Did You Know...
...that Charles Goodyear performed some of his experiments on rubber while in debtor's prison? He was there so often he referred to it as his "hotel". Chronically in debt because of poor business sense and ill health, Goodyear depended on the generosity of friends and family. Even after he unlocked the secret to vulcanizing rubber, he was unable to improve his financial situation. When he died, his estate was $200,000 in debt.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7435897 | Apparatus and method for mounting photovoltaic power generating systems on buildings Rectangular PV modules (6) are mounted on a building roof (4) by mounting stands that are distributed in rows and columns. Each stand comprises a base plate (10) that rests on the building roof (4) and first and second brackets (12, 14... | 10/14/2008 |
| 7365266 | Method and system for mounting photovoltaic material The present invention discloses a system and method for mounting a flexible material, such as a web of photovoltaic material, onto a surface, such as a roof. The system and method comprises providing a first and a second elongated web of flexible material and dispos... | 04/29/2008 |
| 7351907 | Displays with integrated photovoltaic cells A flexible photovoltaically powered display, which may be utilized in a wide variety of display contexts including retail shelf systems, is described. The photovoltaic cell is preferably activated by ambient light (e.g., fluorescent or incandescent). ... | 04/01/2008 |
| 7336157 | Illuminated wind indicator An illuminated wind indicator that provides visual indication of wind motion even at night. One or more chime members and a pendulum assembly are suspended from a support or housing, and arranged so that the chime members and the pendulum assembly are capable of col... | 02/26/2008 |
| 7309825 | Guitdoorbell entry signal stringed instrument door chime A dual element door chime assembly, positioning pick and fixed mount miniature guitar door chime, which provides musical, door opening audible indication and visual guitar decorative theme. The apparatus can be easily adapted to various sizes of doors and a plethora... | 12/18/2007 |
| 7292758 | Optoelectronic fiber photodetector The invention provides an optical fiber photodetector including a photoconductive element, such as a semiconducting element, having a fiber length. The semiconducting element is characterized as a non-composite material in at least one fiber direction. At least one ... | 11/06/2007 |
| 7289831 | Endless powered anywhere cellphone system A cellphone system, cellphone flip or non flip types (10) removable or collapsible hand crank to dynamo (12) external dynamo attachment (14) external solar cell attachment (16) dynamo and solar cell attachment jack (18) solar cells... | 10/30/2007 |
| 7241950 | Solar cell electrolysis of water to make hydrogen and oxygen A water permeable electrode for electrochemical splitting of water having a light sensitive catalytic material layer which includes a light sensitive catalytic material and a semiconductor, a polymer electrolyte membrane layer, a metallic substrate layer disposed th... | 07/10/2007 |
| 7231128 | Hybrid solar lighting systems and components A hybrid solar lighting system and components having at least one hybrid solar concentrator, at least one fiber receiver, at least one hybrid luminaire, and a light distribution system operably connected to each hybrid solar concentrator and each hybrid luminaire. A... | 06/12/2007 |
| 7230819 | Mobile power system A mobile power system for producing power at a desired location includes a first power generating device of a first type coupled to a transportable housing, and a second power generating device of a second type coupled to the transportable housing. The first type of... | 06/12/2007 |
| 7223914 | Pulsed electron jump generator A device and method for stimulating pulsed chemical reactions in a small volume of gaseous reactants. An emitter stimulates the reactions of a fuel oxidizer mixture and a collector converts the vibrational energy of the resulting products into useful energy. The dev... | 05/29/2007 |
| 7195721 | Quantum lilypads and amplifiers and methods of use A nanocomposite having enhanced energy conversion between thermal, electron, phonons, and photons energy states. The composition comprises a synergistic blend of nanoscale powders wherein the powders have nanoscale layered surface modifiers and a conductive medium. ... | 03/27/2007 |
