NewsTrust - Solar Energy - Most Recent Stories: News (Independent)

New solar cells are more efficient

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Photonics Spectra - By Laura Marshall - Apr. 17 (News Report) - The new hybrid cell absorbs red as well as blue light to boost the electrical current. A typical solar cell generates a single electron for each photon captured. But by adding the organic semiconductor pentacene, the solar cells can generate two electrons for every photon from the blue light spectrum. This could enable the cells to capture 44 percent of the incoming solar energy.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.9 average - 3 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Renewables Are a Reality: How We Can Ditch Fossil Fuels Without Any Help From Congress

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

AlterNet - By Fen Montaigne - Feb. 21 (Special Report) - In an interview with Yale Environment 360 senior editor Fen Montaigne, Lovins discusses how business and society can pull off this transformation even if the U.S. Congress keeps failing to act, why climate change need not even enter the discussion, and why the oil industry will ultimately forego fossil fuels and jump aboard the green bandwagon. “One system is dying and others are struggling to be born,” says Lovins. “It’s a very exciting time.”

NewsTrust Rating: 4.0 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Bill Clinton: Solar and wind energy are "both cheaper than nuclear right now."

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

PolitiFact - By Louis Jacobson - Nov. 11 (Fact Check) - During a Nov. 8, 2011, appearance on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, former President Bill Clinton touted the prospects for adopting renewable energy. "Solar energy and wind energy ... would already be competitive with coal if you had to pay the extraneous costs of coal -- the health care costs and other things. And ... wind within two years and solar within five will be competitive in price with coal. They're both cheaper than nuclear right now."

NewsTrust Rating: 3.8 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

How a 13-Year-Old Revolutionized Solar Cell Efficiency

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

solar.calfinder.com - Aug. 26 (Special Report) - “Collecting sunlight is key to the survival of a tree. Leaves are the solar panels of trees, collecting sunlight for photosynthesis. Collecting the most sunlight is the difference between life and death.”

NewsTrust Rating: 3.3 average - 4 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Bringing Solar Energy To The Masses

Tue, 17 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Tom Zeller Jr., Travis Donovan - May. 17 (News Report) - The California-based solar leasing firm Sungevity announced a deal on Monday with home improvement giant Lowe's that could make obtaining a personalized estimate for installing

NewsTrust Rating: 3.9 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Solar: Big Vote Of Confidence As GE Gets Religion, Says Kaufman

Fri, 08 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

blogs.barrons.com - By Tiernan Ray - Apr. 08 (Special Report) - I had a chat with Kaufman Brothers analyst Jeffrey Bencik this morning about what seems a meaningful endorsement of solar energy with General Electric’s (GE) announcement yesterday it had achieved record efficiency in a type of solar panel component, made of “thin films” based on cadmium telluride materials, and that GE plans to build what it bills as the U.S.’s biggest solar-panel manufacturing facility, capable of 400-megawatts of production, employing 400 people and resulting in enough power generation to power 80,000 homes a year.

NewsTrust Rating: 2.6 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Powering up: Green tech investment surges

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Grist - Apr. 05 (News) - by Todd Woody. Some good news on the environmental front for a change: Global investment in green technology in the first quarter of the year spiked 52 percent compared to the previous quarter, to $2.57 billion. That’s according to a report released Tuesday by the Cleantech Group, a San Francisco research and consulting firm. The increase represents a 13 percent jump over the first quarter of 2010, and indicates that investors’ appetite for renewable energy, electric cars, and other green technologies continues to rebound from the recession. But the numbers aren’t exactly good news for entrepreneurs toiling away in their garages on the next new thing. The first quarter results show that investors are focusing on existing portfolios rather than financing a lot of new startups. In fact, 93 percent of that $2.57 billion represented so-called follow-on investments. “In the first few months of the new year there have been a rash of large later-stage deals which have propelled 1Q11 to the second highest quarter ever for clean tech VC investment,” Sheeraz Haji, the Cleantech Group’s chief executive, said in a statement. “It’s encouraging to see some big private equity firms entering the space.” So who got the money? Solar companies were the big winners, taking in $641 million in 26 deals, according to the Cleantech Group. About a third of that went to a single startup, BrightSource Energy, the Oakland, Calif., solar thermal power plant builder. And venture capitalists seem to have a renewed appetite for cutting-edge thin-film photovoltaic technology, an area they poured a couple of billion dollars into back during the green tech boom. One such startup, MiaSolé, scored $106 million in the first quarter. Electric cars also proved popular among investors as the new year got underway. Fisker Automotive, a Southern California startup building a super sleek plug-in hybrid sports sedan called the Karma, took in $150 million. At the other end of the electric spectrum, Coda Automotive, another SoCal startup, took in $76 million for its middle-of-the-road four-door. Biofuels are back as well, taking in $148 million. The largest share, $75 million, went to a California company called Fulcrum Bioenergy, which is developing a process to turn municipal waste into ethanol. North America still accounts for the lion’s share of investment—85 percent in the first quarter, a 43 percent rise from the same period last year. And Silicon Valley’s Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers did the most deals—nine. But in a sign that corporate America is increasingly seeing green tech as a good bet, GE Energy Financial Services took third place for the number of deals done. Related Links: China charges up the on-ramp of the electric highway Watch a Robot swap out batteries from this electric vehicle [VIDEO] Getting to 100 percent renewables in 20 years

