Green: Energy, Construction, Jobs?, Investment In?

Veterans Solar Job Training

2015-02-21T08:55:00.001-05:00

One of the huge area's way overlooked and ignored, unless of course conservatives invent or regurgitate anything they and the media can parrot far and wide, often again, as 'scandals' created by them and the great majority served, grossly under funding thus not building the agency promised for decades to the few who serve them, is the constant and continued full support by the Executive administration and it's full Cabinet from the beginning as they entered and bush left!! Totally ignoring all that Gen Shinseki had Finally starting to address so many issues ignored or out right denied existed, with the administrations help and backing, and continuing, thankfully, under McDonald. This is just one more example, oh so many over decades and wars from, with no help from the peoples representatives and the people served themselves, but in their names!!!!!!!!!

Many of those taking these courses are further advanced in the alternative energy development already, having used the advanced technologies on bases and especially in these war theaters, then those taking courses in in the private sector. Ignored by that private sector when leaving the Military they're just legitimizing that training and advanced knowledge, already experienced in!!

The first set of transitioning military service members graduated last week from the solar job training pilot program at Camp Pendleton in California. Minh Le, SunShot Initiative director, spoke at the ceremony. The pilot program provides participating military service members with four to six weeks of intensive solar training courses at no cost. Participants learn how to size and install solar energy systems and develop other related solar job skills. SunShot also announced two additional military bases that will host the solar job training pilot program – Fort Carson in Colorado and Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia. The Camp Pendleton graduates have all been offered interviews with five prominent U.S. solar companies. Read more and see photos of the program’s first graduation ceremony.

“Why in 2009 were we still using paper?” VA Assistant Secretary Tommy Sowers “When we came in, there was no plan to change that; we’ve been operating on a six month wait for over a decade.” 27 March 2013

Sen. Bernie Sanders told Conservatives: “If you can’t afford to take care of your veterans, than don’t go war. These people are bearing the brunt of what war is about, We have a moral obligation to support them.” February, 26th, 2014

Neither of these recent wars have yet been paid for, nor the continued blowback from the spread and growth from the policies implemented!
Neither the long term results from, including the long ignored or outright denied existence of, till this Administrations Cabinet and Gen Shinseki, only Government branch consistent for the past six years, Veterans issues from!
As well as under deficits most of the, grossly under funded for decades and the wars from now, VA budget is still borrowed, with interest, thus added problem creating costs, with representative who control the purse strings blaming the mostly dedicated VA personal within, that shouldn't exist!

Military Veterans and America’s Solar Army

2015-02-20T07:00:00.001-05:00

U.S. Veterans Training For Solar Installation Army

February 18, 2015 - U.S. military veterans are being urged to join the ranks of America’s solar army by signing up to a new Energy Department solar job training pilot program.
The initiative has been designed to help members transition from active service into new careers as installation specialists, electricians and sales consultants.
The program is part of the DoE’s SunShot Solar Instructor Training Network, which aims to add 50,000 photovoltaic installers, building inspectors and other solar workers to the industry by 2020.
Three military bases have answered the call through a SkillsBridge initiative, which offers no-cost training for serving personnel during their final six months of duty.
Trainees will be drilled in the sizing and installation of solar power systems and developing other related solar skills.
“As more homes and businesses across America choose solar power for their electricity needs, the solar industry is growing rapidly, and demand for highly skilled solar workers is on the rise,” said Minh Le, director, SunShot Initiative. read more>>>

Innovative Places to Install Solar Plants

2015-01-17T09:28:00.002-05:00

India builds solar plants atop canals to save on land, water

January 16, 2015 - As India moves to ramp up investment in solar power, it is exploring innovative places to install solar plants, including across the top of canals.
Last weekend, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon inaugurated a new "canal-top" solar energy plant in Vadodara district in India's western state of Gujarat.
"I saw more than glittering panels – I saw the future of India and the future of our world," said Ban. "I saw India's bright creativity, ingenuity and cutting-edge technology."
Experts identify two major advantages in building solar plants atop canals: efficient and cheap land use, and reduced water evaporation from the channels underneath. read more>>>

