Library >> Current Articles on Renewable Energy Resources and Transmission >> Solar Energy

Articles on Solar Power

How Does a Solar Panel Work?	Google Solar Panel Project	Stirling Solar Unit	Rooftop Photovoltaic panels	Supersized Solar Power Images

• Project Focus: Morocco invites bids for $9bn solar plans
  Aug 30, 2010 - PV-tech.org
  
  Morocco's solar energy agency has revealed that the country will be inviting investors who have expressed interest in phase one of its US$9 billion solar power project to submit pre-qualification bids by October 4 at the latest, reports Reuters.
  
  

• A solar detective story: Explaining how power output varies hour by hour
  Aug 30, 2010 - George Musser - Scientific American
  
  Solar homeowners' favorite topic of conversation is the performance of their arrays.

• Nuclear Energy Loses Cost Advantage
  Aug 25, 2010 - By DIANA S. POWERS - New York Times
  
  PARIS — Solar photovoltaic systems have long been painted as a clean way to generate electricity, but expensive compared with other alternatives to oil, like nuclear power.
  
  
• ARS: Blending Wind and Solar Meets Peak Energy Demands
  Aug 23, 2010 - M2 Presswire - Energy Central
  
  In parts of Texas and California, a good match between renewable energy production and peak energy demands could be obtained by combining wind power with solar power, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientist.
  
  
• Solarbuzz predicts U.S. solar market could grow tenfold by 2014
  Aug 11, 2010 - Emma Hughes - Market Watch
  
  Solarbuzz's latest report, "United States PV Market 2010," reveals that the U.S. solar market grew 36% in 2009, responding positively to the economic downfall.
  
  
• Solar power now cheaper than nuclear
  Aug 11, 2010 - McClatchy/Tribune
  
  According to news aggregator Energy Collective, a historic era is upon us because solar power has become affordable. More specifically, solar power has become cheaper than nuclear power.
  
  
• U.S. researchers claim solar enegy advance
  Aug 11, 2010 - UPI
  
  Scientists say a new process utilizing both the light and heat of solar radiation could double the efficiency of electricity-generating solar panels.
  
  
• New Energy to Unveil World's First-of-Its-Kind
  Jul 28, 2010 - Associated Press
  
  New Energy to Unveil World's First-of-Its-Kind See-Thru Glass SolarWindow Capable of Generating Electricity University of South Florida Research Foundation Grants New Energy Exclusive, Worldwide License for Technologies to Enable Commercial Development of
  
  
• Despite inverter shortages, IMS Research raises 2010 solar market to 14.6GW
  Jul 14, 2010 - Mark Osborne - pv-tech.org
  
  Despite only a small improvement in solar inverter component supply expected in the second-half of the year, IMS Research has raised its forecast for global photovoltaics system installations.
  
  
• Ultra pure water system features high efficiency reverse osmosis process
  Jul 12, 2010 - engineerlive.com
  
  SunPower Corp has selected GE to supply the new SunPower-AUO joint venture solar cell fabrication plant in Malaysia with an ultra pure water system to meet the needs of its next generation manufacturing facility.
  
  
• 12 remote villages of Ziarat electrified through solar energy
  Jul 12, 2010 - Asia Pulse Data Source
  
  International Union for Conservation of Nature (ICUN) and Pakistan Council for Renewable Energy Technologies (PCRET) have collaboratively installed 12 solar energy panel systems in ten different remotely located villages of Ziarat district of Balochistan.
  
  
• Skyline Solar’s HGS PV system installation makes Nipton, CA, the most solar-powered U.S. town
  Jun 22, 2010 - Tom Cheyney - pv-tech.org
  
  Nipton, CA, has become the highest per-capita solar town in the United States, thanks to the first commercial power system installation of Skyline Solar’s high-gain solar concentrator PV technology.
  
  
• Brownfields' Bright Spot: Solar and Wind Energy
  Jun 21, 2010 - NREL - Energy Central
  
  Wind turbines are rising from abandoned toxic industrial sites.
  

  Today's Headlines DOE Announces More Than $76 Million for Advanced Energy-Efficient Building Technologies and Commercial Building Training Programs Southern Company, DOE Agree to Conditional Nuclear Loan Guarantee Terms AEP and Allegheny Energy Announce New In-Service Deadline for PATH Transmission Project Offshore wind farm clears key hurdle TVA halts solar power incentive program for fixes

  Solar panels are catching rays over contaminated landfills.
  
  
  
• India: bullish on solar energy
  Jun 21, 2010 - Datamonitor - energycentral.com
  
  India added a record 2.33GW of renewable energy capacity in the past year, but only a miniscule 8MW was contributed by solar power.
  
  
• Solar power to decrease the influence of pollution on human health: Scientist
  Jun 18, 2010 - Nisreen Zahreddine Kuwait Times - McClatchy-Tribune
  
  Kuwait's potential to benefit from the use of alternative energy was the subject of a workshop held at the Ministry of Electricity and Water (MEW) on Thursday.
  
  
  
• Florida takes giant step with huge solar-power plant
  Jun 18, 2010 - Kevin Spear - The Orlando Sentinel - Energy Central
  
  Florida Power & Light Co.'s newest solar-energy plant will have enough mirrors to cover 80 football fields. But those mirrors will focus sunlight onto surfaces that add up to slightly less than the area of a single football field.
  
  
  
• CPUC Commissioner Bohn Dedicates California's First Grid-Connected Solar Farm
  June 17, 2010 - Business Wire - Energy Central
  
  Dedication ceremonies were held today for CalRENEW-1, the first utility-scale photovoltaic solar electricity plant to connect to the California Independent System Operator's (CAISO) transmission grid under the state's Renewables Portfolio Standards program.
  
  
  
• Milestone: 10 Gigawatts of PV in 2010, Part 2
  Jun 17, 2010 - Eric Wesoff- greentechmedia.com
  
  As we approach the upcoming autumn milestone of 10 gigawatts of solar installed in 2010, Greentech Media asks a few solar luminaries to reflect on the event.
  
  
  Milestone: 10 Gigawatts of PV in 2010, Part 1
  Jun 11, 2010 - Eric Wesoff- greentechmedia.com
  
  As we approach the upcoming autumn milestone of 10 gigawatts of solar installed in 2010, Greentech Media asks a few solar luminaries to reflect on the event.
  
  
• Raising Arizona (solar): Tucson Electric primes the PV pump with 100MW-plus program
  Jun 09, 2010 - Tom Cheyney- PV-tech.org
  
  There are few places on the planet more suitable for solar power than Arizona. Despite the obviousness of this desert-fried fact, the state trails its large, golden neighbor to the west in the amount of PV and CSP installed as well as megawattage in the development pipeline. But two recently announced programs from a pair of  Arizona’s main utility operators—Tucson Electric Power and Salt River Project —would bring a couple of hundred more megawatts online within the next couple of years, and in TEP’s case, provide a distributed test bed for a variety of PV technologies.
  
  
• Project Focus: SolFocus, Victor Valley College complete 1MW CPV solar power plant
  June 1, 2010 - Emma Hughes - PV-tech.org
  
  Victor Valley College and SolFocushave officially opened the college's 1MW (AC) CPV solar power plant, located in the high desert northeast of Los Angeles.
  
  
• Czech Republic in violation of EU directives in order to stop solar boom
  May 26, 2010 - Emma Hughes - PV-tech.org
  
  Leading Czech photovoltaic experts addressed the European Commission with a request to review a brand-new decree of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MIT) of the Czech Republic regulating the construction of new solar photovoltaic power plants in the country.  Based on this decree, all PV plants installed in the Czech Republic from June onward that have a total output of more than 30kWp will have to adhere to very strict requirements related to using PV modules containing only solar cells with very high conversion efficiencies, namely 22% for monocrystalline cells and 16% for polycrystalline or thin-film cells.
  
  
• Plans for world's largest photovoltaic power plant unveiled
  May 25, 2010 - Taylor Luck - zawya.com
  
  AMMAN - An international consortium on Wednesday unveiled plans for what is expected to be the largest photovoltaic (PV) power plant in the world in Maan.
  
  
• How home solar arrays can help to stabilize the grid, part 1 of 2
  May 25, 2010 - George Musser - scientificamerican.com
  
  Solar arrays can do more than feed energy into the power grid.
  
  
• Chile’s Atacama may become Latin America’s Desertec
  May 24, 2010 - Sonia Credencia - latinobusinessreview.com
  
  According to numerous studies, Chile’s Atacama desert receives more solar radiation than any other desert in the world, giving the desert the potential to be transformed into Latin America’s Desertec.
  
  
• SDG&E Adds Solar Energy to Its Portfolio From Imperial County
  May 17, 2010 - Marketwire - renewablesbiz.com
  
  San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) today announced that it has signed a 20-year power-purchase agreement with an LS Power subsidiary.
  
  
• Solar power could produce 25% of global electricity by 2050, studies say
  May 17, 2010 - Tiffany Hsu - latimesblogs.latimes.com
  
  By 2050, the world could be getting a quarter of its electricity from solar power, the International Energy Agency said Wednesday.
  
  
• Australia’s Federal Government releases 2010/2011 budget with strong support for solar
  May 17, 2010 - Emma Hughes - Market Watch - pv-tech.org
  
  The Australian Federal Government announced its 2010/2011 budget on May 11, showing strong support for renewable energy.
  
  
• San Diego Gas & Electric signs 20-year power-purchase agreement
  May 14, 2010 - Syanne Olson - Poer Generation - pv-tech.org
  
  San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) has signed a 20-year power-purchase agreement with an LS Power subsidiary to secure up to 130MW of solar energy from the intended Centinela Solar Energy facility in Imperial Valley.
  
  
• EPIA revises solar market growth for 2009: global installs reached 7.2GW
  May 7, 2010 - Mark Osborne - pv-tech.org
  
  Preliminary 2009 market figures issued in March, 2010 by the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) showed that installations had increased by 6.4GW, however in newly revised final figures, installations increased to at least 7.2GW in 2009. The PV market therefore grew by almost 15% in 2009 compared to 2008 and the total cumulative power installed in the World increased by 45% to 22.9 GW.
  
  
• CIGS record of 20.1% efficiency reported by researchers at ZSW
  May 6, 2010 - Mark Osborne - pv-tech.org
  
  The U.S. research institute NREL held the conversion efficiency record for copper, indium, gallium, and selenium (CIGS) solar cells for 16 years but has lost this accolade to scientists at the Zentrum für Sonnenenergie- und Wasserstoff-Forschung Baden-Württemberg, Germany (Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research, ZSW).
  
  
• ADB launches Asia solar energy initiative
  May 6, 2010 - Xinhua
  
  The Asian Development Bank (ADB) launched here on Monday an Asia Solar Energy Initiative (ASEI) to generate some 3,000 megawatts of solar power by 2012.
  
  
• Troubled by power cuts, Indians go green with solar energy
  Mai 3, 2010 - Xinhua
  
  As rising mercury began scorching India this month, frequent electricity cuts are making the situation worse.
  
  
• Niskayuna, NY, USA: GE to Study Impact of High Solar Energy Penetration on the Grid
  Mai 3, 2010 - solarbuzz.com
  
  GE researchers are working with Arizona Public Service, the state’s largest electric utility, to understand how large amounts of solar can best be integrated into today’s grid.
  
  
• Accelerating Solar: A Look at the Next Decade
  Mai 3, 2010 - Dr. Charlie Gay - Applied Materials
  
  Dr. Charlie Gay is responsible for the solar efforts of Applied Materials, a supplier of photovoltaic processing equipment. Earlier this year, in a talk at the Industry Strategy Symposium, hosted by the Semiconductor Equipment and Material Institute (SEMI),
  
  
• Purple Pokeberries Hold Secret to Affordable Solar Power Worldwide
  Mai 3, 2010 - sciencedaily.com
  
  Pokeberries -- the weeds that children smash to stain their cheeks purple-red and that Civil War soldiers used to write letters home -- could be the key to spreading solar power across the globe, according to researchers at Wake Forest University's Center for Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials.
  
  
• Bringing Utility-Scale Solar Power to the Grid
  May 3, 2010 - Tucker Ruberti - PV Powered, Inc.
  
  Over time the electrical grid will transform into a more distributed configuration, incorporating many new energy resources, including solar.
  
  
• Bahrain planning solar energy push
  Apr 30, 2010 - Mandeep Singh Gulf Daily News, Manama, Bahrain
  
  The cost of powering Bahrain will not increase because the country is moving towards renewable sources, it was revealed said yesterday.
  
  
• Barclays Capital analyst raises 2010 global solar installation forecast to 11GW, Germany to 5.8GW
  Apr 26, 2010 - Mark Osborne - pv-tech.org
  
  Industry demand checks and recent German PV installation figures have seen Barclays Capital analyst, Vishal Shah raise his forecast for global solar installations for 2010.
  
  
• Photon Consulting: Get ready for US$1.00 per watt across all solar PV technologies
  Apr 26, 2010 - Mark Osborne - pv-tech.org
  
  According to the latest report from Photon Consulting the ‘true cost’ of solar power has fallen rapidly in the last year, driven by low cost producers in both China and Taiwan in particular.
  
  
• SEIA releases 2009 US Solar Industry Year in Review report
  Apr 26, 2010 - Syanne Olson - pv-tech.org
  
  After what was a trying year in economies all over the world, the Solar Energy Industries Association has released its 2009 US Solar Industry Year in Review report finding that the US solar industry posted strong numbers and showed significant growth.  Overall, the United States ranked 4th in new solar electric capacity worldwide with industry growth totaling nearly $4 billion – a 36% improvement.
  
  
• U.S. Department of Energy to invest more than $200 million in solar power technologies
  Apr 26, 2010 - Syanne Olson - pv-tech.org
  
  This past Earth Day was not only an anniversary of the celebration's 40th birthday, but also a step forward by the U.S. Department of Energy for the advancement and expansion of solar power technology.
  
  
• GE to Study Impact of High Solar Energy Penetration on the Grid
  Apr 22, 2010 - Business Wire
  
  With energy experts forecasting substantial increases in solar power in the coming decades, GE researchers are working with Arizona Public Service, the state's largest electric utility, to understand how large amounts of solar can best be integrated into today's grid.
  
  
• Kohl's Department Stores Announces Plans to Go Solar at 10 Colorado Stores
  Apr 20, 2010 - Business Wire - energycentral.com
  
  Kohl's Department Stores (NYSE: KSS), the largest retail host of solar power in North America, today announced plans to convert 10 of its 23 Colorado Kohl's stores to solar power by the end of this year.
  
  
• Solar energy: Enormous Ontario potential
  Apr 20, 2010 - United Press International
  
  Canadian scientists say solar power production in southeastern Ontario can potentially produce nearly the same amount of power of all U.S. nuclear reactors.
  
  
• LDK Solar becomes largest wafer producer: outlines technology roadmap
  Apr 20, 2010 - Mark Osborne - pv-tech.org
  
  At an investor event held at LDK Solar’s main solar wafer manufacturing complex in Xinyu City, China, the rapidly scaling integrated PV producer noted that it has reached an annualized wafer capacity of 2GW, claiming to be the largest solar wafer producer in the world.
  
