solar

Anker’s power banks and solar chargers keep your devices juiced up while on the go

If you do a lot of traveling and like to stay connected with your friends and family via your smartphone or tablet, then you probably need as much battery life as you can get. Out and about, you won’t always have access to a plug in the wall, so it’s a good idea to have a backup plan for keeping your devices charged.

Anker makes some great solutions, including the PowerCore 20000 and PowerCore+ 26800 power banks, and a 21W PowerPort Solar charger so you can harness the power of the Sun. Any of these can help make mobile charging easier.

U.S. regulator grants Apple Energy permission to sell solar-generated power to public utilities

Apple Energy LLC, a subsidiary of Apple, Inc. registered in Delaware last month, has successfully obtained federal approval from the United States Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to sell excess energy generated from its solar facilities into the wholesale market, joining Google parent Alphabet in the energy-trading business.

The firm sought permission from FERC to begin selling power within 60 days of its filing on June 6. Sales can officially begin on Saturday, Bloomberg said, as FERC's determined that Apple Energy doesn't pose a risk of being able to hike up prices.

Apple is building two solar power plants in China

In another environmentally friendly move, Apple and SunPower Corporation today announced a partnership that will result in two solar power plants, currently under construction in China, marking SunPower's first international solar collaboration with the iPhone maker.

Located in the ABA Region of China's Sichuan Province, these power plants will initially provide a total of forty megawatts of power. This is just the start, Apple's vice president for environmental initiatives, Lisa Jackson, told The Associated Press.

Apple reaches deal to build third solar farm in North Carolina

The Hickory Daily Record is reporting that Apple has recached a deal with the city council of Claremont, North Carolina to purchase land for a new solar panel farm. This will be the company's third solar farm in the Maiden area.

According to the report, Apple will be annexing 100-acres for the new array and will be making an initial investment of $55 million. The solar farm will generate 17.5 megawatts of power for its massive North Carolina data center...

Pundit makes the case for a solar-powered iPhone 6

It would seem that much of the tech world is expecting Apple to give its iPhone line a significant refresh this year. The company is believed to be working on not one, but two new models with larger displays, and of course there will be the usual performance bumps.

But if you ask Matt Margolis of Seeking Alpha, the iPhone 6 may feature much more than just a larger display. The analyst thinks the handset could utilize a sapphire display with an embedded solar power panel, and he makes a pretty interesting case for the theory...

Report offers closer look at Apple’s renewable energy plant in North Carolina

Apple is one of the of the largest [non-utility] clean energy generating companies in the country. According to a report from March of this year, it's achieved 100% renewable energy in all of its data centers, and 75% in corporate buildings.

Of course, its crown jewels are the solar panel and biogas fuel cell farms that run its Maiden, North Carolina data center—two of the largest of their kind in the US. And a recent report from GigaOM takes a closer look at these NC facilities...

Apple patents built-in solar charging solution for Macs and iOS devices

Apple has filed for a few patents in the past related to solar charging for mobile devices and has recently been discovered to be seeking experts in this field. The latest patent filed with the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) indicates Apple may be on the verge of commercializing this technology on a mass scale.

The invention titled 'Power management systems for accepting adapter and solar power in electronic devices' outlines a solar power solution that could be easily integrated into MacBooks, iPhones and iPads without the need for unwieldy external converters...

Job posting suggests Apple is working on solar-powered mobile devices

Apple is in search of a thin films engineer for its Mobile Devices team, according to a recent job posting. More specifically, it's looking for an engineer with extensive experience with thin-film technologies in either semiconductor processing or solar industries.

The posting suggests Apple is investigating a viable alternative energy source for future mobile products. And the fact that it says this position will work with suppliers to deliver scalable manufacturing processes means they may be coming sooner than later...Â