NewsTrust Rating: 3.6 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Quantum Dots Give Boost to Solar Cells

Tue, 22 Feb 2011 00:00:00 -0800

photonics.com - Feb. 22 (Special Report) - Adding a single layer of organic molecules to a solar cell can increase its efficiency threefold, leading to cheaper, more efficient solar panels, chemical engineers at Stanford University found. Stacey Bent, professor of chemical engineering, first became interested in a new kind of solar technology two years ago. These solar cells used tiny particles of semiconductors called quantum dots. Quantum dot solar cells are cheaper to produce than traditional ones, as they can be made using simple chemical reactions.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.4 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Constellation Energy to Develop 1.25 MW in Solar Installations for Anne Arundel County and Coppin State University

Wed, 19 Jan 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Citybizlist Baltimore - Jan. 19 (News) - Constellation Energy (NYSE: CEG) today announced the development of a 750-kilowatt on-site solar installation at Anne Arundel County's Combined Support Services Complex in Millersville, Md., and the development of a 500 kilowatt on-site solar installation at Coppin State University in Baltimore.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.6 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

As White House Reverses Rejection of Solar Panels, 350.org to Hold 10.10.10 Day of Action on Global Warming

Fri, 08 Oct 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Juan Gonzalez, Amy Goodman - Oct. 08 (News Report) - Climate change activists are gearing up for a major day of action this Sunday with the 10.10.10 global work party organized by the group 350.org. More than 7,000 events are being held in 188 countries to urge people across the globe to do something in their city or community that will help deal with global warming. Meanwhile, the Obama administration has announced plans to install solar panels atop the White House’s living quarters, one month after the White House rejected a proposal by Bill McKibben of 350.org and students from Unity College to reinstall the White House solar panels used by President Carter in the 1970s.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.0 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Unity College Students & Bill McKibben Launch Road Trip to Reinstall Jimmy Carter Solar Panel Back on White House Roof

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Bill McKibben,Jean Altomare,Juan Gonzalez, Amy Goodman - Sep. 09 (News Report) - A group of Unity College students, led by environmentalist Bill McKibben, set out Tuesday for Washington, DC, carrying a solar panel that once stood atop President Jimmy Carter’s White House. In 1979, Carter installed solar panels on the roof of the West Wing as part of a new solar strategy. They were removed by President Ronald Reagan in 1986 and put into storage. In 1990, the panels were brought to Unity College in Maine. The students are now hoping to convince President Obama to reinstall the panel back on the White House roof.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.1 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Solar waste recycling industry starts up

Mon, 09 Aug 2010 11:37:09 -0700

spot.us - By Erica Gies - Aug. 09 (News Report) - Clean-tech firms seek to reuse a variety of rare, potentially toxic materials. New businesses emerge as manufacturers prepare for modules' end of life. In recent years the electronics industry has gained notoriety for creating an endless stream of disposable products that make their way at life’s end to developing countries, where poor people without safety gear cut and burn out valuable materials, spilling contaminants into their water, air and lungs. Solar modules contain some of the same potentially dangerous materials as electronics, including silicon tetrachloride, cadmium, selenium and sulfur hexafluoride, a potent greenhouse gas. So as solar moves from the fringe to the mainstream, insiders and watchdog groups are beginning to talk about producer responsibility and recycling in an attempt to sidestep the pitfalls of electronic waste and retain the industry’s green credibility.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.0 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Mixed Messages on Green Homes

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Miller-McCune - By Melinda Burns - Jul. 16 (News) - Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac try to block a municipal program that makes solar roofs affordable for homeowners.

NewsTrust Rating: Not rated yet - See Info » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Solar power

Sat, 12 Jun 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Wikipedia - Jun. 12 (Special Report) - Solar power is the generation of electricity from sunlight. This can be direct as with photovoltaics (PV), or indirect as with concentrating solar power (CSP), where the sun's energy is focused to boil water which is then used to provide power.

