September 3, 2010
A Solar Primer
for Consumers
Installing photovoltaics is a long-term investment, and it pays to do your homework. Use our comprehensive guide on how solar works to figure out what's right for your situation.
Follow 'Sun Bud': a
Live Solar Readout
Refresh the page to update this 4.2-kw (DC) solar system's readout, provided courtesy of Fat Spaniel Technologies and the homeowner. Please click for weather and system details.
Information Sources
for Solar Consumers
Want to know what solar rebates or incentives are available where you live? How much solar power you could generate at your own home or business? Where to find a reputable installer? How to put up solar with no money down? One place to consider at the start is our Links page.
There's a Lot That's
New Under the Sun
There are many recent developments that have greatly reduced the installed price of solar PV systems. The interesting thing is that many of these innovations don't involve those actual wafers of silicon sitting out in the sun at all, columnist Dan Fink writes.
Plug-In Cars Won't
Just Come in Green
Automakers, utility representatives and others at the recent Plug-in 2010 conference agreed that economics and energy security are the primary motivators for most consumer interest in electric vehicles.
Lithium: A Metal That
Can Power the World
Columnist Pamela Coyle take a look at the world’s lightest known metal, which is generating heavy interest for its ability to serve the nascent electric car industry as well as store energy from solar-generated power.
Taking a Cold Hard Look at Global Warming
From a self-described "Republican conservative" viewpoint, PG&E Corp.'s top executive speaks out.
Reggae Song to Benefit
Haitian Health Clinics
The Solar Electric Light Fund and Partners In Health have announced that the band Steel Pulse will donate all proceeds from their song "Hold on [4 Haiti]" to the solar electrification of clinics.
Large-Scale Solar
Plans Draw Scrutiny
Several large proposed solar photovoltaic power plants in Central California are undergoing review by county agencies.
Latest Solar and Electric Car News From China
GM China recently announced plans to officially launch the Chevrolet Volt electric vehicle throughout China on Aug. 31. To read more, please click here.
LATEST CHINA DISPATCHES: ReneSola announces agreements to supply silicon wafers to two Taiwanese solar companies. Hangzhou has put in place the detailed rules for individuals buying new-energy vehicles. Jiangsu Aoxin New Energy Automobile secured a contract to export 30,000 electric trucks to the United States. To read more, please click here.
California's Farm Belt Using Solar to Turn Brown Into Green
PHOTO CREDIT: SOLAR HOME & BUSINESS JOURNAL
Small cities such as Avenal in California's Central Valley are growing a new crop of solar power plants.
Sierra2theSea News Service
The sun shines brightly in the San Joaquin Valley. Ask anyone.
PHOTO CREDIT: JOHN LINDT
Tulare's got milk, as its water tower
says, but it will also have solar.
Until now, power projects in the farm belt of California have been few and far between, even though energy demand is huge.
But in 2010, small cities in the Central Valley have started growing a new crop of solar farms at their doorsteps. In at least 11 small municipalities, the city governments or developers who have signed contracts with the cities are well on their way to constructing utility-scale solar power plants, typically on acreage the city uses for water pumping or wastewater purposes.
The solar farms vary in size from 1 to 20 megawatts of generating capacity. The process has been fueled by state and federal incentives.
The list includes some of the poorest communities in the Valley, all looking for ways to keep the lights on and “turning brown fields into green fields,” says Carmine Iadarola, principal with the company SolarGenUSA.
Please click to read full story
U.S.-China Solar Partnership Sprouts
PHOTO CREDIT: SOLAR HOME & BUSINESS JOURNAL
Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris presents
keys to the city to executives of NeoPower, an
investment firm with close ties to China.
Lancaster, a small but sunny city in California's Mojave Desert, continues to push ahead with big international ambitions for solar energy to help drive its growth.
The city's mayor, R. Rex Parris, handed symbolic keys to the city Tuesday to executives of NeoPower Inc., an investment advisory company based in Pasadena, Calif., with close ties to China.
NeoPower is helping Lancaster officials establish relationships with officials in China. Later this month, a Lancaster delegation plans to visit China to meet with prospective investors and to invite the much larger city of Huainan, in Anhui province, to form a sister-city partnership.
James Li, chairman and chief executive officer of NeoPower, said one project the company is planning is a possible $40 million distribution center in Lancaster for solar photovoltaic equipment, such as modules. The equipment would be supplied by a number of different high-quality manufacturers, mostly from China, for what is expected to become a burgeoning U.S. solar market, Mr. Li said.
Please click to read full story
Latest Industry News | PR Newswire
PVSEC: German Solar Demand on Record Pace in 2010; Feed-in Tariffs Updated
EV-Focused Business of Plugging In Conference Returns to Detroit, Announces Key Speakers
UPS and Electric Vehicles International Begin Demonstration of Fully Electric Walk-In Van
A new Sunspots will appear every Monday.
