The Industrial Technology Research Institute in Taiwan has developed an interesting atomic-powered source of electricity.

They have actually used this to power a touch screen hand-held video player/cell phone.

Now before you start protesting the use of atomic power (that will be a debate in future multi-part series), I am talking about using the protons (I know it still sounds like an atomic reactor) in the methanol molecule and removing the hydrogen to create power.

What you are left with is water and a little carbon dioxide.

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The solar-powered ‘dragon’ stadium in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, is the world’s first stadium which gets all its power needs from the sun.

Designed by Japanese architect Toyo on a steel-rod structure with a roof covered with solar panels, the horseshoe-shaped structure has been constructed for the World Games to be held in Kaohsiung city in July 2009. Spread over 19 hectares and having a seating capacity of 55,000 it will be used mainly for athletics and rugby events, including hosting the main events for the 2009 World Games.

After the World Games, the Taiwanese national football team will play home matches at the ‘dragon’ stadium.

The stadium’s unique, semi-spiral shape imitates a dragon and is intended to provide a “cordial welcome and a cheerful greeting to athletes and spectators with its open-ended structure,” according to the organizers of the World Games.

There are 8,844 solar panels on the roof which are expected to generate more electricity than is needed to power the building’s 3,300 lights and two gigantic television screens. Some 1.14 million kWh of electricity a year will be generated – preventing, in the process, 660 tons of carbon dioxide from being discharged into the atmosphere.

As for the surplus energy generated during the warm weather, the government of Taiwan intends to sell it.

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South-East Asia may be the next best sandbox available for eco-friendly architects. After Dubai, Taiwan is embracing that green wave of change with a new and enterprising structure that will soon become the imposing headquarters of Chinatrust Bank.

Designed by the Los Angeles office of NBBJ along with local architects from Fei & Cheng Associates, the structure is set for completion in 2012. When all done, it will incorporate the best of traditional Chinese design with green features to create an ambient and tranquil atmosphere that saves on energy immensely.

The Chinatrust Bank development will consist of a 30-story headquarters building, a 21-story commercial office building, a 10-story hotel, and a four-level retail center. But the brilliant-green aspect is that it will incorporate eco-friendly aspects such as podium covered in lush roof gardens, that helps reducing rainwater runoff and urban-heat-island effect. And although it doesn’t make the structure a zero-energy building, it’s still “enough” (never enough, eh?)  to make it the Taiwanese equivalent of a LEED-NC Gold rating.

With skylights, floor-to-ceiling windows and optimized natural lighting options, much of the energy otherwise wasted for artificial lighting is cut out. It seems only natural that more and more office structures and home edifices are opting for such features as they save both on carbon emissions and lowered power bills.

Taiwan is taking steps further. There is inspiration and creativity, there is hope!

[Bustler via Ecofriend]

With Tokyo expected to make buying surplus solar power at double the cost a requirement demand for solar panels is expected to climb in Japan.

Image by richardmasoner

Sharp Corp. and Kyocera Corp. are Japan’s biggest solar cell manufacturers. However, Chinese, Taiwanese and other foreign solar cell makers are getting ready to enter the market in Japan.

There is a 2nd International Photovoltaic Power Generation Expo happening in Tokyo this week.

1. Taiwan’s Sun Well Solar Corp. has thin-film solar cells. The company already sells two types of solar cells, one see-through, mainly in Germany and Spain.
2. Chinalight Solar Co. manufacturers and sells machinery hopes to start selling its solar cells in Japan through the machinery sales network.
3. Most Chinese and Taiwanese sell their solar goods in Europe. Now they take aim at Japan.
4. Some Japanese chemical companies are aiming to enter into the solar cell business.
5. Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. is working on an organic thin-film solar cell  with built-in solar cells.
6. Fujikura Ltd. is displaying pigment-sensitized solar cells at the expo.
7. Kyocera is displaying a  polysilicon module cell that maximizes the light-capturing area by placing the electrodes on its back.
8. Mitsubishi Electric Corp. is promoting a polysilicon solar cell that uses infrared rays.
9. Sharp’s is displaying a solar module that requires an installation space of just 13 sq. meters.

In the end, the customer and the Earth will win this competition, eh?

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