Broke World's Solar Power Efficiency Record Last Month

2015-01-13T17:39:00.000-05:00

Australia’s rising solar power ‘revolution’

January 13, 2015 - Australian researchers broke the world's solar power efficiency record last month with their design of a novel commercial energy system, raising hopes the fossil-fuel dominated country may someday switch off its reliance on coal.
A team at the University of New South Wales led by professor Martin Green worked with a local company to create a highly efficient solar energy system that uses mirrors to concentrate sunlight onto a central solar panel to generate electricity.
The method is known as concentrator photovoltaics (CPV), and the result is a system with an efficiency of 40 percent, meaning 40 percent of the sunlight hitting the solar panels is converted into energy — the highest such level ever achieved.
Most important, the design uses readily available materials, which makes putting the system into operation easier and cheaper than trying to commercialize more experimental designs.
Green, who is also the director for the Australian Center for Advanced Photovoltaics, has a history of this kind of innovation. In 2011 he and his team built a solar cell that operated with 19.3 percent efficiency, edging out the previous record holder's 18.9 percent efficiency.
Off the grid read more>>>

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Sun Shines, Energy, on Pakistan

2015-01-06T10:53:00.003-05:00

Sun Shines on Union Between Solar Power and Electric Grid in Pakistan

January 6, 2015 - Amid a worsening energy crisis, Pakistan has approved the use of grid-connected solar energy, rooftop solar installations and mortgage financing for home solar panels to boost uptake of clean energy in the country.
The government has also reversed course and eliminated a 32.5 percent tax imposed on imported solar equipment in the country's 2014-2015 budget. The reversal aims to bring down the cost of installing solar panels.
The approval of net-metering – which allows solar panel purchasers to sell power they produce to the national grid - is a major breakthrough that could spur use of solar energy and help Pakistan's government cut power shortages in the long run, said Asjad Imtiaz Ali, chief executive officer of the Alternative Energy Development Board, a public organization.
"The initiative will help scale up demand for solar energy across Pakistan,” he said, “and we hope the increased demand will also result in sufficient decreases in the price of solar equipment.” read more>>>

Utilities Not Happy the Sun Shines Bright on Solar Energy

2015-01-04T06:24:00.000-05:00

Instead of leading in the development, of Alternatives, starting back over some forty years ago as we once again started developing another huge industry, something we had done over and over in many area's, they continue joining with the special interests in fighting to block advancing forward!! We now don't have the innovative trades with ever growing experience as at the same time we were shipping ours to others with little to no regulations and much much cheaper labor, not cheaper consumer products, who now have the experiences and innovative skilled trades needed and are advancing!!

Utilities Fight For Revenue Lost To Solar Power

January 03, 2015 - Solar energy had a banner year in 2014. As more and more U.S. households make their own electricity with solar panels, they're paying less to electric utilities, and that's making the utilities a little nervous. In some states, those companies are fighting back. Lauren Sommer of member station KQED and Dan Boyce of member station KUNC tell us how sunny California and Colorado are handling the rise of solar.
DAN BOYCE, BYLINE: There's a quiet war going on, a slow simmering battle between electric utilities and solar companies.
LAUREN SOMMER, BYLINE: You probably haven't noticed this clash because it's happening one house at a time. read more>>>

Solar Electricity Handbook - 2014 Edition: A Simple Practical Guide to Solar Energy - Designing and Installing Photovoltaic Solar Electric Systems

NC Re-Evaluates the Rules for Solar Energy

2015-01-03T10:03:00.001-05:00

Year-End Decision Holds Big Impact For NC Solar In 2015

January 2, 2015 - North Carolina energy regulators quietly released one of their most significant, long-awaited decisions of 2014, just as the year was ending. The state Utilities Commission had spent nearly the entire year re-evaluating the rules for solar energy. On Wednesday, the commission decided to leave substantially intact the rules which have underlied a solar energy boom in North Carolina.
The rules essentially required utilities to buy the power from small solar farms, at a set price, for up to 15 years. So, solar developers knew the price they would get for their product and how long they would get that price.
It’s a more generous deal than in most states, and North Carolina has become the fourth-largest producer of solar power in the U.S., largely due to small solar farms using these contracts. read & listen to more>>>

