Solar powered e-ink displays are finally here. Neoluxiim recently showed them off for use in point-of-sale advertising. So all of your future e-ink ads will be in color for a more rich impulse purchase to be made by you.

While all ads are annoying, it’s nice to know that those energy-wasting flatscreen kiosks are on the way out. In the future you’ll still be annoyed by the ads, but you can at least rest assured that they will be greener.

We could probably all stand to get a little greener in our everyday lives. Portable and compact solar panels like these make it pretty easy, since large panels are expensive and not suited for the home. These are especially great for apartment dwellers looking to get greener.

Veranda Solar is working on these solar panels that would sunbath outside of apartment windows, gathering rays that will power your stuff inside. No word yet on how much power you can expect to get from them, but the price is estimated to be from $400 to $600.

Want some batteries that you can put out in the sun and power up? Knut Karlsen constructed his very own solar rechargeable batteries that soak up the sun’s rays and convert them into power. If you want to try your hand at making some, he has documented the DIY project to create the prototype SunCat battery. If you can get your hands on some flexible solar cells.

Knut has some connections at the Institute for Energy Technology, so it wasn’t a problem for him. Basically Knut attached the solar cells to old rechargeable NiMH batteries and used contacts from an old camera to connect the negative pole to the photo voltaic cells. And just like that you have batteries that can sit out in the sun and store up energy.

Can’t seem to get enough sun for your gadgets? If only that great big fiery ball in the sky would stay still. It would make it so much easier for you to harness those rays. That ain’t gonna happen, but here’s the next best thing.

The Solar ChumAlong solar tracking system is a solar charging panel that automatically tracks the sun just like those expensive arrays you see in movies. But this one is portable and lightweight, so you can always have power. The solar panel is always facing the sun so you’ll always be able to juice up your gadgets.

Here’s a concept that not only makes your back yard look all high tech, but it will also harness the sun’s rays to power your life. The Solar Tree offers a realistic solution to existing structures. Even a small backyard will have room for one of these. It provides it’s own shade, so that’s a plus on a hot day.

While you are staying cool beneath, the swing-out panels are absorbing the sun’s energy and converting it into electricity that you can use. When night comes, just fold it back. It even has you covered if you decide to move as it’s easy to bring it with you.

In the future all beasts of burden will have solar powered backs so that they can better serve man. Look how well it’s working out for the camel. The solar cells power a small refrigerator, which allows them to deliver heat-sensitive vaccines to remote health centers in Africa.

It’s an ingenious solution to getting them from point A to point B intact. When refrigeration isn’t needed, the solar system even provides lighting at the clinic. It’s win/win. Despite being in the desert, the sun doesn’t always shine and for those times they have a foot-powered generator.

Air conditioners are not usually solar powered because they use so much power you would need a large surface area of solar panels to keep it going. What’s interesting here is that the GreenCore 10200 solves this problem by using a battery pack that it recharges continuously throughout the day. (It can also be charged directly from the wall)

The GreenCore comes with a configuration that will not be enough power to run the air conditioner completely on it’s own, but what it will do is save you some serious money on your next power bill by doing it’s part and it can be combined with other solar panels to supply its complete power needs. The technology looks pretty promising and can be used in a variety of ways.

The Veil Shade might one day sit in the schoolyards of some Australian elementary schools, waiting for the right moment to strike little children. Or perhaps waiting for Indiana Jones who hates snakes.

Then again, it might be a completely innocent and unique way of collecting sunlight. It’s a concept from design firm Büro North, and it’s pretty well thought out. It automatically rotates during the day hours, to ensure the “hood” is always pointed at the sun. It also provides a shady spot on the underside of the hood. Also, the kids can actually learn something since markings and LEDs on the base show how much solar power the Veil is collecting.

You want some of that sweet solar juice, but you don’t want to tear up your roof just to get solar panels installed. Lumeta’s PowerPly could be the answer. The panels use traditional roofing adhesives, that most roofers will be familiar with, and the process means that there is no need to drill holes and bolts as with most other systems required to mount solar panels. It’s also faster. They can do an entire roof in 35 minutes!

