The falling cost of PV continues to wreak havoc on manufacturers of other solar power technologies. The latest casualty is Stirling Energy Systems (SES), maker of the SunCatcher, a 25-kW solar-powered stirling engine designed specifically for the uti…
Category: Solar
Solar Panel information, ideas and do-it-yourself suggestions.
Florida County Selected for 400-MW Solar Project
National Solar Power has selected Gadsden County in northern Florida as the site for a 400-megawatt photovoltaic solar farm that will use 4,000 acres.
Asia Report: Subtle Signs of Energy Shift
Viewed from afar, it was a week of contradictions. But perhaps, it was a sign that renewable energy could gain a growing foothold in developing nations like China and India. The two nations are expected to lead a 53 percent growth in energy consumptio…
SolarCity: DOE Loan in Jeopardy Because of Solyndra Investigation
SolarCity officials said late Friday that their contract to install solar panels on military bases in 33 states could be derailed because of the ongoing investigation with the Solyndra bankruptcy.
1,000 Households, 10 Schools, 10,000 Individuals: Electrifying Schools and Villages in India
In India, according to the World Bank, approximately 400 million people are without access to reliable electricity and an estimated 100,000 villages are without access to the national grid and receive no electricity. In these cases, the use of coal, k…
The Big Question: Will the U.K. Renewable Heat Incentive Work?
In this edition’s Big Question feature, we asked readers to give us their predictions for how the U.K.’s recently announced Renewable Heat Incentive will play out. Will this new policy successfully engage industry and consumers? What will the outcomes…
Installed Cost of Solar PV Systems in the U.S. Declined: DOE Lab Report
The installed cost of solar photovoltaic (PV) power systems in the United States fell substantially in 2010 and into the first half of 2011, according to a report released on September 15 by DOE’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). The aver…
U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2011 Set to Begin
The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2011 is taking shape as teams work around the clock to assemble 19 solar homes on the National Mall’s West Potomac Park in Washington, D.C., in time for the 10 a.m. September 23 opening. The Solar Decathlo…
First Solar Won’t Meet Deadline for $1.9 Billion DOE Loan
First Solar announced Thursday it would not meet the Sept. 30 deadline requirement to receive the $1.9 billion Department of Energy loan it received to build a 550-megawatt solar project in San Luis Obispo County, Calif.
PV Installations To Soar in Second Half of 2011
Despite a very weak start to the year, IMS Research has recently increased its photovoltaics (PV) forecast for the full year by more than 1 GW and predicts that more than 22 GW of new PV capacity will be added in 2011. The research firm cited growing …
Chinese and US Politics and the Solyndra Bankruptcy
In the alternative universe occupied by gleeful Luddites and cynical political leaders practically celebrating the Solyndra bankruptcy filing, the U.S. government should play no role in economic development and national security. In their myopic view…
10 Reasons Renewables May Beat the Projections
Five percent? That’s the EIA’s projected global increase in renewable energy generation by the year 2035. You’d think that nearly 30 years of technological, business and environmental inroads would make a bigger dent in the world’s future energy mix.
On Solar and Solyndra
Reports of the death of the solar industry are greatly exaggerated. Yes, there have been some high profile bankruptcies of US solar companies – Solyndra, Evergreen, Spectrawatt – in 2011. But the solar industry as a whole is on a boom that is only…
GM-backed Sunlogics Buys Solar Plants, Raises $6 Million
Sunlogics was relatively unknown until it lined up an investment from General Motors and a potentially lucrative deal to market solar powered electric car charging stations to Chevrolet dealers earlier this year. Now it has lined up more investors and…
Q2 Report: U.S. Solar Capacity Maintains Growth
The American solar market remains on pace to double last year’s installed capacity by the end of 2011 behind large gains in the utility and commercial markets.
Evergreen Solar and Solyndra Fail: Is Wall Street’s Hatred of the Solar Industry Still "Irrational?"
Much has been made this week about the nearly contemporaneous bankruptcy filings of two American solar companies, Silicon Valley’s Solyndra and Evergreen Solar (formerly ESLR) out of Massachusetts. These two had something in common: Both made differen…
What is the Value of Solar for the Consumer?
Marketing 101 teaches us that the most important question any business has to answer is this: What is your business’ value to your customer? While we often hear news telling us about the latest multi-megawatt deal, trends in financing, global pattern…
And Now the Solar GOOD News: 6.8% Solar Job Growth Since August 2010
Breaking news: Over the weekend, sources from The Solar Foundation gave me some early numbers from the 2011 National Solar Jobs Census. There will be more data released at Solar Power International 2011 in Dallas, but here’s the early scoop:
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TV Audiences Will Get Different View of Solar
This weekend, the solar industry is trading in the hot lights of the Congressional interrogation chamber for the bright lights of television.
In a week that’s been dominated by headlines about the growing Solyndra scandal, primetime televis…
Un-analytics: How Google Went Solar
Google loves talking about the world before analytics — when web owners knew almost nothing about their sites. Nothing useful, anyway. That all changed when a new technology came along that allowed web owners to monitor their sites as much as they w…