The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is on the cutting edge of alternative energy technology,

“MIT scientists have developed a self-assembling photovoltaic cell in a petri dish. Phospholipids (think cell membranes) form disks which act as the structural support for light responsive molecules. Carbon nanotubes help to align the disks and conduct electricity generated by the system with 40% efficiency. The assembly process is reversible using surfactants to break up the phospholipids. When filters are used to remove the surfactants the system reassembles with no loss of efficiency even over multiple assembly/disassembly cycles. The results were published September 5th in Nature Chemistry.” [MIT]

Now if only someone could manufacturer some solar cell that are affordable.

Tesla Motors today unveiled its latest addition, the Model S sedan, to its line of electric vehicles. The Model S is its first push to make electric vehicles more affordable. The sedan will ship for $50,000 in late 2011.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk explains the Model S’s three level of removable battery packs, which will propel the electric vehicles 300 mi, 150 mi …. depending on the pack installed. Musk also boasted about the battery packs impressive 45 minute charge time.

[Jason Calacanis]

Chris Fenton is on the beading edge of Eco Tech, with his homebrew DIY laptop built in a wooden case. While his laptop can’t compete with the latest Dells laptops, it is on par with the with computing power of a late 1980′s.

SPECs: a whopping 256 kilobytes total memory, 16k of RAM, Picaxe 28X-1 Microcontroller, 24 x 8 serial character display, in a Beautiful, hand/laser crafted wooden case.

[ChrisFenton]

More great research coming out of MIT, scientists have found a way of improving the charging speed of Lithium Ion batteries.

Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) report in Nature today that they devised a way for lithium ions in a battery to zip in and out about 100 times faster than previously demonstrated. “We took a basically great material called lithium iron phosphate [LiFePO4] and we tried to improve it further,”

“In an attempt to pick up the pace, the M.I.T. researchers coated the lithium iron phosphate material with an ion conductor, which in this case was a layer of glasslike lithium phosphate. Sure enough, the charge-carrying ions traveled much faster from their storage medium; a prototype battery the scientists built completely charged in about 10 to 20 seconds.” [Scientific American]

Think about it, being able to stop at a charging station with my electric car and have it topped off in under a minute.

Tesla’s yet to be released Model S electric sports sedan will have the capability to charge via a 440 volt fast charger. The new chargers will greatly improve recharging time of the on board batteries.

The more important question is the market will see the proliferation of fast-charging stations. There are no public 440-volt fast charging stations. ECOtality, a clean-electric transportation and technology company, has implemented 5100 of these stations in 13 airports across the country, but none is public, said Colin Read, marketing directory for ECOtality.

While no specific charging time was mentioned, the Tesla roadster features a 220 volt charger which can fully charge the batteries in 3.5 hours.

[CarTech]