| 7173179 | Solar co-generator A solar co-generator for producing both heat energy and electricity is disclosed. A solar concentrator directs sunlight into a container lined with solar cells and filled with a thermal transfer fluid. The fluid is transparent with respect to certain wavelengths of ... | 02/06/2007 |
| 7157641 | Organic photovoltaic cells with an electric field integrally-formed at the heterojunction interface A bi-layer photovoltaic cell, and method (100) of making same, with an electric field applied at the p-n heterojunction interface. The cell includes a first semiconductor layer including a binder, nanocrystals of an n-type semiconductor, and spatially bound c... | 01/02/2007 |
| 7150117 | Back-lit stenciled post cover A post assembly with illuminated information includes a hollow tube extending upwardly from a ground surface, the tube having a sidewall with textual or graphical information cut therethrough. A lighting assembly is disposed within the hollow tube, and a transparent... | 12/19/2006 |
| 7140153 | Synthetic roofing shingles Disclosed is a coated synthetic shingle that exhibits increased resistance to ultra-violet radiation. The shingle is useable for roofing applications and includes a substrate having a substrate surface and a base coat that is applied to the substrate surface. The ba... | 11/28/2006 |
| 7138578 | Roof cover type solar cell module A roof cover type solar cell module includes a roof cover base member and a power generating unit. The roof cover base member has a mounting surface to which the power generating unit is mounted, and an underlap that can mate with an adjacent roof cover. The power g... | 11/21/2006 |
| 7126053 | Power generation system and power generation apparatus In a power generation system of this invention, the outputs from power generation layers electrically connected in series are input to corresponding power conversion devices, and boosted outputs are connected in parallel and fed to a load. Alternatively, the output ... | 10/24/2006 |
| 7122735 | Quantum well energizing method and apparatus A method and apparatus that converts energy provided by a chemical reaction into energy for charging a quantum well device. The disclosed apparatus comprises a catalyst layer that catalyzes a chemical reaction and captures hot electrons and hot phonons generated by ... | 10/17/2006 |
| 7122109 | Method for the improvements of current efficiency in electrolysis The invention relates to a method for the improvement of current efficiency in electrolysis. According to the method, a theoretical cell voltage is first calculated, which is compared with the measured voltage. The cumulative difference between the theoretical and m... | 10/17/2006 |
| 7119272 | Gas specie electron-jump chemical energy converter An apparatus and method for extracting energy is provided. In one aspect the method includes using chemical reactions to generate vibrationally excited molecules, such as high-quantum-number-vibrationally-excited gas molecules in a region. The vibration energy in th... | 10/10/2006 |
| 7081585 | Super structure for roof patio solar plant Supporting frame structure for installing solar cell module plates and incidental facilities on a house roof is provided. The supporting structure has a shape of pluralities of slope structure accompanied with cleaning accesses mounted on a rectangular cube frame. S... | 07/25/2006 |
| 7057102 | Solar cell module and portable electronic apparatus with it A solar battery module (5) is provided by forming a solar battery (13) on a surface on one side of an insulating substrate (12) and forming an electrode thin film (11), which is connectable to a reference potential (32) and integra... | 06/06/2006 |
| 7045702 | Solar-paneled windmill A solar-paneled windmill is provided having aerodynamic fan blades provided with solar panels. The windmill produces electricity using wind energy and solar energy. In another embodiment, magnets are provided to the solar-paneled windmill fan blades to generate magn... | 05/16/2006 |
| 7026541 | Mobile photovoltaic battery charging station A solar cell plate for generating electric current includes a number of individual plates that can be moved in relation to one another to produce a convenient packing size. ... | 04/11/2006 |
| 7012188 | Framing system for solar panels The invention relates generally to framing systems and more particularly is concerned with systems adapted to mount panels or laminates in an array on a supporting roof structure of a building exemplified with the mounting of solar electric photovoltaic (PV) panels.... | 03/14/2006 |
