Homeowner’s associations, or HOAs, are – as we who have lived in them know – able to prevent residents from using a certain color of paint, or even hanging a certain kind of window covering in their homes. But defiance, should you put up a fight, can sometimes lead to an ongoing nightmare on the scale of Freddie Kruger, et al.
The Larry Lohrman Case
The California Department of Transportation, or Caltrans, announced last Wednesday that a solar power array is now online at a maintenance facility in Monterey. The 9.6-kilowatt system was designed and installed in July by local companies Earth Electric and Green Earth Engineering. It passed final inspections last week before the launch of renewable electricity
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has confirmed results for a record-breaking conversion efficiency in solar cell technology. Oerlikon Solar and Corning Incorporated have combined technologies to produce a tandem solar cell using thin-film silicon. Oerlikon’s proprietary Micromorph® solar cells and Corning’s specialty, advanced light-capturing glass
Fighting a war on the ground in Afghanistan has to be one of the hardest things a young person can do.
Fortunately, the U.S. Department of Defense, or DOD, is on the ground with our troops offering help and support – albeit in some very unexpected ways.
According to Tony Bui, an engineer with
After years of delay, things are finally heating up for large-scale solar thermal power plants in California’s remote deserts. In the last month, a California Energy Commission (CEC) siting committee has recommended at least five solar plants for approval. Last week the first of these projects gained official go-ahead from the agency. The Beacon Solar Energy project
Electric vehicles (EVs) are widely considered an inevitable part of the future of transportation. Every major auto manufacturer is working on their own electric model, with notables like the Nissan Leaf, Chevy Volt and an electric Ford Focus scheduled for release within the next year or two.
AT&T is bulking up its latest corporate sustainability plan.
A 296-kilowatt solar power system has officially been activated in San Diego, and it’s just the first of six company sites around California scheduled for solar installation. The goal is 2 megawatts of clean solar electricity. The Trade Street site in San
Oregon is fast becoming the North American green tech hub. SolarWorld already operates the continent’s largest solar manufacturing plant just west of Portland, Nano solar cell maker Solexant recently announced plans for a manufacturing plant east of the city, and now Vestas, one of the world’s largest wind turbine manufacturers, has chosen the
Monday was a day for the solar history books.
The country’s first community-owned solar installation began delivering clean, renewable electricity to the grid in El Jebel, Colorado. The 340-panel solar installation is unique because it is owned by an array of local residents rather than any single
Despite recent legislative attacks that had one manufacturer threatening to pull up stakes, Arizona’s solar industry seems to be doing quite well. Global solar giant (and near stake-puller) Suntech Power remains committed to building a manufacturing plant in Goodyear, and recently, Governor Jan Brewer, Mayor Lyn Truitt and industry representatives announced the arrival of a
There is a new entrant to the realm of solar panel accessories that are said to increase panel performance while decreasing costs. Joining solar trackers and microinverters is a new polymer film called FUSION by Genie Lens Technologies. The film, embossed with microstructures that bend sunlight, may be installed like a sticker on panels already in use, improving by up to 10 percent the
Solar power is helping out the environment in more ways than one. In addition to producing green electricity, solar energy is helping to cure brownfields, or industrial or commercial properties that have been compromised by environmental contamination. The worst of these plots of tarnished land have been designated for special attention by the EPA as part of the