The Children’s Climate Crusade

2015-01-03T09:53:00.002-05:00

Full Show: The Children’s Climate Crusade

January 1, 2015 - The very agencies created to protect our environment have been hijacked by the polluting industries they were meant to regulate. It may just turn out that the judicial system, our children and their children will save us from ourselves.
The new legal framework for this crusade against global warming is called atmospheric trust litigation. It takes the fate of the Earth into the courts, arguing that the planet’s atmosphere – its air, water, land, plants and animals — are the responsibility of government, held in its trust to insure the survival of all generations to come. It’s the strategy being used by Bill’s recent guest, Kelsey Juliana, a co-plaintiff in a major lawsuit spearheaded by Our Children’s Trust, that could force the state of Oregon to take a more aggressive stance against the carbon emissions. read more>>>

More Found At: Moyers and Company

Bill Moyers' Retirement from Television "Lays Down a Challenge" for Next Generation of Journalists

January 02, 2015 - After more than forty years as celebrated and progressive voice in broadcast news, veteran journalist says... "Over to you, welcome to the fight." read more>>>

Solar Electricity Handbook - 2014 Edition: A Simple Practical Guide to Solar Energy - Designing and Installing Photovoltaic Solar Electric Systems

'Solar Tulips'

2014-12-26T10:51:00.000-05:00

Aora’s solar tulips start shining in Ethiopia, without water!

Investments in solar energy innovations are not dead! Remember those weird and wonderful solar energy harvesting tulips planted in Israel and Spain? Seen miles away the sky-high tulips have found a new commercial home – in Ethiopia, the company announced last week in a press statement.
We’ve covered Aora over the years and thought possibly that this CSP, or concentrated solar thermal power innovation didn’t grow. We were wrong.
The Ethiopian Government, looking for resilient off-grid systems, is now piloting Aora’s system for sustainable development.
Aora’s tulips collect solar energy from 50 small mirrors and then focus the energy to heat oil and air, creating pressure to drive turbines in the tulips. The turbines create electricity. The solution runs without steam and water, important for off grid locations where there is no water. read more>>>

Solar Electricity Handbook - 2014 Edition: A Simple Practical Guide to Solar Energy - Designing and Installing Photovoltaic Solar Electric Systems

Converts Over 40% of Incoming Sunlight Into Electricity

2014-12-08T11:01:00.001-05:00

The rapid advances, coming from around the world, in alternative energy sources would have already been here and advancing further if we hadn't allowed the special interests, fossil fuel corporations and their political tools, to control the blocking of over the past forty plus years!

UNSW researchers set world record in solar energy efficiency

December 7, 2014 - Solar researchers working at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) claim to have produced a system that converts over 40 percent of incoming sunlight into electricity, thereby taking the title of highest solar efficiency for a photovoltaic system ever reported.
The researchers first achieved their record efficiency in indoor tests in a facility in Sydney, Australia, and then had these achievements duplicated and ratified by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) using an outdoor test facility in the United States.
"This is the highest efficiency ever reported for sunlight conversion into electricity," said UNSW Professor Professor Martin Green, Director of the Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics (ACAP).
The record was achieved using a combination of technologies, including heliostat mirror "power tower" concentrators from Australian company RayGen Resources and high-efficiency photovoltaic (PV) cells from Boeing subsidiary, Spectrolab, but the key component to achieving such a high-efficiency was in the use of a specifically-designed optical bandpass filter used to reject certain components of the light spectrum whilst improving the capture of others. read more>>>

