personality. And while you do this, you’ll learn just how difficult it is to create even a simple robot, let alone something along the lines of R2-D2.

And while it could have just been for the media preview yesterday, another entertaining aspect is the cast of dedicated volunteers who donned the Star Wars themed costumes for the exhibition. While this may not interest you too much, kids are sure to love being able to have their photo taken with Darth Vader, Boba Fett and a raft of stormtroopers and other Jedi.

The exhibition is running from today until April 26. If you’re into science and enjoy Star Wars, it’s got a lot to offer. It’s the kind of thing you’ll regret missing out on if you don’t go, so make sure you find some time this summer to go and check it out.

[Powerhouse Museum]