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Around the World on Solar Power

Thu, 03 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By By BETTINA WASSENER - May. 03 (News Report) - Turanor PlanetSolar is expected to dock on Friday in Monaco, ending its 19-month journey.

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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.

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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.”

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Building a better suntrap: A novel approach to solar power may help to improve its efficiency

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Economist - By (From The Print Edition) - Dec. 31 (Special Report) - Peter Bermel of MIT and his colleagues think they have found a way round the usual solar power difficulties. As they describe in Nanoscale Research Letters, they have invented a way of concentrating the energy in the sun’s rays without the need for mirrors. It is, quite literally, a suntrap.

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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."

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Here Comes The Sun

Sun, 06 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Paul Krugman - Nov. 06 (Opinion) - We are, or at least we should be, on the cusp of an energy transformation, driven by the rapidly falling cost of solar power. That’s right, solar power. If that surprises you, if you still think of solar power as some kind of hippie fantasy, blame our fossilized political system, in which fossil fuel producers have both powerful political allies and a powerful propaganda machine that denigrates alternatives.

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Virus-templated self-assembled single-walled carbon nanotubes for highly efficient electron collection in photovoltaic devices

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Nature - By Xiangnan Dang, Hyunjung Yi, Moon-Ho Ham, Jifa Qi, Dong Soo Yun, Rebecca Ladewski, Michael S. Strano, Paula T. Hammond , Angela M. Belcher - Sep. 19 (Special Report) - we report the synthesis of single-walled carbon nanotube–TiO2 nanocrystal core–shell nanocomposites using a genetically engineered M13 virus as a template. By using the nanocomposites as photoanodes in dye-sensitized solar cells, we demonstrate that even small fractions of nanotubes improve the power conversion efficiency by increasing the electron collection efficiency.

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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.”

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Nissan works on recharging Leaf with solar power

Mon, 11 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Associated Press - By Yuri Kageyama - Jul. 11 (News Report) - ... electricity is generated through 488 solar cells installed on the roof of the Nissan headquarters building ....Four batteries from the Leaf ... store the electricity generated from the solar cells, which is enough to fully charge 1,800 Leaf vehicles a year

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Germany to go nuclear-free

Wed, 01 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Aljazeera - By Hazem Sika, Chris Goodall, Geohard Fasol, Miranda Schreurs - Jun. 01 (News Analysis) - We look at the future of nuclear power, the options available to substitute nuclear energy, the problems related to fissile fuel, global warming, and other environmental issues.

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Japan eyeing plan for solar panels on all new buildings

Wed, 25 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Reuters - By Isabel Reynolds - May. 25 (News Report) - Japan, seeking to promote renewable energy as it struggles with the world's worst nuclear crisis in decades, may this week announce a plan to make solar panels compulsory on the roofs of all new buildings by 2030, the Nikkei newspaper said on Sunday.

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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

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Solar power: breakthrough could herald big drop in costs

Sat, 16 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Christian Science Monitor - By Mark Clayton - Apr. 16 (News) - Scientists at the University of Michigan have discovered a new effect from an old property of light, which they say could lead to an "optical battery" that converts sunlight to electricity at a fraction of the cost of today's photovoltaic cells.

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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.

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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

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Japan Increases Tariffs for Surplus Solar Power From Schools, Businesses

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Bloomberg - By Stuart Biggs, Chisaki Watanabe - Mar. 30 (News Report) - Japan will raise the preferential rates for surplus solar power produced by businesses and schools by 67 percent in the year starting April 1.

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China may double solar goal after Japan nuclear leak: report| Reuters

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Reuters - Mar. 30 (News Report) - China may double its target for photovoltaic power capacity over the next five years in the wake of Japan's nuclear crisis, the official China Securities Journal reported on Wednesday. Citing unnamed sources, the newspaper said the ...China Nuclear Plans Unchanged, Development Agency SaysBloombergChina sees some impact on nuclear plans from Japan crisisReuters AfricaChina may revise nuclear-power targetMarketWatchWinnipeg Free Press -The Australian -ABC Newsall 308 news articles »

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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.

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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.

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Solar Panel Maker Moves Work to China

Fri, 14 Jan 2011 00:00:00 -0800

New York Times - By Keith Bradsher - Jan. 14 (News Report) - Aided by at least $43 million in assistance from the government of Massachusetts and an innovative solar energy technology, Evergreen Solar emerged in the last three years as the third-largest maker of solar panels in the United States.

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In California, Carports That Can Generate Electricity

Fri, 26 Nov 2010 00:00:00 -0800

New York Times - By By FELICITY BARRINGER - Nov. 26 (News Report) - Ersatz roofs made of solar panels have sprouted above dozens of school parking lots in the state, altering vistas and promoting a philosophy of green thinking among the young. Yet the primary driver of the solar roofs is economic.

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Fixes: Clean Water at No Cost? Just Add Carbon Credits

Tue, 16 Nov 2010 00:00:00 -0800

New York Times - By By TINA ROSENBERG - Nov. 16 (News Report) - The villages of Africa and South Asia are littered with the ghosts of water projects past. …Water systems need to function all day, every day, forever. Now there’s a new way to save water projects from an early death: make clean water a for-profit business, charging people an unusual price: zero.

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Solar farm sparks heated debate in California's Panoche Valley

Mon, 01 Nov 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Los Angeles Times - By Louis Sahagun - Nov. 01 (News Report) - A kind of family feud has erupted in San Benito County's rich slice of Central California farmland over plans to build a massive solar power facility in a valley shared by 20 ranchers and organic farmers and some of the rarest creatures in the United States. Both sides of the dispute insist they are fighting for the same things — protecting the environment and growing the local economy.

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U.S. presses China on clean tech

Sat, 16 Oct 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Los Angeles Times - By Don Lee, Tiffany Hsu - Oct. 16 (News Report) - Washington looks into allegations Beijing is illegally subsidizing green industries. The Obama administration, facing increasing political pressure to address complaints about China's economic policies, said Friday that it was investigating whether China was illegally subsidizing its clean-tech industry — even as officials put off a difficult decision on whether to cite Beijing as a currency manipulator.

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Hermann Scheer (1944-2010): German Lawmaker, Leading Advocate for Social Energy and "Hero for the Green Century" in One of His Final Interviews

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Hermann Scheer, Amy Goodman - Oct. 15 (Interview) - Hermann Scheer, one of the world's leading advocates for solar power, has died at the age of sixty-six. The German economist and politician helped make Germany a renewable energy powerhouse and inspired many across the world to expand the use of solar power. Scheer had been member of the German parliament for three decades and was the president of EUROSOLAR, the European Association for Renewable Energy. In 1999, he won the Right Livelihood Award for his "indefatigable work for the promotion of solar energy worldwide." When he received the award, he described solar energy as the energy of the people. We met up with Herman Scheer last month in Bonn, Germany, for what turned out to be one of his final interviews.

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