It’s targeted at commercial projects for the moment, but hopefully residential houses will soon be getting the opportunity. Video below.

The Ravi solar charger hopes to steer you toward greener living with it’s attractive flower-like design. The Ravi solar has photovoltaic arrays attached to petal extensions. The flower aspect is not just symbolic, it actually absorbs energy from the sun during the day, storing it in an internal battery. It gets some points for coolness due to the fact that the petals glow once the battery is charged. At night, you would have a kick-ass glowing garden. You would then remove the battery packs to power all of your home appliances.

The idea is that with gardens of Ravi portable solar generators in a neighborhood, enough power could be generated to supply the community, and if that can not be managed, it would at least lessen energy needs. It’s a pretty cool idea, but it has a kind of War Of The World quality that scares me.

Better Energy Systems, the company behind the eco-friendly Solio Classic hybrid (solar/wall socket) handheld electronics charger, is at CES with a new charger it says packs almost double the power of the original. It’s called the Solio Magnesium and it is being priced at around $200.

The Solio Magnesium is capable of fully charging a cell phone approximately three times. It “combines efficient solar cells, a powerful internal battery, and a rugged, environmentally friendly magnesium alloy shell.” Compatibility exists with the iGo tip system for supporting the charging of multiple types of devices and includes a female USB for an iPod.

No, you won’t hear the biblical voice of NRA spokesman Chuck Heston or Ned Flanders for that matter, but this solar powered Bible will read the entire bible to you. In a human voice no less. If God had waited a few centuries to give Moses the 10 commandments, instead of stone tablets, they would have looked like this device. But I digress.

You can jump from book to book, or chapter to chapter just by pressing a button. You will never be without the good book again. It gives you 10 hours of preachiness when fully charged and recharges via the sun, a lamp, or a 9 volt DC adapter. It’s only 4 1/2″ x 2″ x 1″ thick. I don’t know if it will get you into heaven, but let’s face it, it can’t hurt. We all have to score points with the big guy.

The Aleutia E1 is a sturdy environmentally friendly computer built for anyone who wants or needs to live off the grid. Perfect for aid workers in third world countries, or just some guy living in a remote shack. Even with a 10″ display, it only uses 18 watts power. That’s about a quarter of the power used by a typical laptop. It’s not just an energy saver. It’s also built to be tough, with no moving parts and an aluminum case, so it can survive being dropped.

Looking a bit like an old stereo, the Aleutia uses a built-in solar panel to get the juice it needs. Off the grid means no plugging anything in anywhere. It runs Puppy Linux as an OS, and can handle office, web, and multimedia applications. Of course you can do things like listen to mp3’s and make pdf documents, but you can also play Tetris and Risk, which will help kill the boredom of being off the grid.

This next evolution in the toothbrush will undoubtedly cause much hatred within the Crest and Colgate companies. A Japanese company called Shiken has made a prototype solar-powered toothbrush that would eliminate the need to squeeze out a bit of toothpaste every time you brush your teeth. The Soladey-J3X is a toothbrush that holds a titanium dioxide rod in the brush tip underneath the bristles. When you put the brush into your mouth you get the bristles wet, which also wets the rod which then releases electrons. The electrons then react to the mouth’s natural acid which breaks down the plaque that accumulates from the natural bacteria found inside that hole at the front of your face.

Just as the automobile manufacturers are thinking about the next generation of cleaner, more efficient automobiles so too are the boat makers. This concept design for a future boat is called the Volitan and it comes from a Turkish architectural design company called Designnobis Studio. Made with lightweight materials the Volitan does away with traditional billowy sails in favor of two solar collector columns that gather light from the sun and also utilize wind power. It kind of looks like an X-Wing floating on the water and just like Luke Skywalker’s spaceship from “Star Wars” the Volitan’s solar wings can raise up and down but also go one step better and turn around to better collect the energy and/or wind power. Two small stabilizer wings are affixed to the lower side of the Volitan’s body which help it stay afloat even in storms that blow up to 60 knots. Small rudders in the stabilizers can allow the captain to turn the craft on a dime.