December 7th, 2012

Half Moon Ventures, a Chicago-based developer of solar and wind energy products, unveiled a rooftop solar installation the size of two pro football fields at i.Park Hudson, an office/industrial park in Yonkers, N.Y.

The solar project is expected to produce 1.2 million kilowatt hours of electricity a year, enough to power more than 120 homes and equivalent in reducing air pollution to taking 160 cars off the road.

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October 11th, 2012

The U.S. Department of Commerce decision to hit Chinese solar panel makers with significant import tariffs has shaken up the solar community. Bonn-based SolarWorld, which maintains the largest U.S. solar manufacturing plant and had asked for an investigation of Chinese “dumping” of solar panels, was pleased with yesterday’s ruling. The anti-dumping and anti-subsidy fees announced by the government will help level the playing field between U.S. and Chinese-manufactured photovoltaic cells and panels, a company official said.

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August 21st, 2012

Solar panels may soon be able to rely on more abundant minerals and metals, than some of the rare elements used today, scientists meeting in Philadelphia this week said.

These advances could make solar energy more affordable and easier to integrate into buildings, and hasten the day when the U.S. could get 50-100 percent of its electricity for buildings from the sun, the researchers said during a panel at the American Chemical Society meeting.

“Sustainability involves developing technology that can be productive over the long-term, using resources in ways that meet today’s needs without jeopardizing the ability of future generations to meet their needs,” said Harry A. Atwater, Ph.D., a physicist at the California Institute of Technology, in a statement released by the ACS.

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April 19th, 2011

OK, this is a hard one: What can cities in the Sunbelt do to find more energy sources?

Hint. It works best n the Sunbelt. Hmmmmm. That’s right, install solar panels!

In Los Angeles, homeowners have been installing solar panels for decades — when they can afford it. But the LA Business Council has concluded that solar power could benefit all Angelenos, and is hatching a pilot program to put apartment rooftops into solar service, especially in disadvantaged areas.

Putting solar panels on apartment rooftops could easily help add 300 megawatts of power to the city’s grid over the next five to ten years — enough to power 30,000 homes, according to a report issued by the Los Angeles Business Council’s Sustainability Summit.

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December 6th, 2010

Solar roofs make sense in many ways. They cut down on greenhouse gases, create local jobs, protect home owners from electricity rate hikes and provide the best, personal “energy security” money can buy.

Yes, solar panels are the answer, or would be the answer, if they didn’t cost so much. If these glimmering technological wonders were affordable, Americans would be slamming down the doors of Walmart (which would surely be selling them if they were cheap) to grab some. Instead, we are perpetually scratching our heads about solar power, wondering: When will it be affordable? If I buy now will I miss the next wave of innovation and the price declines?

To try to sort out what’s possible, we took a look at one neighborhood in Fremont in the Bay Area where solar entrepreneur Klaus Feldmeier, a Silicon Valley microchip exporter, and his son Erik, shared the details of the solar installations they did for themselves and two of their neighbors.

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September 10th, 2010

A group of environmentalists who wanted solar panels installed on the White House were able to meet with administration staffers today, but they did not get a commitment for a solar array at the first family’s residence.
The team representing people who’d signed a “Put Solar On The White House” petition included students from Unity College in Maine which has been using a solar array installed on the White House during the Carter Administration. The panels Jimmy Carter had installed were dismantled, and ultimately relocated to Unity College, during the Reagan Administration. The Put Solar On It group carried a remnant of that array to the White House to help make their point that President Obama could again light the way.

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August 25th, 2010

Solar power may be emerging as a legitimate source of energy, but as always, the devil is in the details. Sure, it’s great to have an area the size of 50 football fields gathering up the sun’s rays…but who’s going to keep all those panels dirt and dust-free and optimizing their potential? In a report at the 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, a group of scientists presented a possible solution: Self-dusting solar panels, based on technology developed for missions to Mars.

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June 16th, 2010

While many high school science students labor over the usual time-tested science projects, dissecting frogs or building toothpick bridges, a group of Houston students will soon get a cross-curriculum education in cutting-edge solar technologies.

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April 22nd, 2010

Ten new customer sites across North Carolina will have solar panels installed on their building or grounds as part of Duke Energy’s distributed solar generation program, the company announced today. The Environmental Protection Agency’s facility in Durham is among the sites that will have solar equipment added.

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January 21st, 2010

By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now

Robert Caffro found a solar solution for his home, and acquired a problem that’s cast a cloud on his plan.

Caffro’s homeowners association in his neighborhood in Chester County west of Philadelphia denied his request to install the low-profile rooftop solar panels that he’d arranged to buy at Home Depot.

The governing group sent him a letter on Jan. 5 citing this clause in the neighborhood’s rules:

“Any addition, enclosure, garage, appurtenant building, fence, wall, planting or other improvement or modification erected, placed or maintained within a Unit shall be harmonious in design with the single family residential dwelling within the Unit.”

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September 28th, 2009

By Bill Sullivan Green Right Now If you’ve ever thought about going solar to take a bite out of your utility bills, you may want to take another look: A perfect storm of events, policies and programs currently makes solar more affordable than ever. The problem: He who hesitates may miss the best deals. “People [...]

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September 18th, 2009

By Bill Sullivan
Green Right Now

Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, (Photo: Ford Motor Co.)

Not every abandoned automobile manufacturing plant is doomed to a future of dust, rust and general obsolescence. Thanks to a creative deal between Ford Motor Co., the state of Michigan, and a pair of energy concerns, a shuttered facility near Detroit soon will be cranking out renewable energy and creating new jobs for the region.

Xtreme Power of Austin,Texas and Clairvoyant Energy of Santa Barbara, Calif., reportedly will pay $725 million for the former auto plant in Wixom, Mich. The plan is to use about half of the 4.7 million square feet to manufacture battery-based energy storage systems and high efficiency solar panels. The new owners hope to find other green companies to fill the remaining space.

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