  
• US Solar Power Market Grows 37% In 2009 - Study
  Apr 17, 2010 - Dow Jones
  
  The U.S. solar power market grew 37% in 2009 from the previous year, with 481 megawatts of new solar generation installed, up from 351 megawatts installed in 2008, the Solar Energy Industries Association said Thursday.
  
  
• Dow Jones Plans Solar-Power System to Generate Clean Energy
  Apr 14, 2010 - Business Wire
  
  Dow Jones & Company plans to construct a large-scale solar-power installation to generate clean energy for its corporate offices in central New Jersey.
  
  
• Solar Thermal Federation of India launched
  Apr 14, 2010 - renewableenergyfocus.com
  
  The pan-Indian not-for-profit body Solar Thermal Federation of India (STFI) has been launched to provide a voice and platform for the Indian solar thermal industry.
  
  
• IMS Research says solar installations could reach 10GW in 2010
  Apr 13, 2010 - Mark Osborne - .pv-tech.org
  
  Having forecasted that global PV installations would actually grow in 2009 despite the fact that’s its forecast was issued in early 2009 when barely 2.8MW was installed in Germany for January of that year, IMS Research now expects global installation could reach 10GW in 2010, despite changes to the German feed-in tariff.
  
  
• SunEdison activates 945kW PV plant at San Diego’s Otay Mesa water treatment facility
  Apr 7, 2010 - Emma Hughes - pv-tech.org
  
  San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders and SunEdison have been celebrating the activation of the 945kW solar power plant at San Diego's Otay Mesa water treatment facility.
  
  
• California to develop three more solar projects
  Apr 7, 2010 - Xinhua
  
  Solar Millennium LLC company is developing three solar project sites in California deserts that, once completed, will generate enough electricity to power more than 500,000 California households, it was announced on Wednesday.
  
  
• New program makes solar panels more affordable
  Apr 6 - McClatchy-Tribune - David Garrick - North County Times,
  
  Aiming to encourage more residents to install solar panels and other energy-saving devices, city officials have joined a statewide program that loans businesses and homeowners money to install such devices and lets them slowly re-pay the loans with property tax surcharges over 20 years.
  
  
• Solar panels made three times cheaper and four times more efficient
  Apr 4, 2010 - Darren Quick
  
  The Concentrated Universal Energy Solar System (CUESS) to be commercialized by Technique Solar
  
  
• Transmission Stalls Solar Growth
  Apr 2, 2010 - Bill Opalka - renewablesbiz.com
  
  Power purchase agreements and project finance are two of the legs on the stool for renewable energy's growth, but the third leg, transmission access, is turning into a problem for large solar projects in the Southwest.
  
  
• How Concentrated Solar Power Can Meet India's Future Power Needs
  Mar 31, 2010 - Darshan Goswami - Project Manager, U.S. Department of Energy
  
  Solar energy is an enormous resource that is readily available in all countries throughout the world, and all the space above the earth.
  
  
• Global solar photovoltaic installations reach a preliminary 6.4GW in 2009, says EPIA
  Mar 30, 2010  - Mark Osborne - pv-tech.org
  
  Preliminary 2009 market figures for the PV industry have been issued by the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA), after its recent workshop was held in Rome, Italy. The EPIA said that 6.4GW of newly installed capacity was achieved in 2009, reaching a total capacity of over 20GW worldwide.
  
  
  
• UPDATE 2-Italy new solar incentives seen in April
  Mar 25, 2010 - Svetlana Kovalyova - Reuters
  
  * Incentive cut slightly below reduction in solar panel cost
  
  
• PV – A Question of Scale
  Mar 23, 2010 - J.Peter Lynch - renewableenergyworld.com
  
  PV is already the fastest growing industry in the world. But if it is going to play a significant role in future worldwide electricity production, it all comes down to one word – scalability.
  
  
• Report: Solar Could Meet 10% of US Energy Needs
  Mar 23, 2010 - RenewableEnergyWorld.com
  
  Environment America last week released a new report that outlines the road to meet 10 percent of the United States' energy needs by 2030.
  
  
• Worldwide solar PV market reaches 6.43 GW in 2009
  Mar 22, 2010 - Renewable Energy Focus.Com
  
  Worldwide solar photovoltaic (PV) installations reached 6.43GW in 2009 – a 6% growth from 2008, according to the latest ‘Marketbuzz 2010 Report’ from market research and consulting company Solarbuzz.
  
  
• Cost of solar going down, industry says
  Mar 22, 2010 - The Bakersfield Californian
  
  David Stillwell is trying to wind down his monthly expenses so he'll have fewer bills when he retires. Toward that end, last year he bought a solar energy system for his Rosedale area home.
  
  
• US funds aluminium-based CSP system
  Mar 19, 2010 - renewableenergyfocus.com
  
  Alcoa will use aluminium instead of glass mirrors to generate power by concentrating solar power (CSP).
  
  
• Edison's bright idea: Solar panels on industrial roofs can act as mini power plants
  Mar 19, 2010 - Ryan Carter -San Gabriel Valley Tribune - McClatchy-Tribune
  
  Southern California Edison officials on Thursday said they've found another large rooftop to turn into a power plant to harness megawatts of energy from the sun.
  
  
• Phaesun builds solar systems in Africa
  Mar 16, 2010 - renewableenergyfocus.com
  
  German Phaesun and Ikratos Africa, based in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, are constructing 10 solar power plants in the Koudougou region, to be finished at the end of March 2010.
  
  
• First Solar Joins the Desertec Industrial Initiative
  Mar 16, 2010 -- BUSINESS WIRE
  
  First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) on Tuesday announced that it had joined the Desertec Industrial Initiative as an Associated Partner to demonstrate the potential of photovoltaic (PV) solar technology to provide clean, sustainable energy on a vast scale by harnessing the desert sun.
  
  
• SunPower scores 200MW rooftop PV contract with Southern California Edison
  Mar 11, 2010 - Tom Cheyney - pv-tech.org
  
  The most ambitious rooftop solar initiative in the U.S. has taken a decidedly crystalline-silicon turn, as Southern California Edison has awarded a contract to SunPower to supply up to 200MW, or 80%, of the utility’s photovoltaic installation program.
  
  
• Solar Power Vastly Underrated in Region
  Mar 11, 2010 - The Namibian/All Africa Global Media
  
  THE southern African region has the highest potential in the world for the use of Solar Thermal Power (STP).
  
  
• Wind towers and solar panels help power Jacksonville strip mall
  Mar 11, 2010 - The Florida Times-Union
  
  The twin 30-foot-high towers in front of a strip mall on the south side of Atlantic Boulevard near St. Johns Bluff are hard to miss -- especially when the wind is blowing and both structures are spinning and generating power.
  
  
• SunEdison receives go-ahead for largest plant in Europe
  Mar 11, 2010 - Emma Hughes - PV-tech.com
  
  SunEdison has received final approval from the Italian government to develop and construct what will be the largest solar power plant in Europe. The 72MW project will be based in Northeastern Italy, near the town of Rovigo.
  
  
• First Solar secures 300MW power purchase agreement with PG&E
  Mar 9, 2010 - Mark Osborne - pv-tech.org
  
  The 550MW Desert Sunlight project planned by First Solar in eastern Riverside County, California, looks to be set to go ahead now that a power purchase agreement with Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) has been signed for the remaining 300MW plant.
  
  
• On Rooftops Worldwide, a Solar Water Heating Revolution
  Mar 9, 2010 - Lester R. Brown - Earth Policy Institute
  
  The harnessing of solar energy is expanding on every front as concerns about climate change and energy security escalate, as government incentives for harnessing solar energy expand, and as these costs decline while those of fossil fuels rise.
  
  
• Renewable energy can meet 100% of demand: US study
  Mar 9, 2010 - renewableenergyfocus.com
  
  A study in North Carolina suggests that solar and wind energy could supply 94% of the electricity needs in the state.
  
  
• Solar Industry Learns Lessons in Spanish Sun
  Mar 8, 2010 - Elisabeth Rosenthal - nytimes.com
  
  PUERTOLLANO, Spain — Two years ago, this gritty mining city hosted a brief 21st-century gold rush. Long famous for coal, Puertollano discovered another energy source it had overlooked: the relentless, scorching sun.
  
  
• Project Focus: U.S. Navy to award $200M in contracts to build 40MW of solar PV power plants
  Mar 4, 2010 - Tom Cheyney - PV-tech.org
  
  The U.S. Navy's Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) has awarded a $200 million contract to build up as much as 40MW of solar photovoltaic power plants at Navy and Marine Corps installations throughout the southwestern United States.
  
  
  
• NREL says Global Solar first to exceed 13% efficiencies for CIGS on flex stainless-steel substrate
  Feb 25, 2010 - Tom Cheyney - pv-tech.org
  
  In the latest example of increasing CIGS conversion efficiencies, the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory has confirmed that Global Solar Energy has achieved 13.2% aperture-area efficiency on a thin-film photovoltaic module integrated with flexible cell-strings from its copper-indium-gallium-(di)selenide production line in Tucson, AZ. 
  
  
• Solar Thermal Collectors Have Larger Capacity and Produce More Energy than Wind Power
  Feb 24, 2010 - World of Renewables
  
  The report “Solar Thermal Power Report” describes solar thermal energy technology in its various applications.
  
  
• US utilities see future for solar and wind
  Feb 23, 2010 - Renewable Energy Focus
  
  Wind energy projects are underway or planned by 79% of utilities in the USA within the next five years, while solar energy is planned by 73% within that time horizon.
  
  
• Italy’s FiT cuts will be less than expected
  Feb 23, 2010 - Emma Hughes - pv-tech.org
  
  Reuters has reported that the Italian government plans to reduce the cuts it previously announced to solar incentives, according to the latest draft of a decree obtained on February 22.
  
  
• Advocates envision Texas as solar power leader
  Feb 22, 2010 - Randy Lee Loftis - The Dallas Morning News
  
  The sun could rival the wind as a clean power source in Texas' near future, if the state gets serious about tapping the potential of pollution-free solar energy.
  
  
• Is K.R. Sridhar’s 'magic box' ready for prime time?
  Feb 19, 2010 - Paul Keegan - CNN
  
  The Bloom Energy CEO is finally unveiling his entry in the fuel-cell arena after years of playing it close
• to the vest.
  
  
• Large solar PV to dominate US market
  Feb 18, 2010 - Renewable Energy Focus
  
  “Large-scale commercial solar PV and central-station utility-scale PV will most likely become the dominant growth market” in the United States, according to the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI).
  
  
• Kyocera claims new multicrystalline solar PV module conversion efficiency record, hits 17.3%
  Feb 12, 2010 - Tom Cheyney - pv-tech.org
  
  Two months after ECN and REC claimed the highest conversion efficiency for multicrystalline-silicon solar modules, Kyocera has topped their mark and set a new world record.
  
  
• Financial Crisis Paves the Way for Chinese Solar Giants
  Feb 10, 2010 - Coco Liu - renewableenergyworld.com
  
  Sales of Chinese solar modules, which accounted for nearly one third of the global market share, were shadowed in the wake of the financial crisis. However, what did not kill the Chinese companies made them stronger, especially in terms of product cost and market access.
  
  
• Nuclear Giant Areva Buys Solar Company Ausra
  Feb 9, 2010 - Laura Lsensee - Reuters
  
  The world's largest nuclear plant builder, Areva SA, is diversifying into solar power with the aim of becoming an industry leader, as it acquires U.S.-based solar thermal player Ausra, the company said on Monday.
  
  
• Business coalition pushes solar energy in Texas
  Feb 9, 2010 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Bill Teeter Waco Tribune-Herald, Texas
  
  A business organization is pressing for the state government to expand its solar power goals to make Texas a national leader in solar energy.
  
  
• Solar energy expo seeks lighting solution to rural India
  Feb 06, 2010 -- Xinhua
  
  A four-day solar energy expo has been running since Thursday in the Indian capital, highlighting the "dark" situation especially in rural India and proposing " light'solution through solar energy.
  
  
• Release: Sanders Introduces Major Solar Energy Initiative
  Feb 4, 2010 - Bernie Sanders
  
  Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), chairman of the Senate's green jobs subcommittee, today introduced legislation with nine cosponsors to encourage the installation of 10 million solar systems on the rooftops of homes and businesses over the next decade.
  
  
• Tables of Renewable Tariffs or Feed-In Tariffs Worldwide
  Feb 1, 2010 - Paul Gipe - wind-works.org
  
  These tables summarize tariffs for different technologies in different countries, and various states and provinces. The tables may also provide an overview of program details.
  
  
• Intel outside: Chipmaker moves to install more PV power systems, equipped with First Solar modules
  Jan 29, 2010 - Tom Cheyney - PV-tech.org
  
  Intel likes to talk the green talk and walk it too with ever-smaller carbon footprints, buying copious amounts of renewable energy credits, investing millions of dollars in cleantech startups through its development fund, spinning off solar cell start-up Spectrawatt, and researching organic photovoltaics in its labs.
  
  
• Solar energy initiative aired
  Jan 29, 2010 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Aaron Besecker The Buffalo News, N.Y.
  
  All kinds of public buildings under the sun, from schools to libraries to city halls, will be targeted as installation sites under a new state initiative to develop solar energy.
  
  
• Project Focus: GA-Solar to build 300MW solar PV power plant in New Mexico
  Jan 28, 2010 - Tom Cheyney - PV-tech.org
  
  Spanish renewable energy firm GA-Solar will develop and build a massive solar photovoltaic power plant in New Mexico's rural Guadalupe County, according to an announcement made by Gov. Bill Richardson. The project, to be sited on 2500 acres of land, could be scaled to more than 300MW and represents an investment of $1 billion by the solar company and its parent, Corporación Gestamp.
  
  
• Spanish company plans NM solar energy plant
  Jan 27, 2010 - The Associated Press
  
  A Spanish company plans to invest $1 billion to build a large solar energy production plant in New Mexico.
  
  
• Solar energy initiative launched
  Jan 25, 2010 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News
  
  The King Abdulaziz City of Science and Technology (KACST) on Sunday launched a major national initiative to produce desalinated water and electricity at a much cheaper rate -- less than a riyal for a cubic meter of water and 30 halalas per kilowatt/hour. Prince Turki bin Saud bin Muhammad, vice president of KACST for research institutes, said the initiative would reduce the cost of water and electricity production by 40 percent. He said the first solar-powered desalination plant with a capacity of 30,000 cubic meters would be established in Al-Khafji to serve 100,000 people.
  
  
• Duke Energy to start first solar power plant; buys juwi/First Solar ‘Blue Wing Solar’ project
  Jan 25, 2010 - Mark Osborne - PV-tech.org
  
  A 16MW solar power plant under development by juwi solar, using 214,500 ground-mounted cadmium-telluride thin-film PV panels from First Solar, has been acquired by Duke Energy.
  
  
• Tessera Solar and Stirling Energy Systems Unveil World's First Commercial-Scale SunCatcherTM Plant, Maricopa Solar, with Utility Partner Salt River Project
  Jan 22, 2010 - Energy Central
  
  Only four months after breaking ground, Tessera Solar and Stirling Energy Systems (SES) showcased the highly anticipated Maricopa Solar power plant today at a special event for key partners, stakeholders and media. Maricopa Solar is the first commercial project for the SunCatcherTM concentrating solar power (CSP) technology designed and manufactured by SES. Joining in the celebration were Arizona Governor Jan Brewer and officials from Salt River Project (SRP), local and state government, the U.S. Department of Energy, Sandia National Laboratories, utility customers, suppliers and NTR plc, Tessera Solar and SES’s majority shareholder.
  