| RE38988 | Lightweight, self-ballasting photovoltaic roofing assembly A photovoltaic roofing assembly comprises a roofing membrane (102), a plurality of photovoltaic modules (104, 106, 108) disposed as a layer on top of the roofing membrane (102), and a plurality of pre-formed spacers, pedestals or supports (11... | 02/28/2006 |
| 6974904 | Portable solar powered unit A portable solar powered unit including a battery with associated electronics and a solar panel on a wheeled frame accommodates a variety of accessories including table tops, mounting poles, overhangs, back racks and a cover for all weather operation. ... | 12/13/2005 |
| 6967278 | Solar cell module and roof equipped with power generating function using the same An object of the invention is to provide a solar cell module in which sufficient drainage and ventilation are ensured on the rear side, an output cable can be prevented from being caught during installation, and long term reliability is ensured by preventing bleed o... | 11/22/2005 |
| 6960716 | Solar cell module, method of connecting solar cell module, method of installing solar cell module and method of grounding solar cell module A solar cell module includes a connecting member to be passed through a coating of a cable for electrically connecting a plurality of solar cell modules and to be electrically connected to a core wire of the cable. The solar cell module is connected to the cable by ... | 11/01/2005 |
| 6960717 | Adjustable solar panel A nonrotating adjustable solar panel for optimizing cell charging of a portable message sign, comprising a movable frame, a message sign, a solar panel, a support post attached to the underside of the solar panel by a universal joint, and a mechanism for adjusting t... | 11/01/2005 |
| 6930237 | Device for converting solar radiation into electric power A device for converting solar radiation into electric power, constituted by a substantially vertically elongated body from which multiple supporting arms for one or more modules constituted by multiple photovoltaic cells protrude in an upward region. The body is hol... | 08/16/2005 |
| 6930238 | Solar cell module-mounting structure and solar cell module array In a solar cell module-mounting structure, a solar cell module 101 is fixed on one surface of a plate-shaped member 102, the plate-shaped member 102 is placed on an installation surface so that one side of the plate-shaped member is in contact w... | 08/16/2005 |
| 6914182 | Method of installing solar cell modules, and solar cell module Two types of solar cell modules having an equal output voltage and different sizes are used, and a plurality of solar cell modules of these two types are installed so that they are connected in parallel. The size of a solar cell module having two solar cell sub-modu... | 07/05/2005 |
| 6911593 | Transparent self-cleaning dust shield A transparent electromagnetic shield to protect solar panels and the like from dust deposition. The shield is a panel of clear non-conducting (dielectric) material with embedded parallel electrodes. The panel is coated with a semiconducting film. Desirably the elect... | 06/28/2005 |
| 6906254 | Solar-powered mobile A mobile has mobile elements made from a solar cell, a hollow beam and a motivator. The solar cell is mounted to a substrate and connected via wires through the hollow beam to the motivator. The hollow beam supports the substrate at one end and the motivator at the ... | 06/14/2005 |
| 6903260 | Solar panel having electrical terminals distributed across the surface thereof The solar panel for space satellites has a plane surface including a plurality of photovoltaic cells (CE) disposed side-by-side and substantially forming a grid, the cells (CE) being electrically connected into at least one serpentine (SE1), each serpentine m... | 06/07/2005 |
| 6897370 | Power generation apparatus and its control method In an AC module, if an interconnection relay is provided in an inverter, the inverter increases in size, and disconnection status between the AC module and a system upon occurrence of abnormal condition cannot be easily checked by a user. Accordingly, a plug is conn... | 05/24/2005 |
| 6884934 | Solar-battery array, and photovoltaic power generation system A solar-battery array comprising a plurality of solar batteries, which is characterized by satisfying the relationship of V20, where V1 is the voltage to ground of the positive-pole terminal at the time of max... | 04/26/2005 |
| 6875914 | Photovoltaic roofing structure A photovoltaic roofing system includes front surface electrical connections and can be installed utilizing conventional tools and techniques. The system includes particularly configured photovoltaic power generating roofing shingles which provide for linearly aligne... | 04/05/2005 |