Seizing Solar Power

2014-12-08T10:47:00.000-05:00

One Latin American woman's quest to harness the power of the southern sun

08 Dec 2014 - Across Latin America the impact of poverty and climate change is bringing greater stress to rural communities.
In arid northern Argentina, people have only one source of fuel - wood. It is often scrawny bushes that are increasingly hard to find.
But the region also has a huge untapped resource – solar radiation – and Virginia Bauso's mission is to harness its potential and promote solar energy as the main power source for entire villages: from kitchens and ovens to heating, lighting, hot water and even a public phone.
She roams the desert spreading innovative technology, including a "kiosk" she invented that cooks food using the sun's rays. The community of Misa Rumi is now almost 100 percent solar-functional. Another village recently built a solar quinoa dryer, creating new opportunities for employment.
As deforestation and desertification continue to ravage Argentina and beyond, Bauso's vision could play a major role in charting a sustainable path to energy independence.
Seizing Solar Power explores how solar energy improves rural life on multiple levels by documenting its impact - in the fields of agriculture, education, health and business, as well as power - and contrasting this with isolated communities that are yet to adopt Bauso's groundbreaking tools. read more>>>

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Spray-On Solar {?}

2014-12-06T14:07:00.000-05:00

Spray-On Solar Power Coming Soon?

Dec 06, 2014 - Powering your tablet could soon be as simple as wrapping it in cling wrap, thanks to a team of scientists that recently invented a way to spray on solar power.
Lead researcher Illan Kramer and his colleagues at the University of Toronto developed miniscule light-sensitive materials called colloidal quantum dots (CQDs) that can be used to spray solar cells onto virtually any surface, from patio furniture to an airplane's wing.
The breakthrough has the potential to make manufacturing solar cells cheap and easy.
"My dream is that one day you'll have two technicians with Ghostbusters backpacks come to your house and spray your roof," Kramer explained in a statement. read more>>>

DIY Solar Projects: How to Put the Sun to Work in Your Home

Energy Consumption Has Spurred Innovation

2014-12-01T09:01:00.000-05:00

Alternative Energy Sources

From off-grid applications to public networks, humans are developing ways to harness renewable, cleaner sources of energy.

1 December 2014 - With a world population of more than 7 billion, energy consumption has spurred innovation for renewable sources of power. Solar, hydro and wind are among the emerging fields that allow both rural and large-scale enterprises to access energy that's renewable and has a minimum impact on the environment. Here, drivers attempt to navigate New York City on Aug. 14, 2003, during a massive blackout in the U.S. and Canada. for more visit>>>

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Pushing Solar Energy Storage Solutions

2014-12-01T08:40:00.001-05:00

US Navy Pushes Solar Energy Storage Solution

December 1st, 2014 - We just got wind of a major new oil industry campaign to tear down California’s clean energy rules, but we’re thinking these guys are going to be outflanked by the shockingly rapid growth of the energy storage sector. Case in point: the Navy Mobile Utilities Support Equipment facility in Port Hueneme, California, is hosting a new cutting edge smart microgrid project that can go into “island mode” using only solar power, thanks to vanadium flow batteries for solar energy storage.
If you’re new to the topic, it may come as somewhat of a shock to see Navy and solar energy in the same sentence. However, recall the Navy’s leadership transition from wind power to coal, oil, and nuclear energy, and you can see how this particular branch of the armed services is all over the next big energy thing like white on rice.
Advanced Energy Storage And Vanadium Flow Batteries
We’ll go over that anti-renewables campaign later this week, but for now let’s zero in on that energy storage angle. Our friends over at Imergy Power Systems are the brains behind the flow batteries, so let’s take a look at that aspect first. read more>>>

Solar Electricity Handbook - 2014 Edition: A Simple Practical Guide to Solar Energy - Designing and Installing Photovoltaic Solar Electric Systems