  
• Solar-driven Stirling engines get to work
  Jan 22, 2010 - Martin LaMonica - CNET
  
  Business and government officials on Friday cut the ribbon on a planned factory in Arizona that will build giant parabolic dishes to generate electricity from the sun.
  
  
• NREL invests US$12 million in early stage solar development
  Jan 21, 2010 - Emma Hughes - PV-tech.org
  
  The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) will invest up to US$12 million in total funding in four companies to support the development of early stage solar energy technologies and help them advance to full commercial scale. The money will go towards expanding the U.S. clean energy economy and the development of solar energy as a more cost-competitive source of electricity.
  
  
• At 1 MW, Wal-Mart Completes its Largest Solar Array to Date
  Jan 19, 2010 - Environmental Leader
  
  More than 5,300 solar panels at Wal-Mart’s Apple Valley distribution center in California will generate about a megawatt of electricity, reports LATimes blogs.
  
  
• Solar PV module shipments up 25% in 2009
  Jan 19, 2010 - Renewable Energy Focus.Com
  
  The recently published report The World Market for PV Cells and Modules, reveals that solar PV module shipments grew by over a quarter to more than 8 GW in 2009, but new installations grew just 5-10%.
  
  
• 21-Megawatt Solar Power Plant Opens in California
  Jan 18, 2010 - Ethan A. Huff - Natual News
  
  California-based solar panel producer First Solar has opened a 21-megawatt power plant in Blythe, making it the largest photovoltaic solar power plant in the country. Utilizing thin film solar cells made out of cadmium telluride, the plant will be able to generate power for about 17,000 southern California homes.
  
  
• China Snaps Up California Solar Market
  Jan 14, 2010 - Todd Woody - The New York Times
  
  China’s rise as a major solar module maker has been meteoric, but perhaps nowhere has its ascension been faster than in California, the United States’ largest solar market.
  
  
• Project Focus: EDF EN Canada completes 23.4MW Arnprior Solar Project
  Jan 12, 2010 - Emma Hughes - PV-tech
  
  EDF EN Canada has reached commercial operation and closed financing for the 23.4MW Arnprior Solar Project. This announcement marks the achievement of another of North America's largest solar PV projects. The site is located on the western side of the City of Ottawa, Ontario and consists of 312,000 First Solar thin-film panels. The plant is expected to generate enough renewable energy to meet the peak demands of approximately 7,000 Ontario homes.
  
  
• Paint, spray or ink it on
  Jan 12, 2010 - Lisa Sibley - Cleantech Group
  
  In solar and batteries, thin--and sprayable--are in. Will brand new spray-on and inkjet printing tech of the last week supplement or replace existing solutions?
  
  
• Polysilicon producers top U.S. federal tax credits
  Jan 12, 2010 - Mark Osborne - Fab and Facilities - PV-tech
  
  In respect of the US$2.3 billion U.S. federal tax credits issued last week for job creation, two key trends have emerged. As already highlighted, the solar sector garnered approximately US$1.0 billion of the credits allocated. However, another trend emerged whereby three major polysilicon producers garnered the most from the credits in the solar sector.
  
  
• India to Boost Solar Power Generation
  Jan 12, 2010 - Voice of America News
  
  India has launched a program to boost solar power generation over the next decade. India wants to make solar energy a central part of its efforts to combat climate change.
  
  
• eSolar strikes deal to build power plants in China
  Jan 9, 2010 - Cara Anna - AP
  
  A U.S. solar power company said Saturday it will help build a series of solar thermal power plants in China, as the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases tries to decrease its heavy reliance on coal, imported gas and oil.
  
  
• Solar and Solyndra top venture capital funding in 2009, says Cleantech Group report
  Jan 08, 2010 - Mark Osborne - PV-tech.org
  
  According to new figures from the Cleantech Group and Deloitte, VC investments in companies in the solar sector, reached US$1.2 billion or 21% of the share in 2009, making it the largest ‘Cleantech’ sector for investment. Clean technology venture investments in North America, Europe, China and India totalled US$5.6 billion in 557 deals. However, as these figures are preliminary, the firms expect the final figures could be up by as much as 10%.
  
  
• Project Focus: Morocco invites bids for 500MW plant: first in country
  Jan 7, 2010 - Emma Hughes - PV-tech.org
  
  Morocco will be inviting bids for the construction of its 500MW solar power station due to be complete at the end of February 2010. The project is estimated to cost US$9 billion and will be the first solar power station in the country according to Reuters.
  
  
• Solar pond could produce fresh water
  Jan 06, 2010 - United Press International
  
  Salty lakes worldwide could produce valuable freshwater using a low-cost solar process developed at the
  University of Nevada, researchers said.
  
  
• Acciona Energia gains financing for 150MW project in Spain
  Jan 05, 2010 - Emma Hughes - pv-tech.org
  
  Reuters has reported the financial close of a combined 150MW project deal for Acciona Energia in Spain. The solar thermal power project involves a deal with 29 banks and is said to be one of the largest single solar financings to date.
  
  
• Solar Panel Project to Light Up Schools
  Jan 5, 2010 - Business Daily - All Africa Global Media
  
  Two private companies have been commissioned to install solar panels in 117 schools and health centres in arid and semi arid regions in a move geared to reduce Kenya's reliance on hydro-generated electricity and lower the cost of energy to poor communities.
  
  
• Storing the sun’s heat
  Dec 31, 2009- Stephanie Tavares - lasvegassun.com
  
  The U.S. solar energy industry is poised for a major technological breakthrough, and Nevada is in a race with Arizona to be the first to take advantage of it.
  
  
• Solar rules! New list of proposed renewable energy projects in California has gigawatts of potential
  Dec 31, 2009 - Tom Cheyney - PV-tech.org
  
  Ever wonder how many large-scale renewable energy projects might be on the drawing board in California? Thanks to the latest announcement from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, we now have a round number—244.
  
  
• SunEdison to build, run five 10MW solar power plants for Xcel unit in New Mexico
  Dec 30, 2009 - Tom Cheyney - pv-tech.org
  
  SunEdison will design and construct five ground-mounted solar photovoltaic power plants that will generate a total of 50MW (AC) in New Mexico for Southwestern Public Service, a regional operating company of Xcel Energy. The five 10MW sites will be located in Lea and Eddy counties in the southeastern part of the state and will be fully operational by the end of 2011, the companies said.
  
  
• Hybrid Solar Panels Combine Photovoltaics with Thermoelectricity
  Dec 30, 2009 - Larry Greenemeuer - ScientificAmerican.com
  
  Columbia University and N.Y. engineering firm Weidlinger Associates are developing a layered approach that will draw electricity from the sun's energy in multiple ways
  
  
• Are Engines the Future of Solar Power?
  Dec 30, 2009 - Cynthia Graber - Scientificamerican.com
  
  Stirling engines might be the best way to harvest the power provided by the sun
  
  
• Regulators Approve Key Contract for New 48-Megawatt Sempra Generation Solar Power Plant
  Dec 17, 2009 - MARKETWIRE - Energy Central
  
  Sempra Generation announced today that the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has approved Pacific Gas & Electric's (PG&E) contract to purchase 48 megawatts (MW) of photovoltaic solar power from Sempra Generation's Copper Mountain Solar facility.
  
  
• EDF taps €1 billion in solar project financing: exclusive use of First Solar modules
  Dec 17, 2009 - Mark Osborne - PV-tech.org
  
  In a significant move by EDF Energies Nouvelles to boost its solar energy portfolio, the renewable energy producer has secured new project finance that is underpinned by a €500 million loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB). EIB is financing 50% of planned projects in both France and Italy through 2012, while commercial banks will support each project with the other 50% of project finance required. EDF is exclusively using First Solar’s CdTe thin film modules for the €1 billion of projects over the next 2-years.
  
  
• Rebound: US Photovoltaic Market Growth through 2010
  Dec 15, 2009 - Larry Sherwood, Anneke Hohl, Eric Paul and Jon Guice, PhD
  
  Recently, AltaTerra Research presented a national web conference on the American solar market with Jon Guice, an expert on U.S. solar market entry, and Larry Sherwood, author of the annual "U.S. Solar Market Trends" reports published by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC).
  
  
• Solar industry groups release report in Copenhagen
  Dec 14, 2009 - LA Times
  
  As the United Nations Climate Change Conference enters its second week in Copenhagen, several international solar organizations released a report today summarizing solar power goals around the world.
  
  
• South Korean polysilicon manufacturer OCI to invest $858.5 million in new plant
  Dec 11, 2009 - Tom Cheyney - PV-tech.org
  
  In a bid to join the leading global producers of polysilicon, South Korean chemical manufacturer OCI plans to restart construction on a new poly plant inside its existing facility in Gunsan in January.
  
  
• Ellensburg residents invest in solar power park
  Dec 11, 2009 - Leah Beth Ward - The Associated Press
  
  Gary Nystedt was brainstorming with a group of colleagues at a solar energy conference a few years ago when the idea hit him.
  
  
• GE's New Solar Inverter Tackles Challenges of Integrating to Today's Grid
  Dec 09, 2009 - GE Energy - energycentral.com
  
  Technology used in GE’s (NYSE:GE) wind turbines, known for proven performance and reliability, is now bringing similar benefits to large-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. Building on a platform of power electronics, monitoring and controls that enhance wind energy grid integration, GE has developed a 600 kW solar inverter, which includes grid-friendly features to deliver performance in large-scale solar installations similar to conventional power plants.
  
  
• US Solar Spins a 360
  Dec 8, 2009 - Elisa Wood - Renewable Energy World.COM
  
  The solar industry is finally feeling optimistic again, having apparently achieved a full 360 degree turn over the past 12 months, but what will 2010 hold?
  
  
• Solar pipeline at U.S. utilities reaches 4.8GW: EER reports 21.5GW of solar power generation in 2020
  Dec 4, 2009 - Mark Osborne - PV-tech.org
  
  A new detailed study of the U.S. utility market for solar applications by market research firm, Emerging Energy Research (EER) highlights the current and future pipeline of PV installations expected from the U.S. utilities. The utility-scale PV project pipeline has already reached 4.8GW with utilities expected to add a further 21.5GW to their generation portfolios between 2009 and 2020. Compared to the 77 MW of utility-driven projects currently operating, an explosion in the market is rapidly gaining momentum.
  
  
• HelioSphera to build $500 million, 160MW solar PV module plant in Philadelphia Navy Yard complex
  Dec 1, 2009 - Tom Cheyney - PV-tech.org
  
  Greek solar manufacturer HelioSphera will build a new photovoltaics module factory in Philadelphia’s historic Navy Yard mixed-use complex. Work on the 160-MW production plant is scheduled to begin next year.
  
  
• Southern California Edison's Solar Transmission Line Approved
  Nov 30, 2009 - Wall Street Journal
  
  Southern California Edison (SCE) has received approval from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) for the construction of the 128-mile, 500 kV Devers Palo-Verde No. 2 line, which is designed to deliver solar power to demand centers in Southern California.
  
  
• Cambodia to develop solar power to meet domestic need
  Nov 27, 2009 - Energy Central
  
  Ten companies from eight countries have sought permission to invest in solar energy projects in Cambodia after the August removal of a 15 percent duty on imports of the materials needed to build solar plants, local media reported Thursday, citing an official from Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy.
  
  
• Tunisia adheres to “Desertec” project
  Nov 26, 2009 - Tunisia Online News
  
  An international conference on ” Desert Friendly Energy as a Challenge for Regional Cooperation and the Union For the Mediterranean” as part of the “Desertec” project to develop solar energy in southern Mediterranean countries, was held on Monday in Gammarth north of Tunis.
  
  
• 20,000 MW grid solar power by 2022 under Nehru solar mission
  Nov 25, 2009 - Asia Pulse Data Source
  
  The Government of India Monday said that it has approved the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission with an aim of setting up 20,000 MW grid solar power and 2,000 MW off-grid solar power by 2022.
  
  
• Cost of solar energy will drop by half this year and other renewable energy by 10%, says analyst
  Nov 24, 2009 - World of renewables.com
  
  The levelised costs for solar energy will drop 50% in 2009, while the pre-subsidy cost for other renewable energy technologies will decline by 10%, according to a quarterly research note from New Energy Finance.
  
  
• India to Spend $900 Million on Solar
  Nov 20, 2009 - Vakas Bajaj - New York Times - Green Inc.
  
  Ending months of speculation about exactly what it was planning to do to boost the use of renewable sources of energy, India said this week that it will spend about $900 million on solar energy.
  
  
• Project focus: China to subsidize 294 solar power plants
  Nov 16, 2009 - Syanne Olson - PV+Tech Newsletter
  
  China has chosen 294 solar power projects, which will produce a total generation capacity of 642MW, for its first pilot program wherein it will subsidize at least half of the investment cost. Reuturs.com reports that the expected total cost will be around 20 billion Yuan and should be in production within the next two to three years as stated by the Chinese Ministry of Finance.
  
  
• Suntech to develop 20% of BIPV Solar Rooftop Program projects, China
  Nov 13, 2009 - By Emma Hughes - PV-tech.org
  
  Suntech Power expects to develop approximately 20% of the 91MW of solar projects that were approved under China's Solar Rooftop Program, launched in March this year by the Ministry of Finance.
  
  
• Solar Thermal Electricity Production to Jump 100-Fold, IEA Says
  Nov 10,2009 - Jeremy van Loon - Bloomberg.com
  
  Power generation using giant mirrors and solar panels to concentrate the sun’s rays and turn turbines will expand more than 100-fold over the next two decades, according to the International Energy Agency.
  
  
• Solar Flare Ups
  Nov 9, 2009 - Ed Humes - California Lawyer
  
  True or false: California's plan to generate massive amounts of clean, sustainable solar power is a win for everyone—liberal or conservative, environmentalist or business executive.
  
  
• Rooftop solar cells blossom, posing new challenges for power grid
  Nov 09, 2009- North County Times
  
  Solar power installations are sprouting on California rooftops like leaves in the spring, but all that renewable energy poses new problems for the aging power grid.
  
  
• DoE highlights best practices from 25 Solar America Cities
  Nov 2, 2009 - renewable energy focus.com
  
  The US Department of Energy (DoE) has announced an online resource for local governments that assists community leaders and local stakeholders in building sustainable local solar markets with best practices from 25 Solar America Cities.
  
  
• Japan accelerates purchase of surplus solar electricity at homes
  Nov 1, 2009 - The Associated Press
  
  The government launched Sunday a new program that enables power companies to purchase at higher rates surplus electricity produced by solar power generation systems installed in homes, schools and hospitals.
  
  
• Solar power from Sahara a step closer
  Nov 1, 2009 - Ashley Seager - guardian.co.uk
  
  A $400bn (£240bn) plan to provide Europe with solar power from the Sahara moved a step closer to reality today with the formation of a consortium of 12 companies to carry out the work.
  
