Environmental Health Clinic has come out with the GreenAwning integrated solar panel technology. This variation on a theme allows for adjustable panel angle depending on the season and can be fitted to the sides of building to shade your windows from the sun while harnessing the energy.

This is much like the Blight concept put forth during the Greener Gadgets Design Competition. The notion of shading living space from direct light while doubly retrieving the solar power is a sexy concept. The GreenAwning is a step up in design from the Blight in that they are potentially more efficient since they have the ability to be angle.

Their overall efficiency is questionable however. If they are on one side of a building there may be times of year their solar grabbing optimization is compromised. My opinion would be that the time, energy, and money put into building these solar panels would be better put to use in a conventional solar array that can be continually adjusted unimpaired throughout the year.

But Environmental Health Clinic gets style points!

"The Solar awning provides a positionable solar array, easy accessed to set at the optimal angle seasonally. An additional performance benefit is the reduced solar heat gain though windows.

The solar awning strategy does not hide the solar cells on existing surfaces, but produces a highly visible feature that signals the internal systems externally. Internally the feature exploits the shading effects of the solar awning, patterning the interior surfaces and displaying the external conditions."

Sources: Environmental Health Clinic