Old Blu-Ray Discs and Solar Cells Technologies

2014-11-26T13:31:00.001-05:00

New Solar Cell Efficiency From Old Blu-Ray Discs

November 26th, 2014 - Talk about your upcycling, a research team from Northwestern University has figured out how you can boost your solar cell efficiency and get rid of your old Blu-ray discs all at the same time. We’re not about to repurpose Blade Runner because we still luvs it, but not to worry — apparently you can get the same results with just about anything on Blu-ray.
More And Better Solar Cell Efficiency
So, what’s the secret sauce? The team was inspired to tinker around with Blu-ray discs because of their superior data storage capability compared to DVDs or CDs.
The idea sounds simple enough: transfer the data storage pattern of nanoscale “islands” and “pits” from the disc to the surface of a solar cell, and you get a nano-textured surface that enhances the ability of the cell to absorb light.
The reason why that sounds simple is that texturizing is a known thing for solar cell efficiency. You can check out our friends over at Natcore for an example of “black silicon” solar cells with improved efficiency from a textured surface. read more>>>

Wearable Technologies, Portable Energy Sources

2014-11-24T08:23:00.000-05:00

Soldiers of the future will generate own power

Wearable technologies may provide soldiers with on-the-move, portable energy and reduce the weight of gear they carry
November 19, 2014 - Wearable technologies may provide U.S. soldiers with on-the-move, portable energy and reduce the weight of gear they carry into combat.
Researchers at the Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center, or NSRDEC, here, are developing Soldier-borne energy-harvesting technologies.
During the Maneuver Fires Integration Experiment, or MFIX, a combined, multi-phase joint training exercise held in September 2014, at Fort Benning, Georgia, researchers tested prototype energy-harvesting technology solutions.
"My initial impression is that they fulfill a need for instant power generation on long-range missions when displaced from traditional resupply methods," said Sgt. 1st Class Arthur H. Jones, an infantryman with the Maneuver Center of Excellence who participated in the demonstration.
A sharp rise in Soldier-worn power capabilities has resulted in a dramatic increase in the number, variety and weight of batteries carried by warfighters in the field. read more>>>

Navy’s “Renewable Energy Push”

2014-11-17T10:04:00.000-05:00

The Navy’s “Renewable Energy Push” in Hawaii

November 16, 2014 - A new website has been launched to highlight alternative energy efforts sponsored by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) in Hawaii, fast becoming ground zero for the Navy’s push to develop “green” technologies.
The Asia-Pacific Technology and Education Partnership (APTEP), now online at ASIA-PACIFIC TECHNOLOGY & EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP, focuses its multifaceted approach to renewable energy on Hawaii because of the state’s abundance of reliable wind, solar, bioenergy, wave and geothermal resources.

APTEP approaches the issue from three angles, supporting cutting-edge energy research; educating students and teachers in energy-related fields; and supporting businesses trying to bring alternative energy products to the marketplace.
“Everyone is focused on Hawaii right now,” said Dr. Richard Carlin, head of ONR’s Sea Warfare and Weapons Department. “The studies we’re conducting there and technologies we’re developing will not only help the Navy reduce its need for fossil fuels, but also move the country closer to energy independence.” read more>>>

Remember Solyndra and the 'Special Interests' FOX Speak About

2014-11-13T09:24:00.001-05:00

From everything leading up to and following, what we used to do so successfully across all economic growth industries, into the Alternative Energy resources, they had developed a great product. But it was rather expensive to build but offset with cheaper costs to install.

The rapidly emerging Alternative economic markets, China, despite our media reports always condemning the heavy coal, especially, developed deep smog of, forgetting that not long ago many heavy metro area's here weren't far from same as well as acid rain destruction and much more pollution damage and health problems from, along with others are using some of that Solyndra technology in their growing economic development in Natural Alternatives. As they also are rapidly developing newer technologies into same.

Now that the loan program is turning a profit, those critics are silent. They either declined or ignored NPR's requests for comment.

What we had virtually stopped, slammed the brakes on, some forty years back. Reversing what we had been doing and buying into the 'special interests' reasons to. Like fossil fuels are never ending supply of, even as it took thousands of years to create yet only seconds for us humans to burn off, while the supply of will never be depleted and more. Now all they have left is denial in the damage already done and still causing, climate change for one. At the same time that was happening, for huge corporate profit growth, we started exporting our innovative, and highly experienced, trades to those that heavily envied what we as a country were building economically and much more.