  
• Order focus: PG&E contracts with NextEra, Abengoa for 500MW of solar power
  Oct 27, 2009 - Syanne Olson - PV-tech.org
  
  Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) has inked a deal with subsidiaries of NextEra Energy Resources and Abengoa Solar for a total clean solar power delivery of 500MW. Combined with other solar deals that PG&E has recently signed with independent developers the company has totaled a delivery of 830MW.
  
  
• Applied’s new solar research centre in China houses both ‘SunFab’ and c-Si pilot lines
  Oct 26, 2009 - Mark Osborne - PV-tech. org
  
  Billed as the largest nongovernment solar energy research facility in the world, Applied Materials has opened its new solar research centre in Xi’an, Shaanxi province, in northwest China. The 400,000-square-foot-plus facility houses a ‘SunFab’ thin film manufacturing line and a complete crystalline silicon pilot process. Applied started construction in 2006 on the center, which is expected to cost US$250 million as part of a multiphase project.
  
  
• Solar Leaders Applaud New PV Cost Study That Shows Government Policies Reduce Installed Costs, Expand U.S. Solar Market
  Oct 21, 2009 - Business Wire
  
  Today researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab released "Tracking the Sun II: The Installed Cost of Photovoltaics in the U.S. from 1998--2008." The new report found that the average cost of going solar in the U.S. declined by more than 30 percent from 1998 to 2008, a trend that can be largely attributed to the success of market-building policies at the state and local level. Findings also show that, after a three-year plateau, costs decreased by 3.6 percent from 2007 to 2008, marking a pivotal year for the American solar industry.
  
  
• Chipotle Plans Major Solar Power Initiative
  Oct 20, 2009 - Business Wire
  
  Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) (NYSE: CMG.B) announced today it is partnering with Houston-based Standard Renewable Energy (SRE) to install solar panels on approximately 75 Chipotle restaurants over the next year. In all, Chipotle has committed to panels that will produce 500 kilowatt hours of electricity, making Chipotle the largest direct producer of solar energy in the restaurant industry.
  
  
• Second Rooftop in Southern California Edison's Massive Solar Panel Installation Program Now Generating Power in Chino
  Oct 20, 2009 - Business Wire
  
  The roof of a 458,000-square-foot industrial building in Chino, Calif. is now providing as much as one million watts of solar power to Southern California's Inland Empire. This is the second installation in Southern California Edison's (SCE's) plan to place advanced solar panels on hundreds of otherwise unused commercial rooftops across Southern California. The Chino site is owned by the Multi-Employer Property Trust (MEPT) whose exclusive investment advisor is Kennedy Associates.
  
  
• California and Texas: Renewable energy's odd couple
  Oct 17, 2009 - Kate Galbraith - The New York Times
  
  Texas cares little for environmental niceties. Its governor, Rick Perry, bashes the Environmental Protection Agency at every opportunity, and recently branded the climate bill that passed the House of Representatives a “legislative monstrosity.”
  
  
• ComEd Awarded $4 Million in Federal Economic Stimulus Funding To Expand Green Vehicle Fleet and Test Impact on Electric Grid
  Oct 16, 2009 - PRNewsWire
  
  ComEd today announced it has been awarded a total of $4 million in federal economic stimulus funding to expand one of the nation's largest private fleets of alternative-fuel vehicles and test solar-powered vehicle charging infrastructure as part of its study of plug-in electric vehicle usage and its impact on the electric system.
  
  
• Video: Inside the 2009 Solar Decathlon
  Oct 15, 2009 - Graham Jesmer - Video Producer - RenewableEnergyWorld.com
  
  A look inside some of the homes in this year's competition. The U.S. Department of Energy's 2009 Solar Decathlon brought 20 teams from colleges and universities around the world together on Washington D.C.'s National Mall, pitting them against one another in friendly competition to see who's solar-powered house would rise to the top.
  
  
• Duke Distributed Generation Solar Sites Revealed
  Oct 14, 2009 - Renewable Energy World.com
  
  Four sites have been selected to have solar energy systems installed on their rooftops as part of the first phase of Duke Energy's distributed solar generation program in North Carolina. Duke Energy has selected large nonresidential customer sites for this first phase.
  
  
• Schwarzenegger, Salazar Sign MOU To Expedite RE Development In California
  Oct 13, 2009 - Solar Industry
  
  Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, R-Calif., has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Department of the Interior (DOI) Secretary Ken Salazar in order to expedite the siting of California renewable energy projects.
  
  
• China's first 10MV ground mount solar system connected to the grid
  Oct 12, 2009 - Renewable Energy Focus.com
  
  The Suntech solar PV system is located in Shizuishan, Ningxia Autonomous Region, China, and the 10 MW ground mount solar system is the first phase of a 50 MW solar plant that is targeted to be completed by 2011 in conjunction with Suntech's strategic partner, China Energy Conservation Investment Corporation (CECIC).
  
  
• Governor Signs Two Big Solar Bills AB 920 and SB 32 Continue California’s Drive toward a Million Solar Roofs, Give Consumers New Incentives to Go Solar
  Oct 12, 2009 - YubaNet.com
  
  SACRAMENTO, Calif. Oct. 12, 2009 - Californians have two more reasons to go solar tonight. Governor Schwarzenegger signed two popular solar bills designed to give consumers added incentive to invest in a solar roof and help the state achieve its aggressive clean energy goals.
  
  
• Iberdrola Creeps Into Solar Technology Development
  Oct 9, 2009 - Jennifer Kho - greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com
  
  The renewable energy venture arm of Iberdrola, the big Spanish utility, has made a small investment in a Toronto photovoltaic solar company — a sign that the company is stepping up its role in developing, and not just deploying, renewable-energy technologies beyond wind power.
  
  
• Rust Belt sunshine: Silicon Valley solar firm gives autoworkers green jobs
  Oct 9, 2009 - Alex Salkever - dailyfinance.com
  
  the hope for redeploying industrial America likely lies in with technologies more similar to that of Skyline Solar. The array in Santa Clara puts out 27 kilowatts, enough to power a small- or medium-sized office building. That is the market Skyline is targeting, a space that includes office parks, churches, schools and state and local governments.
  
  
• Dow Introduces Stealth Solar Shingles
  Aug 10, 2009 - Megan Treacy - ecogeek.org
  
  This week Dow Chemical Company joined the ranks of companies trying to make renewable energy both practical and visually pleasing. The company introduced its POWERHOUSE Solar Shingle this week and, I have to say, I'm impressed. The new shingles almost seemlessly blend in with asphalt shingles, providing you with solar power without the possibility of offending your neighbors.
  
  
• KYOCERA Donates Solar Power Generating Systems to Schools in Uganda
  Oct 8, 2009 - Business Wire
  
  Kyocera Corporation (President: Tetsuo Kuba)(NYSE:KYO)(TOKYO:6971) announced today that it is donating and installing solar power generating systems to 15 schools in the Republic of Uganda over the next five years.
  
  
• KSK Surya Photovoltaic Venture Selects Applied Materials’ SunFab Solar Panel Production Lines for 150MW Project in India
  Oct 7, 2009 - BusinessWire
  
  KSK Surya Photovoltaic Venture, Private Limited (KSK), a subsidiary of KSK Power Ventur plc, a leading independent power provider in India, announced today that it has signed a contract with Applied Materials, Inc. to purchase two Applied SunFab™ Thin Film Lines for manufacturing high-power output 5.7m2 solar panels. The SunFab lines will be installed in a state-of-the-art facility, including an R&D center, which KSK plans to build in the “Fab City” located in Hyderabad, India, at a total project cost (including land and buildings) of approximately USD $500 million.
  
  
• Dow Unveils Solar Shingles
  Oct 7, 2009 - Todd Woody - The New York Times
  
  Dow Chemical has unveiled a residential roof shingle in the form of a solar panel designed to be integrated into asphalt-tiled roofs.
  
  
• Enlight to build new nation-wide solar energy project
  Oct 6, 2009 - Merav Ankori - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News
  
  Enlight Renewable Energy Ltd. has won a BOT (build, operate, transfer) project for 25 solar energy installations. Enlight will set up and operate the installations together with investors. The company is in advanced talks to secure financing with one of Israel's big banks, which sources inform "Globes" is Bank Hapoalim (TASE: POLI). The financial closing is due in a few weeks.
  
  
• Nicaragua placing its bets on solar energy
  Oct 5, 2009 - EFE
  
  Nicaragua intends to become less dependent on electricity from fossil fuels in the short term, and to do that the country is carrying out solar development projects along the Caribbean coast and in rural areas, the deputy energy minister said Monday.
  
  
• Ontario: The next solar hotbed?
  Oct , 2009 - Michael Bates - Solar Industry Magazine
  
  A little more than a week ago, the government of Ontario revealed the missing pieces of its Green Energy Act and the associated "Ten Steps to Green Energy." One of those steps - a feed-in tariff - has the potential to dramatically change the solar photovoltaic market in the province.
  
  
• Financing Heating Up For Solar Industry
  Sep 29, 2009 - Donna Howell - Investor's Business Daily
  
  Lending is starting to flow a little more freely toward solar-power projects and providers, after a stall.
  
  
• Alternative energy projects stumble on a need for water
  Sep 29, 2009 - The New York Times
  
  Amargosa Valley, Nev. — In a rural corner of Nevada reeling from the recession, a bit of salvation seemed to arrive last year. A German developer, Solar Millennium, announced plans to build two large solar farms here that would harness the sun to generate electricity, creating hundreds of jobs.
  
  
• Local solar outlook is worldly, TREO tells visiting journalists
  Sept 21, 2009 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News
  
  There's enough noonday sunlight striking the University of Arizona campus to produce 1.5 gigawatts of electricity and power all of Tucson.
  
  
• First Solar to build 2 GW solar power plant in Chinese Desert
  Sep 18, 2009 - Renewable Energy Focus.Com
  
  Phase one of the solar power plant will be a 30 MW demonstration project that will begin construction by June, 2010 and be completed as soon as practicable. Phases two, three and four will be 100 MW, 870 MW, and 1 GW. Phases two and three of the solar power plant will be completed in 2014 and Phase four will be completed by 2019.
  
  
• TEP Unveils Plans for Giant Photovoltaic Array and New Solar Power Plant
  Sept 16, 2009 - Business Wire
  
  Tucson Electric Power (TEP) is working with partners to develop two new solar power systems that would rank as the Tucson area's largest renewable power plants, generating enough clean energy to serve more than 6,000 Tucson homes.
  
  
• Printed PV: Nanosolar unveils 640MW utility-scale panel fab, high-efficiency CIGS cell production
  Sept 9, 2009 - Tom Cheyney - PV-tech.org
  
  After staying relatively quiet for much of the past year, thin-film PV manufacturer Nanosolar has come out with a full docket of announcements: the completion of its 640MW panel-assembly factory near Berlin celebrated during an event attended by the German Minister of the Environment and other dignitaries; the start of serial roll-to-roll production of its flexible copper-indium-gallium-(di)selenide cells in the company’s San Jose facility; $4.1 billion in panel purchases from customers--including some of the world’s largest utility companies; NREL-verified cell efficiencies up to 16.4%; and new technical details of both its printed CIGS cell technology and utility-scale panels.
  
  
• Concentrator PV: Harvesting More, Spending Less
  Sept 8, 2009 - Nancy Hartsoch - Renewable Energy World.COM
  
  Today we are faced with dramatically increasing electricity demand globally presenting a critical need for clean, renewable energy. While the sun is the world's most abundant renewable resource, today it is barely tapped as an energy source. The challenge has been in cost effective conversion of that sunlight to electricity. Historically, harvesting photons has been hindered by high costs compared with traditional energy.
  
  
• First Solar signs MOU to develop 2GW of PV power plants in Inner Mongolia
  Sept 8, 2009 - Tom Cheyney - PV-tech.org
  
  First Solar has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Chinese government to build a multiphase solar power plant project in Ordos City, Inner Mongolia, a site that will eventually reach 2GW in installed capacity. Once finalized, the agreement--the first of its kind between the Chinese authorities and a non-Chinese solar company--could also lead to the construction of First Solar moduling and supplier manufacturing facilities in the region.
  
  
• Chinese solar plant expected to be the biggest
  Sept 8, 2009 - Chris Kahn - The Associated Press
  
  First Solar Inc. said Tuesday it has received initial approval from the Chinese government to build what may become the largest solar field in the world.
  
  
• Munich Re may insure Desertec solar energy project
  Sept 7, 2009 - George Frey - The Associated Press
  
  German reinsurer Munich Re AG said its main role in the proposed Desertec solar energy project is currently as a catalyst and advisor, but could become a bigger investor and possible insurer for the project in future - if and when it gets built.
  
  
• How much surface area would it take to power the world completely with solar or wind?
  Sept 2, 2009 - Ariel Schwartz - Fast Company
  
  Ever wonder how much space we would need to use to power the entire world with solar energy or offshore wind power? So did the good people at the Land Art Generator, who created two infographics that show the amount of surface area required to power our planet with renewable resources.
  
  
• China Racing Ahead of U.S. in the Drive to Go Solar
  Aug 24, 2009 - Keith Bradsher - New York Times
  
  WUXI, China — President Obama wants to make the United States “the world’s leading exporter of renewable energy,” but in his seven months in office, it is China that has stepped on the gas in an effort to become the dominant player in green energy — especially in solar power, and even in the United States.
  
  
• Firm to Light up The Country With Solar Power
  Aug 20, 2009 - Daily Trust/All Africa Global Media
  
  Private Networks Nigeria Limited (PNN), a leading Pan-African technology service, has announced plans and ability to provide 100% visibility in Nigeria through the application of solar powered lights which can adequately address the persistent epileptic power supply in the country.
  
  
• First Solar, Southern California Edison Sign Contracts for 550 MW of Photovoltaic Solar Electricity
  Aug 18, 2009 - Business Wire
  
  First Solar, Inc. and Southern California Edison (SCE) today announced agreements to build two large-scale solar power projects in Riverside and San Bernardino counties in Southern California. The installations, which will be among the largest of their kind, will have a generation capacity of 550 megawatts of photovoltaic solar electricity, enough to provide power to approximately 170,000 homes. The agreements are subject to approval by the California Public Utilities Commission.
  
  
• Utilities Hatch Ambitious Plans to Own and Operate Large-scale PV Projects
  Aug 13, 2009 - Justin Moresco - RenewableEnergyWorld.com
  
  n years past, solar photovoltaic (PV) installations were largely done in a piecemeal fashion, planned and implemented one rooftop or ground-mounted system at a time. But as solar technology has improved and as state governments demand more renewable generation through portfolio standards, large-scale projects are becoming more common. A growing number of utilities, rather than depend on independent power producers to build these projects, have launched multi-million dollar initiatives to own and operate their own solar assets.
  
  
• India plans massive increase in solar energy
  Aug 10, 2009 - Renewable Energy Focus.Com
  
  India will launch a solar power target by September 2009, which could increase the output from almost nothing to a staggering 20GW by 2020 - in a bid to fight global warming. To put this in context, today's global PV installed capacity stands at around 14GW.
  
  
• Award - winning reflector to cut solar cost
  Aug 3, 2009 - NREL
  
  Huge parabolic mirrors catching the sun's rays could crisscross America's deserts soon, thanks to a breakthrough that may greatly lower the cost of solar power.
  