NewsTrust Rating: Not rated yet - See Info » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

DOE Releases US $200M for Solar & Water Power Technologies

Wed, 09 Jun 2010 00:00:00 -0700

RenewableEnergyWorld.com - Jun. 09 (News) - U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced last week that the Department will invest more than US $200 million over five years to expand and accelerate the development, commercialization, and use of solar and water power technologies throughout the United States. The investments include a photovoltaic manufacturing initiative that will provide up to $125 million over five years under which DOE will invest in manufacturing-focused research projects that will have near and mid-term impact on the U.S. solar industry and will catalyze greater cooperation within the industry. Funding will be available for applicants for university-focused development and industry-focused development. Concept papers are due June 3, 2010 with full applications due in early August.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.1 average - 3 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

City brings renewable energy to the little guy

Fri, 04 Jun 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Grist - By Claudine Benmar - Jun. 04 (News) - Solar power nerds are fond of an estimate that 100 square miles of Nevada desert—filled with solar panels—could provide enough electricity for the entire United States. But right now, solar supplies just 1 percent of the country’s energy. Cost is one reason that figure is so low. Unless you’re an independently wealthy solar hobbyist, chances are you can’t afford the $30,000 or so it takes to install panels at home.? That’s why Gary Nystedt, as resource manager for Ellensburg, came up with a way to bring solar power to all the people in this smallish city in eastern Washington State. The city asked its residents to pitch in what they could - the minimum contribution was $250—and built the country’s first community solar project, or “solar garden,” in 2006.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.4 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Imaging PV Cells

Thu, 27 May 2010 00:00:00 -0700

photonicsonline.com - By Doug Malchow - May. 27 (Special Report) - Researchers and manufacturers of concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) cells have recently achieved record solar cell conversion efficiencies of 41 percent by overlaying three semiconductor layers. Careful selection of both the materials and the chemical structures used within the cell will result in matching the absorbance of each layer to the sun's spectrum. When this occurs, each layer contributes equal amounts of electrical current to the cell's output.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.4 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Solar power manufacturing makes good business sense for governments, study finds

Fri, 21 May 2010 00:00:00 -0700

ScienceDaily - May. 21 (News Report) - Canadian and provincial governments could spend $2.4 billion to build a large scale solar photovoltaic manufacturing plant and then give it away for free and still earn a profit in the long run, according to a financial analysis conducted by the Queen's University Applied Sustainability Research Group in Kingston, Canada.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.3 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

NREL Study Shows Power Grid can Accommodate Large Increase in Wind and Solar Generation

Thu, 20 May 2010 00:00:00 -0700

National Renewable Energy Laboratory - May. 20 (Special Report) - The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) today released an initial study assessing the operational impacts and economics of increased contributions from wind and solar energy producers on the power grid. The Western Wind and Solar Integration Study examines the benefits and challenges of integrating enough wind and solar energy capacity into the grid to produce 35 percent of its electricity by 2017. The study finds that this target is technically feasible and does not necessitate extensive additional infrastructure, but does require key changes to current operational practice. The results offer a first look at the issue of adding significant amount of variable renewable energy in the West and will help utilities across the region plan how to ramp up their production of renewable energy as they incorporate more wind and solar energy plants into the power grid.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.9 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Professor brings clean power to African villages

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0700

boston globe: www.boston.com - By James F. Smith - Mar. 21 (News) - Where nightfall once meant only darkness in the tiny Tanzanian island of Tumbatu, now there are 200 points of light.

NewsTrust Rating: Not rated yet - See Info » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

U.S. Solar Market to Double in the Next Year

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0800

MIT Technology Review - By Kevin Bullis - Feb. 08 (News) - In a few years, the United States is likely to be the world's largest market for solar power, eclipsing Germany, which has taken the lead as a result of strong government incentives in spite of the relative paucity of sunlight in that country. A number of factors could make growth possible in the United States--especially changes in legislation that give utilities incentives to create large solar farms.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.5 average - 6 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Morocco hopes to shine in mega solar project

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

scidev.net - By Hichem Boumedjout - Jan. 20 (News) - Morocco has launched what it claims is the biggest solar-thermal energy project in a single country, aiming to produce nearly 40 per cent of its electricity needs — 2,000 megawatts (MW) — by 2020.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.1 average - 3 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

End Fossil Fuel Subsidies, Solar Could Be 15% of US Power

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0800

solveclimate.com - By Stacy Feldman - Dec. 28 (Special Report) - Solar power technologies could generate 15 percent of America's power in 10 years, but only if Washington levels the playing field on subsidies, a report by the Solar Energy Industries Association says. That means either rolling back fossil fuel subsidies, as President Obama proposed earlier this year, or increasing subsidies for clean energy.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.2 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Alternative Energy Voices Fight To Be Heard At Copenhagen (VIDEO)

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Huffington Post - By Kate Willson - Dec. 08 (News) - Pete Gorton, director of the International Solar Energy Society, says his industry can't compete with the cash-backed lobbying of the big carbon emitters. It depends, instead, largely on grassroots advocacy at a national level. "We believe it's effective," he explains. "If we had more money, we could do more. But we're optimistic. I'm paying my own way here. I'm here out of interest."

NewsTrust Rating: 4.2 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Cost Of Installed Solar Photovoltaic Systems Drops Significantly Over The Last Decade

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0800

ScienceDaily - Mar. 03 (News Report) - A new study on the installed costs of solar photovoltaic (PV) power systems in the U.S. shows that the average cost of these systems declined significantly from 1998 to 2007, but remained relatively flat during the last two years of this period.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.2 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer