indignity

... computers could be catching colds, before long

[insert obligatory "virus" pun]

the link that you supplied is broke... but I'll go ahead and assume that it's a prototype, if not just a theory

a motor that generates its own power would affect every part of our lives in a big way... and once technology of the sort is readily available, the world will change drastically

something of the sort would make (much) bigger news than "japan.com"... and I'm into the whole "watching the news" thing, and have heard nothing of it... so there you have my reason for thinking that you're not into the whole "logic" thing

it might work... you can purchase what's called a "trike" (essentially a hang glider strapped onto a go-cart with a huge gas powered fan on the back) for a few thousand dollars ($5000 for a cheap one... $50,000 for a nice one)...

... the question, really, is how much power can you draw from the sun?

the trikes that I've read about cruise at about 50 MPH and consume between between 1 and 3 gallons of gas per hour...

at speeds slower than 50 MPH, turbulence becomes a much bigger problem... at speeds greater than 50 MPH, the wind resistance is exponentially harder to fight against (you want to keep it as light as possible... so unless you're spending big bucks on a carbon fiber frame, this thing is about as aerodynamic as you and your go-kart are... and if you've ridden a bike above 20 MPH, you know that that isn't very aerodynamic)

charging batteries throughout the course of a day to ride the thing for an hour is an option... BUT... it significantly decreases the practicality of it, especially considering the (relatively) low cost and consumption of fuel by gas powered trikes

so... if it's going to be useful... it's either going to have to be very expensive (which essentially makes it useless), or it's going to have to run at around 50 MPH using either very little stored power, relying completely on what the sun is currently supplying it

... the question is, can solar panels provide that much power?

*edit*

some of the trikes have hard tops... so the solar panels don't necessarily have to be flexible