  
• FedEx Ground Plans Largest Rooftop Solar Power System in U.S.
  Jul 30, 2009 - BUSINESS WIRE
  
  FedEx Ground, the small-package shipping unit of FedEx Corp., today announced plans to install the nation's largest rooftop solar-electric system at its distribution hub in Woodbridge, N.J.
  
  
• African Sun May Light Up European Homes
  Jul 29, 2009 - Inter Press Service/All Africa Global Media
  
  Twenty German companies have drawn up ambitious plans to meet at least 15 percent of the European electricity demand by 2020 from solar thermal power plants installed in the North African Maghreb region.
  
  
• India To Launch 20 GW Solar Target Under Climate Plan
  Jul 28- 2009 - Energy Business Review
  
  India will launch its first solar power target by September 2009, according to Reuters. This is to increase the output from near zero to 20 gigawatts (GW) by 2020 as it firms up its national plan to fight global warming, draft documents show. The target, which would help India close the gap on solar front-runners like China, is part of a $19 billion, 30 year scheme that could could boost India's leverage in international talks for a new UN climate pact in December 2009.
  
  
• Suntech Power Announces 1.8 Gigawatts of Strategic Agreements in China
  Jul 23, 2009 - Clean Edge News
  
  Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd., a global crystalline silicon photovoltaic (PV) module manufacturer, recently announced that it has entered into a number of strategic agreements with each of Shaanxi provincial government, Shizuishan city government, Ningxia province, Qinghai provincial government and Panzhihua city government, Sichuan province to develop 300MW, 500MW, 500MW and 500MW of solar projects respectively. These projects, with an aggregate of 1.8GW, are expected to be developed in several stages.
  
  
• N.M hydrogen power plant planned
  Jul 17, 2009 - The Associated Press
  
  ALBUQUERQUE — A New Mexico-based energy-technology company announced plans Wednesday to develop in southern New Mexico what it calls the world's first utility- scale, zero-emissions hydrogen power plant.
  
  
• Cambodia installs over 500 solar energy electricity generations in rural areas
  Jul 14, 2009 - Xinhua
  
  More than 500 solar energy electricity generations have been installed in Cambodia's rural areas to help improving the living standard of poor people, local media reported on Tuesday.
  
  
• €400bn energy plan to harness African sun
  Jul 12, 2009 - Tony Paterson - The Independent World
  
  The world's most ambitious green energy project is about to take shape. It is a plan for a chain of mammoth sun-powered energy plants in the deserts of North Africa to supply power to Europe's homes and factories by the end of the next decade.
  
  
• UC Berkeley researchers harness nanotechnology for solar panels
  Jul 10, 2009 - Daily Californian/UWire
  
  The answer to developing low-cost solar panels may lie in the creation of tiny 3-dimensional fibers that are 1,000 times smaller than a human hair.
  
  
• Off-grid PV back on the map with developing countries
  July 9, 2009 - Renewable Energy Focus.com
  
  Off-grid solar photovoltaic (PV) power has taken a back-seat in talk about solar power in recent years despite once holding 90% of the total installed capacity worldwide. However, as the thirst for energy increases in regions like Africa, Asia or Latin America, off-grid solar PV energy is experiencing a come-back.
  
  
• Sahara solar project to move forward at Munich meet
  Jul 9, 2009 - Erik Kirschbaum - Reuters
  
  BERLIN (Reuters) - A group of companies from Europe and northern Africa will meet in Munich on Monday to map out concrete steps for a series of large-scale renewable energy projects worth 400 billion euros ($560 billion) over 40 years.
  
  
• Toxic waste casts cloud on Massachusetts solar co.
  Jul 3, 2009 - Christine McConville - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News
  
  Evergreen Solar Inc., one of Massachusetts' rising green energy stars, is on its way to becoming one of the state's top producers of hazardous waste.
  
  
• US Interior Secretary Outlines Solar Energy Zones In US West
  Jun 29, 2009 - Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
  
  Interior Department Secretary Ken Salazar on Monday announced measures he said would expedite solar energy projects on federal lands.
  
  
• European solar power from African deserts?
  Jun 18, 2009 - James Kanter - The New York Times
  
  Germany has become a global leader in solar energy by building up a substantial industry at home. Can the country now repeat the feat in North Africa?
  
  
• California Regulators Approve Southern California Edison Proposal to Create Nation's Largest Solar Panel Installation Program
  Jun 18, 2009 - Business Wire
  
  A plan proposed by Southern California Edison (SCE) for the largest U.S. installation of advanced solar panels on otherwise unused large commercial rooftops across Southern California was approved today by the California Public Utilities Commission.
  
  
• Massive European solar project set for launch
  Jun 16, 2009 - Spiegel Online International
  
  A German-led consortium wants to fund an international solar-energy plan to the tune of €400 billion. The idea is to gather solar heat in North Africa and send the electricity to Europe. If it works, it would be the largest green-energy project in the world.
  
  
• Solar systems in desert regions
  Jun 16, 2009 - Deserttec
  
  In the coming decades, global developments will confront mankind
  with unprecedented challenges: climate change, a population growth
  far beyond Earth‘s present carrying capacity, the global striving for
  prosperity, and increasing demands for energy and water, are the
  core problems we are faced with. 200 years of global industrialization
  has resulted in an unparalleled standard of living and an increased
  life expectancy for part of the world’s population. However,
  all this has been and is still being achieved at a price: alarming
  environmental destruction as well as climate change which can no longer be ignored. These things will mean dramatic changes to life on
  Earth in the future.
  
  
• Masdar 10 MV solar PV plant connects to Abu Dhabi power grid
  Jun 5, 2009 - renewable energy focus.com
  
  Abu Dhabi-based solar integrator Enviromena Power Systems has completed the Masdar 10 MW solar power plant, the largest grid-connected solar system in the Middle East and North Africa.
  
  
• Could India become a solar leader?
  Jun 5, 2009 - James Kanter - The New York Times
  
  India may be gearing to turn itself into the global leader in solar power generation, a sign that major developing nations could become renewable energy hubs to rival Germany and the United States.
  
  
• Enviromena Completes It's First Large Scale Project: Masdar 10MW Solar Plant
  Jun 02, 2009 - Middle East Company News
  
  Abu Dhabi based solar integrator Enviromena Power Systems (Enviromena) announced the completion of the Masdar 10MW Solar Power Plant, the largest grid connected solar system in the Middle East and North Africa.
  
  
• Energy from - molten salt?
  May 29, 2009 - Dan Whitcomb - Reuters
  
  In these green times energy producers are leaving no stone unturned in the hunt for new sources of energy.
  
  
• Solar power could surge by 2050 in deserts-report
  May 25, 2009 - Alister Doyle - Reuters
  
  PARIS - Solar power plants in deserts using mirrors to concentrate the sun's rays have the potential to generate up to a quarter of the world's electricity by 2050, a report by pro-solar groups said on Monday.
  
  
• Solar Shootout in the San Joaquin Valley
  May 18, 2009 - Bob Haavind - RenewableEnergyWorld
  
  Side-by-side crystalline and thin-film photovoltaic installations at a water treatment plant in California's Central Valley should provide a clear indication of which provides the best energy production and cost benefit performance over varying climatic conditions within a year.
  
  
• Rudd plans "world's largest" solar project
  May 17, 2009 - ABC News
  
  The Federal Government says it wants to create the largest solar energy project in the world.
  
  
• PG&E upgrades BrightSource deal to 1.3GW
  May 13, 2009 - Cleantech.com
  
  Series of seven solar thermal projects in California are expected to power more than half a million homes in 'largest solar deal in the world.'
  
  
• 220 MPH solar-powered bullet train on Arizona horizon
  May 12, 2009 - Jorge Chapa - inhabitat
  
  Travelers going from Tucson to Phoenix may soon be blazing across the desert in speeding solar bullet trains propelled by the sun’s rays. Hot on the heels of President Obama’s plan for High Speed Rail in the US comes the news that Arizona-based Solar Bullet LLC is proposing a new 220mph bullet train that will be entirely powered by the sun and will make the trip in 30 minutes flat.
  
  
• APS Pilot Envisions Interconnected Solar Rooftops
  May 11, 2009 - BUSINESS WIRE
  
  PHOENIX - Arizona Public Service (APS) is launching an innovative pilot project in Flagstaff that ultimately could provide a substantial increase in the number of solar rooftops statewide.
  
  
• China solar photovoltaic installed capacity set to rise in 2020
  May 07, 2009 - AsiaPulse
  
  China's solar PV installed capacity is likely to reach 10,000-20,000 megawatts by 2020, with the implementation of its solar photovoltaic (PV) roof plan and other supportive measures, China Securities Journal quoted Wang Zhongying, head of the Renewable Energy Development Center of the Energy Research Institute (ERI) as saying.
  
  
• “Enormous potential” for solar energy in India - report
  May 6, 2009 - renewableenergyforum.com
  
  Solar energy offers enormous potential for a tropical country like India where around 45% of households, mainly rural, do not have access to electricity, according to Research and Markets’ report Indian Solar Energy Market Outlook 2012.
  
  
• World's Largest Solar Power Tower Commissioned
  May 4, 2009 - RenewableEnergyWorld.com
  
  Abengoa Solar has begun commercial operations of the world's largest solar power tower plant, a 20 MW installation.
  
  
• Abengoa Solar Begins Operation of World's Largest Solar Power Tower Plant
  Apr 27, 2009 - PRNewswire
  
  Following the conclusion of the successful three-day production and operational testing period, Abengoa Solar has begun commercial operation of the new PS20 solar power tower plant located at the Solucar Platform, near Seville (Spain). Over the course of the testing period, PS20 surpassed the predicted power output, thus further validating the high potential of power tower technology.
  
  
• DESERTEC-Australia: Solar and Geothermal Cheaper than Coal and Nuclear
  Apr 11, 2009 - Stewart Taggart - Deseretec - Australia
  
  The average Australian household could pay up to 30% more per year by 2025 for electricity generated from coal and nuclear power than from concentrating solar and hot dry rock geothermal power, according to DESERTEC-Australia.
  
  
• Developer plans all solar city
  Apr 11, 2009 - UPI
  
  A Florida developer says he wants to build a 19,500-home city powered entirely by solar energy.
  
  
• New Google maps to guide solar, wind placement
  Apr 7, 2009 - Adam Hadhazy
  
  Where should new solar and wind power facilities go? Seems many of the best potential sites, including rugged, windswept regions in the Rocky Mountains to the sun-baked Mojave Desert, contain swathes of land legally set aside as national parks, or support what remains of an endangered species' dwindling habitat, for example.
  
  
• Canadian Solar Wins a Bid to a Rural Electrification Project in China
  Apr 6, 2009 - PRNewswire-Asia
  
  Canadian Solar Inc. ("the Company", "Canadian Solar" or "we") (Nasdaq: CSIQ) today announced that we were recently selected in a competitive bidding process to supply solar panels for 80,000 solar home systems for rural households in Sichuan province of China. The total order size is 1.6 MW. This project was initiated and financed by China's Ministry of Agriculture and the Sichuan Provincial Government. The solar home systems are rated for a peak capacity of 20 Watts each. A system of this size can power two lights and a small TV. The delivery of the 80,000 units will be completed by April.
  
  
• World's Second Largest Solar Plant to be Built in Florida
  Mar 27, 2009 - PRWeb.com
  
  Lauren Engineers & Constructors recently signed a contract with Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) as the engineering, procurement and construction contractor for a new 75 MW Concentrated Solar Power (http://www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/csp_program.html) Plant located near Indiantown, FL.
  
  
• Spain sets the benchmark for the concentrated photovoltaic industry worldwide
  Mar 27, 2009 - Energy Central
  
  The Concentrated Photovoltaic industry has excited scientists worldwide because of the opportunities it provides to produce cheap energy in large quantities, using relatively simple technology. Currently Spain is the world leader in Concentrated Photovoltaic and is the point of reference for other countries to follow in this sector. In order to maintain this leadership and create a solid industrial infrastructure, an economic stimulus is required such as that given to the thermo-solar energy sector.
  
  
• First Solar Produces One Gigawatt of Clean Solar Electricity
  Mar 24, 2009 - Adrienne Selko - IndustryWeek
  
  By the end of this year the company will have the capacity to produce more than 1GW per year -- the equivalent of an average-sized nuclear power plant.
  
  
• Qatar to build USD 500 m solar power plant
  Mar 23, 2009 - Asia Pulse Data Source
  
  Qatar is planning to build a major solar energy plant with an aim to generate at least 100 MW of solar power within five years, a news report said today.
  
  
• Solar energy research & education foundation, Google.org release"Solar Jobs Map" projecting economic growth across nation
  Mar 17, 2009 - SEIA
  
  Real stories about solar industry workers unveiled to spotlight green-collar job opportunities.
  
  
• 106 Members of British Parliment Sign Off on Solar Power and Supergrid
  Mar 15, 2009 - News Blaze - Daily News
  
  More Than 100 MPs Support Concentrating Solar Power and The Supergrid
  More than 100 MPs (106 at the last count) have now signed Early Day Motion 123, calling on the government to put its weight behind the development of concentrating solar power (CSP) in desert regions and a 'supergrid' of low-loss transmission lines spanning the whole of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.
  
  
• The Mediterranean Solar Plan – a necessity, not an option
  Feb 16, 2009 - Benita Ferrero-Waldner - egovmonitor.com
  
  Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner articulates why renewable energy especially solar energy is a key part of Europe's external policy development challenges and secure our energy future.
  
  
• PSE&G Proposes $773 Million Solar Energy Program
  Feb 10, 2009 - PRNewswire-FirstCall
  
  Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G) today asked New Jersey regulators to approve a $773-million proposal to bring the benefits of 120 megawatts of solar power directly to communities and customers throughout its service territory.
  
  
• Key Provisions Benefiting the Solar Energy Industry in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
  Feb 2009 - Solar Energy Industries Association
  
  Here is a summary of the key provisions, courtesy of the Solar Energy Industries Association.
  
  
• Commission gives its approval to feed-in tariff for solar power
  Feb 6, 2009 - Megan Rolland - Gainesville.com
  
  Beginning March 1, those in Gainesville with new solar photovoltaic systems will be eligible to receive 32 cents per kilowatt hour of electricity produced by the system over the next 20 years.
  
  
• Unprecedented growth seen for solar energy
  Feb 6, 2009- McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - The Blade, Toledo, Ohio
  
  The head of the federal government's effort to promote solar technology told about 200 industry leaders yesterday that expanding the industry to the level needed by 2030 will require unprecedented levels of growth.
  
  
• Solar Power Coming to a Boil
  Jan 31, 2009 - USA Today; New York
  
  After emerging in 2006 from 1 5 years of hibernation, the solar thermal power industry is experiencing a resurgence, with plenty of new capacity coming online worldwide. During the 1990s, cheap fossil fuels, combined with a loss of state and Federal incentives, put a damper on solar thermal power development However, recent increases in energy prices, escalating concerns about global climate change, and fresh economic incentives are renewing interest in this technology.
  
