Alan Rider

Talk to Don Wires, director of engineering for the Workhorse Group, and he makes the W-15—his company’s new half-ton, battery-electric pickup—sound like an exotic sports car with a really big trunk.

<p>In the world of work trucks, it’s not every day that a segment-leading model gets a complete makeover, but the all-new 2017 Ford Super Duty is the line’s first major change since 1999, the company says.</p>

Like time and money, the space on the rooftops of public and commercial buildings is a finite resource. Now, a curvy, new solar cell offers building owners and contractors an opportunity to make the most of all three. The system consists of dozens of hermetically sealed glass tubes containing a cylindrical core of thin-film photovoltaic material arranged in a 3.5-ft x 5-ft rectangular aluminum framework to create panels specifically designed for optimal performance on low-slope rooftops. Photo:…