Wander for a few minutes around the trade show floors at Intersolar, one of the largest solar conferences in the U.S., being held in San Francisco at Moscone Center this week, and it’s easy to get a little bored. The rooms are full of racking systems, inverters, silicon materials, and more than anything else, lots of solar panels that all look alike.
But spend a bit more time talking to the company execs and comparing the products, and it becomes clear: that’s kind of the point. The solar industry is working hard on reducing costs and that means turning to pretty boring stuff like precision manufacturing, new semiconductor material combinations, and even easier-to-use screws for mounting systems (OK, not boring if you’re an engineer).
But despite that these industrial and manufacturing technologies are dominating solar innovation, there were still some eye-catching next-gen solar technologies on display at the event, and I snapped these 25 pics to share ‘em with y’alls:
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1 / 25Loving solar a little too muchLoving solar a little too much -
2 / 25Solar robotsSolar robots -
3 / 25Solar robotsSolar robots -
4 / 25Solar panel cleanerSolar panel cleaner -
5 / 25Solyndra -
6 / 25Solar logSolar log -
7 / 25Solar as remote powerSolar as remote power -
8 / 25Solar panel mounting systemSolar panel mounting system -
9 / 25Solar tracking systemSolar tracking system -
10 / 25Solar tracking systemSolar tracking system -
11 / 25Solar kegSolar keg -
12 / 25Solar iPod appsSolar iPod apps -
13 / 25SolFocusSolFocus -
14 / 25Solar pool heating systemSolar pool heating system -
15 / 25Solar thermalSolar thermal -
16 / 25SolarOrSolarOr -
17 / 25AmonixAmonix -
18 / 25More solar tubesMore solar tubes -
19 / 25More solar tubesMore solar tubes -
20 / 25More solar tubesMore solar tubes -
21 / 25Solar materialsSolar materials -
22 / 25Solar power towerSolar power tower -
23 / 25Solar trough techSolar trough tech -
24 / 25It's an American right to have solarIt's an American right to have solar -
25 / 25Suntech's new techSuntech's new tech

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