  
• DESERTEC-Australia - Clean Power From Deserts
  2009 - www.desertec-australia.org
  
  DESERTEC-Australia advocates developing large-scale solar, geothermal, wind and wave energy projects in interior Australia.
  
  
• The Rush for Gigawatts in the Desert Explodes
  Jan 9, 2009 - Ucilia Wang - greentechnmedia.com
  
  Although the economy is in the dumps, there's been a 78% jump in applications to build solar projects on BLM land in the last six months.
  
  
• Wind, solar power capacity in 27 nations to quadruple by 2020
  Jan 14, 2009 -- AsiaPulse
  
  Tokyo - The capacity to generate electricity through wind and solar power systems in 27 nations, excluding Japan, will increase four- to fivefold from 2008 to 2020, according to a report released Tuesday by research firm Fuji Keizai Co.
  
  
• 40 MW solar PV station connected to grid
  Jan 6, 2009 - RenewableEnergyFocus.com
  
  BRANDIS/KÖTHEN, GERMANY - The German juwi group has completed grid connection of its 40 MW Waldpolenz energy park in Brandis, near Leipzig in eastern Germany.
  
  
• Sempra Generation Completes North America's Largest 'Thin-Film' Solar Power Installation
  Dec 22, 2008 - Market Wire
  
  Sempra Generation, a subsidiary of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE), today announced the completion of the company's first solar energy project, a 10-megawatt (MW) photovoltaic power-generation facility adjacent to the company's existing 480-megawatt El Dorado Energy power plant near Boulder City, Nev., about 40 miles southeast of Las Vegas.
  
  
• China's first grid-connected solar power station in desert enters operation
  Dec 19, 2008 -- Xinhua
  
  WUWEI, Gansu - China's first grid-connected solar power station built in a desert entered operation on Friday in Wuwei City,northwest China's Gansu Province.
  
  
• Solar power helping light streets of Iraq
  Dec 17, 2008 -- DEFENSE DEPARTMENT DOCUMENTS AND PUBLICATIONS/ContentWorks
  
  Mostly desert and a lot of sun, it makes sense there's a place for solar power in Iraq.
  
  
• Southern California Edison Completes First of Its Major Commercial Rooftop Solar Installations
  Dec 01, 2008 - BUSINESS WIRE
  
  Southern California Edison (SCE) today announced completion of the first of its proposed 150 solar photovoltaic installations on Southern California commercial rooftops. The project could eventually cover two square miles of existing commercial roofs with 250 million watts of peak generating capacity - equivalent to building several utility-scale solar power plants.
  
  
• Vatican unveils ambitious solar energy plans
  November 26, 2008 - Reuters
  
  VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - And then there was light -- and it was powered by the sun. The Vatican on Wednesday activated a new solar energy system and announced an ambitious plan that could one day make it an alternative energy exporter.
  
  
• France plans to ramp up solar energy by 2020
  Nov 18, 2008 -- Reuters
  
  PARIS - France pledged on Monday to multiply by 400 the amount of solar power used in the country in the next 12 years as part of its plan to double the share of renewables in consumed energies to 23 percent by 2020.
  
  
• New solar maps help homeowners and installers
  Nov 3, 2008 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Matt Nauman San Jose mercury News, Calif.
  
  Innovations in online mapping are contributing to the rapid growth of solar energy. The high-tech tools benefit everyone from homeowners and solar-panel installers to the developers and financiers of large-scale power projects, industry experts said at a recent solar conference here.
  
  
• Dubai starts ambitious 1GW PV production plan using Applied’s SunFab technology
  Oct 27, 2008 - Mark Osborne - pv-tech.org
  
  At a two day event held in Atlantis, Palm Jumeirah, Dubai, Mr. Sultan bin Sulayem, Chairman of Dubai World (pictured), announced the establishment of a photovoltaics manufacturing company, dubbed Solar Technologies FZE, which will build an operate a 130MW production plant in Dubai’s Technopark. Future plans include establishing manufacturing facilities in China, Mexico and Bulgaria, which will increase the total production capacity to 1GW by 2015.
  
  
• Solar mapping technology rolling out
  Oct 11, 2008 - Steve Gelsi - MarketWatch
  
  CH2M Hill wins $6 million contract to map 25 cities
  NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Home and business owners in 25 cities will soon be able to punch up the solar energy potential of their own rooftops on a free Web site, under a new mapping program rolling out with backing from the U.S. Department of Energy.
  
  
• Berlin aims to become solar powerhouse
  Oct 10, 2008 - iNS/news/net
  
  Berlin wants to become a world leader in the solar energy field, both as a user of the sun's rays for energy and as a pioneer in solar technology despite its northern, cloud-covered location, its economy minister said. "You don't necessarily have to have the best natural geographic conditions to be a solar power capital," Harald Wolf told Reuters in an interview, referring to the German capital's 52-degree north latitude and its cloud cover for about two-thirds of daylight hours.
  
  
• Acciona Delivers Two Solar Gardens to 1,200 Investors in Navarra, Spain
  Sep 25, 2008- Datamonitor
  
  Acciona Solar has delivered two solar gardens to its over 1,200 owners in Corella and Bardenas Reales in Navarra, Spain.
  
  
• NW China's Largest Solar Power Plant Linked to the Grid
  Sep 17, 2008 - AsiaPulse
  
  An experimental solar energy power plant in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region was linked to the electricity grid recently, and is the largest solar photovoltaic high-tension power plant to be hooked up to the grid.
  
  
• Harvesting the Power of the Sun in Rema, Ethiopia
  Sep 12, 2008 - Clinton Global Initiative
  
  On July 31, President Clinton visited the rural community of Rema, the first “solar village” in Ethiopia. After making a Commitment to Action at the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting in 2006, the Solar Energy Foundation (SEF) and Good Energies, Inc. installed 1,100 solar panels in Rema, generating electricity for more than 5,500 people. Access to electricity has made night school and refrigerated medicine possible and has improved villagers’ eyesight. “Renewable energy is the economic opportunity of this century,” said Marcel Brenninkmeijer, chairman of Good Energies.
  
  
• Nagpur to have Asia's biggest solar thermal power plant
  Sep 2, 2008 - Asia Pulse Data Source
  
  Nagpur - Asia's biggest solar thermal power plant will be set up here to generate 10 MW electricity for the national grid.
  
  
• Clean power need gives India's solar mission a boost
  Aug 29, 2008 - Times of India
  
  The government is looking to get India's 'national solar mission' underway with steps to set up research-industry partnerships, tariff structures and tax breaks to citizens aimed at promoting competitiveness and even seed 'solar valleys' for largescale energy generation.
  
  
• SOLAR THERMAL ELECTRICITY AS THE PRIMARY REPLACEMENT FOR COAL AND OIL IN U.S. GENERATION AND TRANSPORTATION
  Aug 2008 - David R. Mills and Robert G. Morgan - Ausra, Inc.
  
  Advanced solar thermal electric options are dropping in price and some companies are beginning to introduce thermal storage. This paper suggests not only that Solar Thermal Electricity (STE) has sufficient diurnal and seasonal natural correlation with electricity load to supply the great majority of the US national grid (and by logical extension, those of China and India) on an annual basis with only 16 hours of storage. The correlation between the natural output and load exceeds 90% California and Texas, and also on the entire US grid. Furthermore, STE can supply much of the transportation market without destroying these natural correlations. The almost complete elimination of both fossil fueled generation and oil usage for transportation in the USA appears to be technically feasible.
  
  
• Solar utility: electricity from sunshine on a massive scale in California
  Aug 15, 2008 - David Biello - Scientific American (60 Second Science)
  
  The amount of solar photovoltaics harnessing electricity from sunshine in the U.S. will more than double by 2013, thanks to plans to build 800 megawatts worth in California. The two vast solar farms—covering more than 12 square miles—will be among the largest ever built in the world and dwarf the current U.S. record holder: Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada with 14 megawatts. In fact, the total amount of solar photovoltaics connected to the grid in the entire U.S. is just 473 megawatts at present.
  
  
• The technical, geographical, and economic feasibility for solar energy to supply the energy needs of the US
  Aug 11, 2008 - Vasilis Fthenakis, James E. Mason, Ken Zweibel
  
  So far, solar energy has been viewd as only a minor contributor in the energy mixture of the US due to cost and intermittency constraints. This paper demonstrates the feasibility of a much larger role for solar energy.
  
  
• Grids Ready for Solar
  Jul 25, 2008 - RenewableEnergyFocus.com
  
  FREIBURG, GERMANY - Two reports compiled by Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE show how municipal electricity grids can accept large amounts of photovoltaic (PV) electricity.
  
  
• Welcome to DESERTEC
  Jul 24, 2008 - trecers.net
  
  By far the largest, technically accessible source of energy on the planet is to be found in the deserts around the equatorial regions of the earth. The DESERTEC Concept is designed to bring deserts and existing technology into service to improve global security of energy, water and the climate.
  
  
• Solar PV Builds Momentum Across Europe
  Jul 24, 2008 - RenewableEnergyWorld.com
  
  Barcelona, Spain After years of being labeled a German phenomenon, the solar photovoltaic (PV) sector is building momentum across Europe, particularly in Spain. Catalyzed by newly adopted feed-in tariffs, PV development activity in Europe is booming and project size is scaling - causing shifts in competitive positioning along the project development value chain, according to a recent study from Emerging Energy Research, a leading research and advisory firm analyzing clean and renewable energy markets.
  
  
• Top Ten Utility Solar Integration Rankings (pdf)
  Jul 23, 2008 - Solar Energy Power Association
  
  In the last year, U.S. electric utilities’ engagement with grid-connected solar electricity increased significantly, with major photovoltaic (PV) and concentrating solar thermal (CST) announcements by utilities, their customers, and third-party solar developers. Utilities have traditionally operated as a solar facilitator, integrating customer developed projects. However, recently there have been several announcements by utilities of new entrepreneurial ideas that provide fresh solutions to regulatory, customer and internal issues. Based on these announcements and internal discussions with other utilities, the Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA) anticipates that utilities will quickly become the largest and one of the most important customers for the solar industry. Whether solar electric systems are developed by utilities, their customers, or solar companies, the utilities’ proactive engagement with emerging solar technologies is important to the solar industry as a whole.
  
  
• Solar power from Saharan sun could provide Europe's electricity, says EU
  Jul 23, 2008 - Alok Jha - The Guardian
  
  A tiny rectangle superimposed on the vast expanse of the Sahara captures the seductive appeal of the audacious plan to cut Europe's carbon emissions by harnessing the fierce power of the desert sun.
  
  
• GM to build world's biggest rooftop solar station in Spain
  Jul 8, 2008 - Yahoo News
  
  MADRID (AFP) - US automaker General Motors said Tuesday it will equip the roof of its factory in Zaragoza in northeastern Spain with solar panels to create the world's largest rooftop source of power from the sun.
  
  
• New Mexico utilities cooperate on CSP
  Jul 4, 2008 - RenewableEnergyFocus
  
  Four major utility companies in New Mexico have issued a joint request for proposals from solar developers for the construction of a solar parabolic trough generation facility to provide solar electricity to each utility by 2012.
  
  
• KEPCO, Sharp to build solar plant
  Jul 3, 2008 - The Yomiuri Shimbun - The Associated Press
  
  Eco-friendly facility to be first of its kind to power nation's homes, factories
  OSAKA--Kansai Electric Power Co., the nation's second-biggest electricity producer, and Sharp Corp., the consumer electronics giant, recently announced plans to set up a solar power plant in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, that will be one of the world's largest.
  
  
• Energy Security in Africa with Renewable Energy
  Jul 2008 - Preben Maegaard - World Council for Renewable Energy (WCRE)
  
  More than any other continent, Africa needs an energy revolution and independence from the international fossil fuel economy; a change to renewable energy and energy autonomy is paramount for survival. Africa depends largely on the import of fossil fuels to meet a significant and growing part of its modern energy needs, which has created perverse effects on the economy and lives of Africans. Renewable energy is the only viable alternative that has the potential, when properly managed, to improve quality of life on a national and continental scale.
  
  
• A role for Sandia in solar plan
  Jun 26, 2008 - Albuquerque Journal
  
  The most ambitious alternative energy project that would feed a proposed cross-country power line in Southern California is a gigantic, $400 million solar plant that will use technology partially developed at Sandia National Laboratories.
  
  
• Concentrated Solar Power and the Creation of a High Voltage Direct Current Grid
  Jun 24, 2008 - Howard Stoate - www.parliament.uk
  
  That this House notes that Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) technology, a means of capturing solar energy from deserts, has the potential to generate a substantial proportion of Europe's future electricity needs; notes that it would be feasible and cost-effective to transmit energy derived from desert based CSP plants in North Africa to Europe via the creation of a high voltage direct current (HVDC) super-grid, as this would restrict transmission losses to just three percent per 1,000 km; further notes that the cost of collecting solar thermal energy equivalent to the energy output of one barrel of oil is currently about US$50 and is likely to fall to around US$20 in the future, which is substantially less than the current world price of oil; welcomes the work that has been done by the Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy Co-operation (TREC) in promoting the development of CSP and an integrated Europe and North Africa-wide HVDC super-grid; and calls on the Government to endorse TREC's proposals formally and to work with its international partners to advance the concept.
  
  
• PG&E enters contracts for 106.8 MW of renewable solar hybrid power
  Jun 13, 2008 - Thomson Financial
  
  Pacific Gas and Electric Co. said Thursday it has entered into two contracts with San Joaquin Solar LLC, a subsidiary of Martifer Renewables Electricity LLC, for a combined 106.8 megawatts of solar thermal-biofuel hybrid power.
  
  
• Arizona State University to start rooftop solar project
  Jun 10, 2008 - Chris Kahn - The Associated Press
  
  Arizona State University plans to spread solar panels across the rooftops of its sprawling Tempe, Ariz. campus, creating the largest solar array at an American university, school officials said.
  
  
• Bangladesh to make installation of solar panels mandatory
  Jun 6, 2008 - Xinhua
  
  The Bangladeshi government has decided to bring changes in the country's existing building code to make installation of solar panels on top of high-rise buildings mandatory, aiming to reduce dependency on conventional power.
  
  
• India to Focus on Solar Energy
  Jun 1, 2008 - The Times of India
  
  The much-awaited national climate change action plan is almost ready. As per the final draft, to be discussed by the PM's Climate Change Council on June 2, the government has decided to launch eight national missions. These eight focus areas will be implemented in a time-bound fashion as part of India's domestic agenda to counter impacts of climate change and reduce the country's emissions of greenhouse gases.



• Acciona completes 66% of Amareleja PV plant
  May 27, 2008 - Datamonitor
  
  Spanish renewable energy firm Acciona has stated that the 46MW photovoltaic plant it is building in Amareleja, Portugal, is 66% complete and is expected to be connected to the grid later in 2008.
  
  
• Green Revolution to Create 50,000 Jobs
  May 13, 2008 - The Scotsman
  
  Scotland is on the brink of a green jobs revolution with 50,000 posts expected to be created in the next decade, careers experts claim.
  
  
• Group sees promise in solar power
  May 10 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - John G. Edwards Las Vegas Review-Journal
  
  Large solar thermal power plants, which use the sun's heat to generate electricity, could generate 715,000 megawatts of electricity in Nevada without greenhouse gases that lead to global warming, an advocacy group said Thursday in a new report.
  
