$90M Clean Energy Program Announced For California

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: California Energy Commission announced the $90 million Clean Energy Manufacturing Program that will strengthen California's leadership in clean energy by providing financing to manufacturers.The Clean Energy Manufacturing Program will combine two programs that offer California-based clean ener …

Installing Stable PV Panels On Unstable Ground

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: Oldcastle Precast, Inc., showcases their patent pending precast ballasted footings for solar panel mounting. The patent pending footing designs are used for solar power systems that utilize Photovoltaic (PV) technologies such as fixed tilt, single axis, or dual axis trackers, or a Concentrated S …

Taiwan, China Lead Global Shipments In 2009

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: 2009 was a better year for sales than the PV industry expected, with shipment growth of 13% to the first point of sale in the market -- this despite a dismal first quarter and ~2GW of inventory waiting to be worked off at the beginning of the year. Of course, with significantly lower prices for c …

Solar Power For U.S. Soldiers

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: The scene is a familiar one from the nightly news: a U.S. soldier on patrol in a remote locale, outfitted in the latest high-tech gadgetry – radios, night vision goggles, navigation gear – devices that enhance mission capabilities and help keep the infantry safe.While such electronic wiz …

Solar Analysis Tool Available As iPhone Application

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: Solar installers and consumers looking for a simple-to-use, yet powerful, portable solar site analysis tool can now download the SMA Solarchecker iPhone application from the Apple App Store.  The free iPhone application provides users with a quick way of finding out how much energy - and revenue - …

New Report Says The Major Solar Thermal Market Is China

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: The report “Solar Thermal Power Report” describes solar thermal energy technology in its various applications. Although concentred solar power (CSP) generation is probably better known, solar thermal (ST) collectors employ a much lower level of technology and convert far more of the sun’s …

Optical PV Cell Testing System Provides Non-Destructive Analysis

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: CRAIC Technologies released the 20/20(TM) UV-visible-NIR microspectrophotometer.  20/20(TM) microspectrophotometer is designed to non-destructively analyze many types of microscopic samples from the deep ultraviolet to the near infrared. Analysis of samples can be done by absorbance, reflectanc …

Guess How Solar is Playing A Role In The 2010 Olympics

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: Suntech Power Holdings Co., has provided the solar panels to power British Columbia's first net-zero home at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. The showcase home, located in the Whistler resort, brings the concept of accessible zero-energy living to attendees of the event. The …

World’s Largest Solar Project Receives $1.37B From DOE

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced conditional commitments for more than $1.37 billion in loan guarantees under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to BrightSource Energy, Inc. to support the construction and start-up of three utility-scale concentrated solar power plants. The ne …

Is The Future For Solar In Deserts Or On Rooftops?

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: A recent study by David Anthony says that solar energy, despite all of the effort to increase its usage, still only accounts for less than one percent of the energy we consume.   The amount of solar energy that reaches the Earth's surface every hour is greater than mankind's total demand for en …