After Solyndra Loss, U.S. Energy Loan Program Turning A Profit

November 13, 2014 - In 2011, solar panel company Solyndra defaulted on a $535 million loan guaranteed by the Department of Energy. The agency had a few other high-profile bankruptcies, too — electric car company Fisker and solar company Abound among them. But now that loan program has started turning a profit.
Overall, the agency has loaned $34.2 billion to a variety of businesses, under a program designed to speed up development of clean-energy technology. Companies have defaulted on $780 million of that — a loss rate of 2.28 percent. The agency also has collected $810 million in interest payments, putting the program $30 million in the black.
When Congress created the loan program under the Energy Policy Act of 2005, it was never designed to be a moneymaker. In fact, Congress imagined there would be losses and set aside $10 billion to cover them.

Still, when the Solyndra case emerged Republicans on Capitol Hill had pointed criticism for the Obama administration. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., called the Solyndra case "disgusting" and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, labeled it "a colossal failure." The conservative group Americans for Prosperity produced a television ad accusing President Obama of paying back campaign contributors.
There was an FBI raid on Solyndra's headquarters and an investigation but so far, no prosecutions. Now that the loan program is turning a profit, those critics are silent. They either declined or ignored NPR's requests for comment. And with that, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz wants to change your perception of his agency's loan program. read more>>>

Those 'special interests', with full backing of the FOX speak politics, have been some what successfully still blocking not only economic growth but everything that comes with same, well compensated jobs with innovation and growth experience in, we were so good at once, not long ago. Especially in the countries need to come quickly out of the economic collapse they created with their new capitalism ideology, reaganomics con, of bottom up wealth, with two still unpaid for very long wars and the results of including the countries responsibility the VA, and trickle down benefits of. Those buying that con are still waiting for that trickle down as they pay for the needs of those with the wealth!

Fossil fuels aren't going away anytime soon, no matter what the deniers, a really poor excuse to stop growth in a huge industry, try and use their very weak arguments for their handilers the 'monied special interests'. Alternatives though will greatly deminish the need for and many uses of with huge benefits for the planet!

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Solar-Energy Roadway Test Begins in the Netherlands

2014-11-12T09:37:00.000-05:00

Netherlands to be Home of First Bike Path Running on Solar Energy

Nov 06, 2014 - Solar technology continues to evolve, as next Wednesday, Nov. 12, will see the opening of the first bike path in the world to run on solar energy in the Netherlands.
The SolaRoad project is the result of five years of research done by the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), which worked with road construction and technical service providers to see if Holland's roads could absorb energy from the sun, according to Gizmag.
The path is made up of solar panels designed to convert solar energy into electricity for the grid, and it will run through the suburbs of northern Amsterdam. read more>>>

America's Solar Boom, in Charts

2014-11-10T14:32:00.001-05:00

Here Comes the Sun: America's Solar Boom, in Charts

It's been a bit player, but solar power is about to shine.
Nov. 7, 2014 - Last week, an energy analyst at Deutsche Bank came to a startling conclusion: By 2016, solar power will be as cheap or cheaper than electricity from the conventional grid in every state except three. That's without any changes to existing policy. In other words, we're only a few years away from the point where, in most of the United States, there will be no economic reason not to go solar. If you care about slowing climate change or just moving toward cleaner energy, that is a huge deal.
And solar energy is already going gangbusters. In the past decade, the amount of solar power produced in the United States has leaped 139,000 percent. A number of factors are behind the boom: Cheaper panels and a raft of local and state incentives, plus a federal tax credit that shaves 30 percent off the cost of upgrading.
Still, solar is a bit player, providing less than half of 1 percent of the energy produced in the United States. But its potential is massive—it could power the entire country 100 times over. read more>>>