  
• German lighting firm aims to build solar power hubs
  May 8, 2008 - IPS/GIN
  
  Lighting industry entrepreneurs are hoping that alternative devices such as solar-powered LED lights will eventually replace the smoky kerosene lamps that keep the darkness at bay in many of Africa's towns and villages.
  
  
• The Power of the Sun: Solar Lanterns Transform Lives in Malawi, Africa
  May 7, 2008 - Nick Sireau - SolarAid Director - RenewableEnergyWorld.com
  
  Malawi, Africa - Mirriam is 18 years old and lives in Malawi. She has two children, one brother and one sister. Her father died of AIDS and her mother is now also sick with HIV AIDS. Every day is a struggle: finding food for her children, caring for her mother, looking after her other sick relatives – all this with next to no income.
  
  
• Solar water heaters required in new Hawaii homes
  May 2, 2008 - Mark Niesse - The Associated Press
  
  All new homes in Hawaii will be required to have solar water heaters installed starting in 2010 under a law approved Thursday by the Legislature.
  
  
• German energy giant to bid on Negev solar plant
  Apr 30, 2008 - Lior Baron - Globes - Tel Aviv - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News
  
  The tender to build and operate the Negev solar power station at Ashelim is drawing international alternative energy companies to Israel. Sources inform "Globes" that Germany's Solar Millennium AG (XETRA: S2M), one of the world's top three solar energy companies, plans to participate in the $650-700 million tender. Solar Millennium is considering collaborating with some of the Israeli companies already participating in the tender, and recently met representatives of Israel Corp. (TASE: ILCO) to discuss a possible joint bid in the tender.
  
  
• Nevada goes solar
  Apr 23, 2008 - The Associated Press
  
  Thanks to two big solar projects, Nevada ranked second only to California in solar power development last year, the Solar Energy Industry Association says.
  
  
• Government Planning to Convert 60 Cities into Solar Townships
  Apr 21, 2008 - Times of India
  
  Taking a cue from European and American cities, the government is aiming to convert 60 cities into solar townships that run partially on renewable energy sources.
  
  
• Large-Scale Solar Thermal Power Projects Planned for California
  Apr 9, 2008 - EERE Network News
  
  The push to develop large concentrating solar power (CSP) plants in California gained momentum last week, as FPL Energy filed an application to build a 250-megawatt CSP plant in the Mojave Desert and the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) agreed to buy the power from up to 900 megawatts of CSP projects proposed by BrightSource Energy, Inc. The FPL Energy project, called the Beacon Solar Energy Project, will employ trough-shaped parabolic mirrors to concentrate the sun's heat, capture the heat in a fluid such as oil, and then transfer that heat to a boiler. The boiler generates steam that drives a turbine to produce electricity. FPL Energy plans to build, own, and operate the facility, which will be located on 2,000 acres of land in eastern Kern County. Construction is slated to begin late next year, and it will take about two years to build the project, which will consist of more than 500,000 parabolic mirrors.
  
  
• New report out on future energy scenarios in the GCC
  Apr 3, 2008 - Business Intelligence Middle East (BI-ME)
  
  UAE. With initiatives like MASDAR in Abu Dhabi and ENPARK in Dubai, the UAE is set to lead the world in future energy technologies according to a new report titled 'Future Energy Scenarios - Exploring the Energy Challenges and Opportunities in the GCC'.
  
  
• Southern California Edison Launches Nation's Largest Solar Panel Installation
  Mar 27, 2008 - Business Wire
  
  Southern California Edison (SCE) today launched the nation's largest solar cell installation, a project that will place 250 megawatts of advanced photovoltaic generating technology on 65 million square feet of roofs of Southern California commercial buildings - enough power to serve approximately 162,000 homes.
  
  
• FPL Energy Advances Solar Strategy; Plans to Build New Solar Electric Generating Facility in California
  Mar 26, 2008 - Business Wire
  
  FPL Energy, LLC, (NYSE:FPL) already the country's leading generator of wind and solar thermal power, announced today an important step in its strategy to add significantly to its solar power generating capability.
  
  
• Abu Dhabi and Spanish entities combine to develop concentrating solar projects
  Mar 21, 2008 - Power News
  
  Spanish engineering group SENER and Abu Dhabi energy company MASDAR have incorporated a new company, Torresol Energy, whose mission will be to develop, build, and operate large concentrated solar power (CSP) plants worldwide.
  
  
• Low-cost Solar Thermal Plants at Heart of Algerian-German Research Push
  Mar 20, 2008 - Jan Burgermeister - renewableenergyworld.com
  
  Vienna, Austria - The development of a new generation of large-scale, low-cost solar thermal power plants is the focus of a joint research agreement signed between Algeria and Germany.
  
  
• Japan's Mitsubishi Electric plans major solar cell investment
  Mar 19, 2008 - Thomson Financial
  
  Japan's Mitsubishi Electric Corp said Wednesday it planned to invest 7 billion yen to boost production of solar cells as global demand rises on high oil costs and environmental awareness.
  
  
• Study says solar's potential as high as 90%
  Mar 5, 2008 - Power News
  
  Ausra Inc., a developer of utility-scale solar thermal power technology, has announced a peer-reviewed study showing that over 90% of the U.S. electric grid and auto fleet's energy needs could be met by solar thermal power.
  
  
• Arizona Public Service to build solar plant
  Feb 14, 2008 - Associated Press
  
  Arizona Public Service Co. said Thursday it will build a solar-power plant with enough capacity to serve 70,000 customers.
  
  
• ProVision Opens PV Array on Maui
  Feb 12, 2008 - RenewableEnergyAccess.com
  
  ProVision Technologies, Inc. a Hawaii-based provider of solar electric systems has announced that it has commissioned two photovoltaic (PV) solar systems which will provide over 100,000 kilowatt hours of energy per year to the Maui Economic Development Board, Inc. (MEDB). The hurricane-ready design will give MEDB a showcase PV facility providing predictable power pricing in a volatile market.
  
  
• New photovoltaics change solar costs
  Feb 6, 2008 - Naomi Lubick
  
  A new life-cycle assessment of photovoltaic technologies shows that some are better than others:.
  New photovoltaic technologies, such as the recent introduction of thin-film cadmium–telluride (CdTe) materials, have nearly doubled the efficiency of solar cells within the past few years. But the methods of making the materials used for photovoltaic cells, whether from silicon, metal, or other material, have raised doubts about the environmental friendliness of these passive energy collectors. Purifying and producing silicon uses a lot of water and energy, and refining zinc and copper ores to get Cd, Te, and other elements creates metal emissions and an energy sink—all of which increase the technology's environmental footprint.
  
  
• Hawaii unveils solar power plan
  Jan 11, 2008 - Associated Press
  
  The state plans to have large solar power arrays constructed at a dozen locations around the state.
  
  
• Energy from the sun gets off the ground: After a long delay, the tender for building the Negev solar power plant will be published
  Jan 3, 2008 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Dalia Tal Globes, Tel Aviv, Israel
  
  The Ministries of Finance and National Infrastructures will publish the BOT (build, operate, transfer) tender for the Negev solar power plant at Ashelim, after years of delay. This is Israel's first tender for a solar powered plant. Many other countries already have such power stations in operation or under construction.
  
  
• A Solar Grand Plan
  Jan 2008 - Ken Zweibel, James Mason and Vasilis Fthenakis - Scientific American Magazine
  
  By 2050 solar power could end U.S. dependence on foreign oil and slash greenhouse gas emissions.
  
  
• World Bank mulls financing Negev solar project
  Dec 20, 2007 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Lior Baron Globes, Tel Aviv
  
  The World Bank is considering financing the proposed solar energy power station planned to be built in the Negev. A World Bank delegation may visit Israel to meet officials from the Ministries of Finance and National Infrastructures to discuss the project. The World Bank has already expressing its willingness to finance the Red-Dead Sea canal, or "Peace canal", subject to a feasibility study.
  
  
• Poor Nations Demand Green Technology
  Dec 14, 2007 - The Associated Press
  
  Bali, Indonesia - Uganda gets plenty of sun, making it a great spot for solar energy. There's only one problem: In one of the world's most impoverished nations, few people can afford an imported solar panel.
  
  
• FPL and NASA Join Forces to Explore Renewable Energy Projects
  Dec 13, 2007 - Business Wire
  
  From charting a clean energy future to trailblazing on the space frontier, they are respected leaders. Now Florida Power & Light Company and National Aeronautic and Space Administration's Kennedy Space Center (NASA-KSC) are teaming up to jointly explore developing renewable energy projects. FPL Group owns and operates the largest solar facility in the world and Florida Power & Light has the proven energy expertise in Florida. NASA has the top space science experts with extensive experience using solar technology in space. Together they hope to advance and deploy the use of large scale solar technology in Florida as early as 2008.
  
  
• China Creates Wolrd's Largest Solar Energy Industry
  Dec 13, 2007 - SinoCast
  
  Beijing - As the world's largest consumer and producer of solar water heater, China ranks the global No.1 by its solar energy industry size, according to the National Reform and Development Committee (NRDC).
  
  
• BP Solar to Build 300MW Solar Manufacturing Plant in Spain
  Dec 11, 2007 - Clean Edge News
  
  BP Solar, a European market leader in the design, manufacture and marketing of photovoltaic solar energy, will begin construction in the second quarter of 2008 of a module assembly factory in the industrial park of La Nava II, in Puertollano (Castilla La Mancha). This represents an investment of around 100m Euros.
  
  
• MBPV to Set Up India's Largest Grid Connected Solar Farm
  Dec 4, 2007 - renewableenergyaccess.com
  
  Moser Baer Photo Voltaic (MBPV) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Rajasthan (India) for establishing a solar power project with an estimated generation capacity of 1-5 megawatts (MW).
  
  
• How Africa's desert sun can bring Europe power
  Dec 2, 2007 - The Observer
  
  A £5bn solar power plan, backed by a Jordanian prince, could provide the EU with a sixth of its electricity needs - and cut carbon emissions
  Europe is considering plans to spend more than £5bn on a string of giant solar power stations along the Mediterranean desert shores of northern Africa and the Middle East.
  
  
• Mozambique rural areas to receive solar panels
  Nov 27, 2007 - Xinhua
  
  Mozambique is to launch a project to provide solar panels to a number of districts which have not been covered by the country's power grid in 2008, local media AIM reported on Tuesday.
  
  
• Major switch for solar energy: Researchers investigate use of carbon-based materials to produce cheaper energy
  Nov 27, 2007 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Larry Rulison - Albany Times Union, N.Y.
  
  In a small physics lab on the uptown campus of the University at Albany, researchers are trying to develop a new type of solar-electric cell that will be cheaper -- and more flexible -- than a traditional solar cell made from silicon.
  
  
• Clean Power from Desert (pdf)
  Nov 26, 2007 - The Club of Rome
  
  The Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy Cooperation (TREC) is an initiative of The Club of Rome, the Hamburg Climate Protection Foundation and the National Energy Research Center of Jordan (NERC) in the field of renewable forms of energy. Since it was founded in 2003, it has developed the DESERTEC Concept for energy, water and climate security in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa (EU-MENA), promoting cooperation between countries of the sun-belt and the technology belt. Now TREC is making this concept a reality in cooperation with people in politics, industry and the world of finance.
  
  
• California Colleges Add 2 MW of Solar with MMA Renewable Ventures
  Nov 8, 2007 - PRNewswire- FirstCall
  
  MMA Renewable Ventures, LLC, a subsidiary of Municipal Mortgage & Equity, LLC (NYSE: MMA) ("MuniMae"), today announced that it is financing the installation of new solar energy systems at two California college campuses, California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) and Los Angeles Community College District's East Los Angeles College (ELAC). MMA Renewable Ventures will own and operate the clean energy systems and sell predictably priced electricity to Fresno State and ELAC under long term Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs). At approximately one megawatt (MW) each, the solar installations are among the largest photovoltaic systems in U.S. higher education.
  
  
• Endesa starts western Almeria's largest solar farm
  Nov 7, 2007 - Datamonitor
  
  Endesa has connected a new photovoltaic solar farm in the La Redonda industrial park in western Almeria, Spain to the power grid. The photovoltaic plant has a totalled installed capacity of 700KW, which could lead to annual savings in CO2 emissions of 1,170 tons.
  
  
• Wind and Solar Energy: Renewable Energy to Create Thousands of New Jobs
  Oct 26, 2007 - Business Wire
  
  Rhone Resch, President of the Solar Energy Industries Association, and Randy Swisher, President of the American Wind Energy Association, guests at separate Executive News Roundtables sponsored by Energy Policy TV, said the renewable energy industries will be large creators of new jobs in the U.S. in the coming years. Videos of their appearances are available at no cost on Energy Policy TV's Solar and Wind Channels, respectively.
  
  
• Egypt signs contract for solar power plant
  Oct 21, 2007 - BBC Monitoring
  
  Cairo - Egyptian Electricity and Energy Minister Hasan Yunis attended Sunday [21 October] the signing ceremony of a contract on the implementation of a solar component in the first Egyptian solar power station.
  
  
• Alternative to Powerlink is Proposed
  Oct 19, 2007 - The San Diego Union-Tribune
  
  Opponents of the Sunrise Powerlink yesterday unveiled a detailed alternative plan for a vast expansion of solar power and other measures that they say would cost no more than the proposed power line and provide greater energy security and environmental benefits.
  
  
• Spectrolab's Solar Breakthrough (pdf)
  Oct 9, 2007 - Technology Frontier
  
  A solar cell energy research breakthrough that has attracted national attention could open the door to the production of cost-competitive solar power within a decade, according to researchers involved in the effort.
  
  
• Germany Looks to North Africa's Untapped Solar Thermal Potential
  Sep 27, 2007 - Jane Burgermeister - RenewableEnergyAccess.com
  
  Vienna, Austria - Flabeg has recently developed a mirror that can reflect 93 percent of the sun's rays. A study by the German Aerospace Center estimated that harnessing the sun's energy falling on just 6,000 square kilometers of desert in North Africa would supply energy equivalent to the entire oil production of the Middle East of 9 billion barrels a year.
  
  
• The Mediterranean Photovoltaic Power Plant Revolution
  Sep 25, 2007 - Jane Burgermeister - RenewableEnergyAccess.com
  
  Costs of photovoltaic power plants in Italy could be recouped in as little as 8 to 12 years because of government subsidies and electricity market.
  
  
• World Bank Launches Lighting Initiative for Africa
  Sep 9, 2007 - Planet Ark
  
  The World Bank launched an plan on Wednesday to provide inexpensive, safe and cleaner lighting to 250 million people in sub-Saharan Africa who lack access to electricity. The project is designed to replace costly and inefficient fuel-based lighting sources, such as kerosene lamps, that pose fire hazards and cause pollution.
  
  
• Ultra Thin Solar Modules to Make 2008 Debut in Germany
  Sep 7, 2007 - Jane Burgermeister - RenewableEnergyAccess.com
  
  A new generation of ultra thin solar modules that can be integrated into the facades of buildings at low cost is to be produced in Germany next year. The German company Schueco has joined up with E.ON, the country's biggest energy company, to invest 100 million euros [$US 136 million] in the research and production of this new ultra thin solar technology that cuts down on the need for silicon, the costly raw material for solar cells.
  
