A veritable smorgasbord of gadgety gadgets, Time Magazine's 2006 list of Best Inventions even includes a few items that may pique the interest of the technology-tuned facility executives.For example, this copper indium selenide (CIS) ultra-slim solar panel is printed right onto glass, steel or polymers in customizable sizes, shapes and tints. The company — HelioVolt — didn't actually invent CIS technology. They just figured out how to manufacture it quickly and cheaply. According to the company, CIS is the best performing thin-film material for transforming solar energy into power. And now, because it can be made and integrated with a building relatively easily and cheaply (in fact, it HAS to be integrated with a building), the possibilities are endless. Imagine the energy that could be produced if the glass facade of an entire 50-story high-rise was coated with this product! Or, check out these "flexible lightbulbs." What they actually are are light-emitting capacitors (LECs) with a layer of phosphorous that, when hit with an alternating current, provide a bright white light. The company — CeeLite — is the first to design a "commercially viable" LEC. According to the company's Web site, the product is available in sizes as small as a cell phone to as large as 3-foot-by-6-foot. The Best Inventions list includes some rather cool eco-friendly home products, too. Check out the residential wind turbine.
Isn't technology wonderful?