Using An Earthen Dam For Solar Installation

2014-11-10T09:36:00.001-05:00

Navi Mumbai to house largest solar panel installation on dam

10 Nov, 2014 - The Morbe dam on Dhavari River in Navi Mumbai is going to house something unique: a solar panel installation big enough to generate 20 megawatt of power.
A three-year-old company that is carrying out the Rs 162 crore project claims the installation to be the largest in the world on a dam barrier, and the first in India. India already has several solar power installations on top of canals, the biggest being an underconstruction 10 MW project on a Narmada canal in Gujarat, but none on a sloping wall. To make matters complicated, the Morbe gravity dam has an earthen slope, said Rahul Gupta, an IIT-Roorkee alumnus and founder of Rays Power Experts which got the contract from the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation. read more>>>

The "Power Towers" of Solucar

2014-11-09T15:58:00.001-05:00

Spain’s Stunning Solar Power Towers

Nov. 7 2014 - Two slim towers rise from the fields 20 miles west of Seville, each bathed in the rays of an otherworldly glow. Though they look like portals to another dimension, they serve a much more practical purpose: They are the "power towers" of Solucar, the largest solar energy complex in Europe.
The towers, named PS10 and PS20, began operating in 2007 and 2009. Each is surrounded by a field of angled mirrors known as heliostats, which reflect solar radiation onto a receiver located at the top of each tower. This reflected sunlight illuminates dust and water vapor in the air, resulting in the brilliant glowing rays.
The heliostats—624 for the PS10 and 1,255 for the PS20—move during the day in order to reflect the most sunlight possible. When the rays of light reach the receiver, their heat produces steam, which is used to power a turbine. The turbine drives a generator, thereby producing electricity. read more>>>

First Open Source, Solar-Powered Ship

2014-11-06T07:16:00.000-05:00

Greenheart Project: The World's First Open Source, Solar-Powered Ship

11/05/14 - Greenheart is a growing social enterprise with big ideas. Design is nearly complete on Greenheart’s first innovation: a new class of sustainable, low-cost, zero-emission sail/solar-powered ship designed to fill current weaknesses and gaps in the global shipping industry. The first new ship of its kind, the S/V Greenheart (“S/V” meaning “Sailing Vessel”), is being developed specifically for those communities marginalized by a lack of capital, that lack access to deep-water ports, and that are unable to cope with rising fuels costs. Our primary objective for this project is to develop a fleet of ships that will return the seas to what they once were for all coastal and island people: an opportunity for growth, connection, and advancement in our expanding global marketplace. read more>>>

Building Their Own Solar Plants

2014-11-04T08:59:00.002-05:00

Power-hungry businesses build their own solar plants

Nov 4, 2014 - Fed up with constant electricity cuts and government-enforced "power holidays", Indian IT firm ValueLabs has turned to the sun beaming down on its head office for help.
In July, it finished building a 13 megawatt solar plant - enough to power 6,000 homes - to keep the lights on and computers humming for more than 3,000 employees at its base in Hyderabad.
It is even selling surplus electricity back to the grid.
"We plan to use the entire quantum of power generated from these plants in the coming years for our existing and upcoming campus," said Krishna Reddy, a senior ValueLabs executive. read more>>>

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Employee Solar Energy Perk

2014-10-22T12:58:00.002-04:00

Solar Energy Discounts Become Employee Perk in New Program

OCT. 22, 2014 - Expanding the notion of corporate benefits beyond discounted health club memberships and low insurance rates, a group of major companies is set to offer employees access to cheaper solar systems for the home.
Under an arrangement announced Wednesday, employees of the companies — Cisco Systems, 3M, Kimberly-Clark and National Geographic — will be able to buy or lease solar systems for their homes at rates substantially lower than the United States average, executives said. The program, offered through Geostellar, a cost comparison site for solar panels, will be available to more than 100,000 employees and will include options for their friends and families in the United States and parts of Canada.
Originally conceived by campaigners at the World Wildlife Fund, the program, called the Solar Community Initiative, aims to use the bulk buying power of employees to allow for discounts on home systems. read more>>>