solar energy
SolFocus Inc. plans to showcase its new concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) technology at the CPV Summit 2009, which runs today and tomorrow in Toledo, Spain. It’s the first time the SF-1100S is being shown in Europe. SolFocus plants to begin installing the SF-1100S technology in Greece this summer as part
solar energy
Zinc oxide could provide a more environmentally friendly way to produce photoconducting materials and photovoltaics, according to researchers at Northwestern University. The best photoconductors today are made with toxic lead sulfide nanoparticles, making them less green than they could be. Unlike lead sulfide, zinc oxide is a benign inorganic compound
solar energy
France’s PlanetSolar is using Autodesk’s digital prototyping technology and training to help it design and build a solar-powered catamaran set to travel around the globe. “Engineers and scientists need to be motivated to develop innovative technologies that inspire people and show that we can achieve the impossible,” said
solar energy
Suntech Power Holdings Company and 3rd Rock Systems and Technologies Inc. today announced plans to jointly develop 7.2 megawatts of new solar-power installations in the US. 3rd Rock will act as project developer and work to raise funds for the projects while Suntech will be the preferred provider of
solar energy
The Texas city of Austin could soon be home to the largest solar-energy facility in the US, under a plan approved last week by city officials. The proposed 30-megawatt project would also be one of the 10 largest solar-power installations in the world. The facility, to be built on city
solar energy
Los Angeles’ plan produce at least 400 megawatts of energy from solar power by 2014 continues to hang in the balance today, as officials keep tallying votes on the proposal, known as Measure B. Unofficially, the measure appears to have been rejected by voters in a squeaker: 50.3 percent
solar energy
First Solar Inc. says it’s broken the $1 (US) per watt price barrier for the cost of manufacturing solar modules, achieving a price of 98 cents per watt. “This achievement marks a milestone in the solar industry’s evolution toward providing truly sustainable energy solutions,” said Mike Ahearn, CEO
solar energy
The utility company NRG Energy Inc. plans to use eSolar’s technology to develop solar thermal plants in California and elsewhere in the American Southwest with a total capacity of 500 megawatts. At peak capacity, that would be enough to provide energy to more than 400,000 homes, according to
solar energy
International Automated Systems Inc. (IAS) says it will be providing Renewable Energy Development Corporation (REDCO) with its cutting-edge solar panels and new bladeless turbine for utility-scale solar projects. A third-party analysis for REDCO found that IAS’s technology is not only commercially viable for such projects, but could outperform more
solar energy
Now here’s some smart thinking: take a vast swath of land purchased for a development that never got off the ground (literally, in this case) and use it for a solar farm. That’s the plan being mulled by officials in Los Angeles, where part of a 17,750-acre
solar energy
T-Solar, a photovoltaics company based in Spain, has begun volume production of what it says are the world’s largest solar panels. With an area of 5.7m2, the panels are designed for large-scale solar farms and — compared to smaller panels — can reduce installation costs by 20 percent, the company
solar energy
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) say they’ve identified several abundant and less expensive alternatives to silicon — including iron pyrite, or “fool’s gold” — that could make solar cells cheaper to produce. “The reason we started looking at new materials is