Mass-Producing Efficient Homes; Hybrid Sport Boat; Energy Curtain; TV Efficiency Standards; ‘Silicon ink’ for solar cells

Mass-Producing Efficient Homes Zeta Communities, a hopeful purveyor of ultra-efficient multifamily housing, has built one 1,540-square-foot demonstration home in Oakland to support its thesis that high-efficiency can also be affordable. The installed cost for the unit – which was factory-built and includes photovoltaics, automated energy controls and high-performance insulation – is about $165 a square foot. A comparable unit built on site would cost about $250 a square foot. Wow. $165/sq ft WITH solar? Wow.

Hybrid Sport Boat The first hybrid sport boat, courtesy of a co-designer of the Aptera electric car, delivers cleaner thrills. Chris Anthony and his team boosted an electric motor to 268 horsepower, while lithium-ion batteries feed the motor silently for up to three hours. When they run low, a gas generator kicks in.

Energy Curtain Provides Shade and Light Using special solar-energy collecting cells on the outer side of the blind, the blind stores up energy during the day. Then at night, you can have the blinds glowing to provide you with free lighting.

California Unveils TV Efficiency Standards California today unveiled energy-efficiency requirements for televisions, becoming the first state in the nation to devise regulations for one of the largest users of energy in American households. By 2013, total energy consumption would be reduced by an average of 49 percent.

‘Silicon ink’ for solar cells going into production Innovalight first got noticed in 2007 for perfecting a process in which it could essentially ink-jet-manufacture solar cells using a proprietary silicon ink it had developed. The solar cells are created by pouring an ink solution incorporated with silicon nanoparticles and then decanting the excess liquid to leave behind a crystalline silicon structure. They were just confirmed to have an 18% efficiency rating, and it looks like they will be going into production.