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Solar Panels for Hybrid Cars Improve MPG

Solatec LLC(TM) is introducing flexible, rooftop-mounted Solar Panels for Hybrid Vehicles, starting with a kit for the 2004-2006 Toyota Prius. The $2,195 kits will be available nationwide through dealer franchises. A prototype has been operating in the Northeast for several months under mixed driving conditions. With Solatec panels installed on the roof, the prototype SolaPrius averages 55 MPG city and 62 MPG highway – an overall 10 percent improvement over the pre-installation numbers. All-season testing is in progress. Solatec’s photovoltaic kit adds two flexible, conformal panels that charge the hybrid automobile’s auxiliary battery through a proprietary charger/current-limiter system concealed behind interior trim panels. The self-adhesive, rooftop-mounted panels are only 0.6mm thick and cause no change in aerodynamic drag. Development of the hybrid vehicle solar panels came about as a side project of Solatec LLC’s solar aircraft research, which uses the same high efficiency flexible photovoltaic panels to sustain the aircraft in flight. The same aircraft grade adhesive is used on both systems. Kits for other hybrid cars are presently in development and testing. Installation franchises are currently available in most areas. Solatec LLC is a Nevada company engaged in alternative energy research, development and manufacturing. Solatec’s main areas of research […]

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Horizon Organic Announces Land Stewardship Initiative

Horizon Organic is investing $13 million in its Land Stewardship Initiative. The multi-tiered program will fund grazing and agricultural land expansion for its two original farms and its growing national network of family farmers. Along with more than 1,400 acres to be added to Horizon’s original farm in Idaho, the Land Stewardship Initiative will improve the quality of its existing pasture lands and assist in the transition of thousands of acres of farm land and hundreds of family farms to certified organic practices. Improved pasture lands and new family farmers will enable Horizon Organic to keep pace with the American consumer’s thirst for organic dairy products, which is growing at more than 16 percent per year, according to the Natural Foods Merchandiser Market Overview 2004 report. Horizon Organic will invest $10 million in its original dairy farm in Idaho, which in 1995 became the first certified organic large dairy farm in the country. This investment is the culmination of a four-year plan by Horizon Organic to significantly expand its organic pasture land. The plan also includes the construction of new barns and a state-of-the-art milking parlor. Currently 75 percent of Horizon Organic’s milk is supplied by more than 300 certified […]

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Is CAFE Kaput?

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