Europe has similarly daft subsidy regimes with equally perverse consequences the German subsidy for solar energy, for instance, which has diverted the world's solar-cell production to sun-free Germany, thus raising the price in sunny countries where it might be usefully employed.

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Traditionally these are large pieces of polished metal, steered by electric motors to keep the sun's rays focused on the cell.

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When the sun goes down, the hydrogen powers a fuel cell that runs your home.

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XsunX, formerly known as Sun River Mining, is now a solar-cell company with no revenue and no orders.

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The reason for a fuel cell system is that of course the Sun does not shine at night.

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The all-carbon formula doesn't need to be thickly spread to do its work, and it simply lets visible light through -- it could layer on top of a traditional solar cell to catch many more of the sun's rays.

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Sharp is also coming out with a sunflower-style solar cell that swivels on two axes to track the sun.

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Sun wants Jini magic to work with TVs, home appliances, cell phones and automobiles as well as PCs and printers.

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To use that excess electricity (obviously, only excess when the wind is blowing just right, or the Sun shining) to electrolyse water by passing it through a fuel cell and then store the resultant hydrogen.

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