  
• Delhi insist on solar power use for billboards
  Sep 6, 2007 - The Hindu
  
  New Delhi - Delhi government has decided to pass an order for compulsory use of solar power for advertising hoardings and water heating in government and some categories of buildings.
  
  
• Lack of lines limit solar energy sales
  Sep 1, 2007 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Matt Hildner The Pueblo Chieftain, Colo.
  
  If the large-scale production of solar energy is going to take off in the San Luis Valley, it will need some help getting to urban markets.
  
  
• With Proven History, Solar Parabolic Technology Attracts Investors
  Aug 29, 2007 - California Energy Markets
  
  The once-dormant solar-parabolic industry has shown robust signs of life, with investment banks underwriting solar-power plants and utilities signing titanic contracts.
  
  
• Zambia to go for solar energy
  Aug 13, 2007 - Xinhua
  
  The Zambian government intends to make solar energy an integral part of its rural electrification program, a government official has said.
  
  
• Company sets record for solar efficiency
  Aug 10, 2007 - Kim Leonard - Tribune-Review
  
  Solar energy's cost and relative inefficiency have stunted its growth for decades, but Harmar-based Plextronics Inc. said it's made a major step toward solving both problems through a technology that "prints" solar cell technology onto plastic or glass.
  
  
• China Builds Concentratory Photovoltaic Solar Power Stations
  Aug 10, 2007 - AsiaPulse
  
  Construction of China's largest concentrator photovoltaic solar power station is in full swing at Xichang, Sichuan Province.
  
  
• Five solar plants scheduled to come on line
  Aug 3, 2007 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News
  
  Every couple years or so, someone announces the "world's largest solar plant" for the Mojave Desert, where clouds rarely block the sun. Why, then, is Victorville moving forward with a large natural gas-fired plant that has a small solar component?
  
  
• Arab countries urge solar future
  Jul 8, 2007 - Vanya Wlaker-Leigh - Times of Malta
  
  Arab energy ministers and some EU politicians attending a high-level conference in this desert oasis town flanked by the ruins of a vast Roman city, announced support for a revolutionary renewable energy electricity supply system proposed by Germany to link both areas. The Damascus Declaration adopted here on June 24 by them as well as the several hundred participants (scientists, industrialists, civil servants) at the Fourth Middle East and North Africa Renewable Energy Conference (MENAREC4) advocated "large-scale renewable energy systems" which would permit solar electricity to the EU. All nations were invited to set national renewable energy targets, and donors were asked to massively increase related assistance.
  
  
• Indonesia to build 33,000 more solar power generators
  Jun 29, 2007 - AsiaPulse
  
  The Indonesian government is planning to build 33,000 more solar power generators for 33,000 households living in remote areas, an Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry official said.
  
  
• Solar Energy to light dark villages in Mizoram
  Jun 19, 2007 - ZEENEWS.COM
  
  The Mizoram government, with the help of Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources, has chalked out a comprehensive one-year vision plan to provide electricity to all un-electrified villages, including households, through renewable energy resources by 2007.
  
  
• Target starts solar-power rollout
  Apr 30, 2007 - John Vomhof Jr.
  
  Target Corp. is spending millions of dollars to cuts its energy costs and secure a greener image in the process. The Minneapolis-based retailer has installed solar panels on the roofs of four of its California retail stores and plans to install similar systems at 14 more locations later this year. The solar-panel systems will generate about 20 percent of those stores' annual energy requirements.
  
  
• Retail Goes Solar
  Apr 30, 2007 - Jack Uldric - The Motley Fool
  
  Advocates of solar power were given additional reasons to be bullish about the industry's long-term prospects this past week after two large retailers -- Tiffany & Co (NYSE: TIF) and Kohl's Corp (NYSE: KSS) -- announced plans to install major solar power projects.
  
  
• Spanish Solar Thermal Plant First in World Tied to National Grid
  Apr 24, 2007 - Energy Central
  
  FLORENCE, ITALY A new solar thermal plant in Spain, the largest of its type in Europe and the first in the world to produce power for a national grid, illustrates how technology innovation can be applied to meet the growing demand for cleaner energy. Featuring a specially designed steam turbine-generator supplied by GE Oil & Gas, Planta Solar (PS10), an 11-megawatt solar thermal power plant at Sanlúcar in Spain’s Seville province, was inaugurated March 30. Now producing power for Spain’s electricity grid, it is the first solar plant developed in Spain by the Abengoa Group of Seville.
  
  
• Iran's First Solar Power Plant to Become Operational in 2010
  Apr 13, 2007 - BBC Monitoring Middle East
  
  Tehran: Iran's first solar thermal electric power plant will become operational in 2010 in central province of Yazd.
  
  
• GE Invests, Delivers One of World's Largest Solar Power Plants, Harnessing Portugal's Sunshine, PowerLight's Technology
  Mar 28, 2007 - BUSINESS WIRE
  
  Spread across a hillside pasture amid olive trees, 52,000 shimmering photovoltaic modules in one of the world's largest solar power plants have begun generating enough electricity for 8,000 homes, GE, PowerLight Corp. and Catavento SA announced today.
  
  
• Egypt tries Concentrating Solar Power
  Feb 20, 2007 - Derek Sands - ME Times
  
  CAIRO -- Egypt may soon harness the same physics that a child uses to burn an ant with a magnifying glass, to generate electricity from the sun, a move that reflects the growth of Concentrating Solar Power technology worldwide. Plans to build a 150 megawatt (MW) combined solar- and gas-powered electric plant near Cairo are part of a larger effort by Egypt, and others in the region, to expand their use of renewable energies, including solar, wind, and nuclear power.
  
  
• Gulf to get first solar-power plant
  Feb 18, 2007 - Aljazeera.net
  
  AbuDhabi is to build a $350m solar power plant, the first of its kind in the Gulf, according to an investor in the project.
  
  
• State report touts solar energy's bright future
  Jan 20, 2007 - Tribune Business News
  
  Arizona could generate up to 1,000 megawatts of solar electricity and create 3,000 jobs by 2020 by supporting solar-energy technologies and boosting the state's solar-electric industry, a state report says.
  
  
• Superefficient, Cost-Effective Solar Cell Breaks Conversion Records
  Dec 8, 2006 - Scientific American
  
  A tiny solar cell doubles the efficiency of common photovoltaics' conversion of sunlight to electricity by capturing the energy from a broader spectrum of light.
  
  
• African solar farms to solve energy crisis?
  Dec 5, 2006 - James Murray - Green Business News
  
  It appears the UK government is not the only one busy commissioning reports on combating climate change, the German government has now got in on the act with two major new study's on the viability of a leftfield plan that could deliver clean energy to the whole of Europe within the next forty years.
  
  
• A Study: Deserts offer cheap source of energy = 1/3 the price of oil
  Nov 21, 2006 - Asia Wind
  
  SAHARA sunshine could provide Europe with clean and cheap energy, according to a study for the German government. Experts said solar energy from north Africa could help to reduce emissions from European power stations by 70 per cent by 2050 as well as providing energy at a cost equivalent to a $20 barrel of oil - about a third of the current price.
  
  
• SDG&E to buy 120 megawatts of solar, geothermal energy
  Nov 13, 2006- Press Release - Sempra Energy
  
  San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) today announced that it has signed new contracts to procure an additional 120 megawatts (MW) of solar and geothermal power for its customers by 2010.
  
  
• Scientists detail desert solar power
  Oct 31, 2006 - UPI
  
  A German study suggests Europe can make deep cuts in carbon dioxide emissions and phase out nuclear power at the same time.
  
  
• P.V. Could Supply 2 Billion Households By 2025
  Sep 19, 2006 - Green Building Press
  
  Photovoltaic solar panels could generate enough electricity to supply 2 billion households by 2025, according to a report by Greenpeace and the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA). The report, Solar Generation, says that the PV industry would be capable of producing 276 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity a year worldwide by 2020, rising to 589TWh by 2025, and cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 350 million tonnes a year.
  
  
• SunPower Celebrates the Dedication of SOLON's Gut Erlasee Solar Park
  Sep 1, 2006 - SunPower Corporation - PRNewswire-FirstCall
  
  World's Largest Solar Electric Power Plant Features SunPower's High-Efficiency A-300 Solar Cells. SunPower Corporation (Nasdaq: SPWR), a Silicon Valley-based manufacturer of the world's highest efficiency, commercially available solar cells and solar panels, celebrated today's dedication of SOLON's Gut Erlasee Solar Park, the world's largest solar electric power plant.
  
  
• Schwarzenegger Signs Legislation to Complete Million Solar Roofs Plan
  
Aug 22, 2006 - Ed Mendel - Union Tribune

• Let it shine, let it shine
  Aug 14, 2006 - Jon Ortiz - Sacramento Bee
  
  How's this for irony? A massive West Sacramento cold-storage warehouse is being powered by one of California's biggest privately owned solar energy systems.

• BP Teams with Caltech to Explore Game-Changing Solar Technology
  Jun 27, 2006 - Press Release - BP Solar
  
  BP and The California Institute of Technology have teamed up in a multi-million dollar research program that could open the door to a radical new way of producing solar cells, making the cost of solar electricity more competitive and increasing current efficiency levels.
  
  
• Notice the sunshine in the desert
  Jun 21, 2006 - Sanjay Suri - IPSnews
  
  A recent United Nations report suggests that the Sahara desert could capture enough solar energy to eventually supply all of the world's electricity needs. The report also points to some of the threats such as declining water resources which threaten delicate desert ecosystems.
  
  
• Club of Rome wants deserts to become source of renewable energy
  Jun 14, 2006 - Refocus Weekly
  
  Hannover, Germany - The world’s deserts could serve as an "overabundant source of clean energy through solar thermal power plants," according to the president of the Club of Rome.
  

• Solar Flares Imperil Grid (PDF)
  May/Jun, 2006 - EnergyBiz Magazine
  
  Scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research predict that during the next several years solar activity will be unusually high — and this could bring down power systems.
  
  
• Former Soviet President Calls for Global Solar Fund
  May 1, 2006 - renewableenergyaccess.com
  
  Geneva, Switzerland and Washington, DC: Calling on leaders of the world's largest industrialized nations (G8) to invest in renewable energy and energy efficiency, former Soviet President Gorbachev marked the 20th anniversary of the world's largest nuclear power plant disaster in Chernobyl with a request for the creation of a $50 billion Global Solar Fund over 10 years.
  

• Forget Computers. Here Comes the Sun
  Apr 14, 2006 - John Markoff - nytimes.com
  
  SAN JOSE, Calif. — T. J. Rodgers is surrounded by a sea of silicon wafers on the roof of his company's headquarters in a Silicon Valley industrial park.
  
  
• SA solar research eclipses rest of the world
  Feb 11, 2006 - Willem Steenkamp - Saturday Argus
  
  In a scientific breakthrough that has stunned the world, a team of South African scientists has developed a revolutionary new, highly efficient solar power technology that will enable homes to obtain all their electricity from the sun. This means high electricity bills and frequent power failures could soon be a thing of the past.
  
  
• Here comes the sun
  Oct 25, 2005 - Anthony Doman - Popular Mechanics
  
  Despite a soaring oil price and a panic-stricken planet scrambling to counteract its profligate use of energy resources, there is a glimmer of sunshine. And sunshine is all it takes, says an enterprising South African academic who is sitting on potentially one of the biggest solar energy breakthroughs to date.
  
  
• SDG&E to buy solar electricity
  Sep 8, 2005 - Craig D. Rose - Union-Tribune
  
  San Diego Gas & Electric announced yesterday it had contracted with a Phoenix company to buy electricity from what could be the largest solar power generating project in the world.
  
  
• Solar Pedaflo Creates Potable water for Remote Areas
  Aug 23, 2005 - renewableenergyaccess.com
  
  Communities of people living in remote villages around the globe often endure scarcity of safe water for drinking and cooking, jeopardizing health and hygiene.
  
  
• Rooftops Could Support Vast U.S. Market for Solar Power (PDF)
  Mar 1, 2005 - The Energy Foundation
  
  A new study released today by the Energy Foundation, and undertaken by Navigant Consulting, Inc. (NYSE:NCI), describes the vast market potential for rooftop solar photovoltaic systems (PV) in the United States. The study, “PV Grid Connected Market Potential in 2010 Under a Cost Breakthrough Scenario,” provides an estimate of the market for PV systems in the United States based on available rooftop space for residential and commercial solar PV.
  
  
• Energy from the Desert
  May 2003
  
  The world's deserts are sufficiently large that, in theory, covering a fraction of their landmass with PV systems could generate many times the current primary global energy supply. Moreover, the energy produced is from solar radiation - a clean and renewable source - hence such systems would have the potential to contribute massively to the protection of the global environment.
  
  
• Solar Power Alone Can Solve West Coast Power Crunch
  Aug 9, 2001 - PRNewswire
  
  BERKELEY, Calif. -- PowerLight Corporation (http://www.powerlight.com) today announced shipment of a 100 kWac solar electric PowerGuard system for installation on the Anaheim Convention Center. Owned by the City of Anaheim, the system is the largest solar power system on a convention center in North America.
  
  
• EDITORIAL: Solar eclipse
  Jan 12, 2001 - Staff Editorial - The Technician - North Carolina State U.
  
  According to researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colo., photovoltaic units — or solar panels — spanning only 10,000 square miles could provide all the electricity the United States needs based on the current solar energy technology of 10-percent system efficiency. With next-generation 15-percent efficiency models, that land space would be decreased by 30 percent. An area roughly equivalent to 1 percent of the continental United States could supply enough electricity to charge the world.
  
  
• Shea Homes and AstroPower Announce Premium Power Partnership
  Jan 3, 2001 - PrNewswire
  
  Leading US Home Builder to Adopt Solar Electric Technology As a Standard Feature, Increasing Performance, Home Efficiency and Value NEWARK, Del. - Shea Homes, Inc. of San Diego, CA and AstroPower, Inc. (Nasdaq: APWR) jointly announced today that they have signed an agreement to make solar power a standard feature in new Shea communities. The partnership kicks off with the construction of 100 solar powered homes in San Diego, CA this year. The companies have a goal to build a total of 200 solar powered homes in the next 18 months, as new development phases roll out.
  
  
• Alternative sources of power are in business
  Nov 5, 2000 - Dan Weisman - North County Times
  
  San Diego County's status as an energy disaster area has propelled the few North County alternative energy companies into seeing green ---- green as in environmentally-friendly systems and green as in increased income.
  
  
• New Sandia control method opens doors for more photovoltaic systems being safely linked to electric grid
  Sep 26, 2000 - Sandia
  
  ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. A new way to safely, simply and effectively connect electricity-producing photovoltaic (PV) solar systems to utility company power grids has been developed by the Department of Energy’s Sandia National Laboratories. Already several manufacturers have adapted it into their systems.
  

Related GENI Resources

Definition Solar Energy

Renewable Energy Resource Maps

National Energy Grid Maps

GENI Transmission Library

Links

IREC Connecting to the Grid (Interstate Renewable Energy Council)

CIGRE: International Congress on Large High-Voltage Electric Systems

IEEE/PES International Practices Committee panel sessions