If the American public were to have its way, solar energy would be powering the country now.
A new survey commissioned by Schott Solar and carried out nationally by independent polling firm Kelton Research, found that 94 percent of Americans think it is important for the U.S. to develop and use solar energy.
PowerPly 400 by Lumeta Inc. is one of the first “peel n’ stick” types of workable home solar power systems. Using monocrystalline technology (or PV), the system insures maximum energy output per square foot of roof area.
The poly-Si thin-film solar cell on glass (with solid-phase crystallization of evaporated
South Africa has the space and the sunlight, so what better region to plan a 5-gigawatt solar park that could not only generate massive amounts of solar energy, but also serve as a field test for emerging technologies in PV energy, concentrating photovoltaic PV and concentrating solar power, or CSP.
The goal is ambitious, but the path
Photon enhanced thermionic emission, or PETE, is a relatively new concept in solar energy production. It is considered a major breakthrough because it utilizes both energy from sunlight (solar photons) and from the heat of the sun.
By harvesting both thermal and photon
LG Electronics announced the company’s entry into the United States PV market at the Solar Power International conference in Los Angeles on Tuesday. Geoff Slevin, recently appointed Vice President of the Solar Division at LG Electronics North America, said that “The U.S. is one of the fastest growing solar markets in the world and is expected to grow significantly over
In an interesting show of how established solar energy has become, on Monday, October 12, the New York-based Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) gave one of its 2010 Innovation Awards to Lakota Solar Enterprises, a renewable energy company owned entirely by Native Americans and located on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.
At this year’s West Coast Green conference in San Francisco, Bill McDonough gave a rousing call–to-action keynote speech in which he proclaimed that we do not have an energy problem, but what we do have is a materials problem. He went on to say that the carbon in the environment is in the wrong place. Instead of leaving it in the ground, we have mined
Yes, you heard right. Among the many intriguing green innovations at last weekend’s West Coast Green were the new Plug n’ Save Solar Shutters, a rather simple solution for homeowners hoping to cut utility costs.
Mounted onto gorgeously crafted bamboo shutters, the flat PV panels collect power
A quarter-century after President Ronald Reagan dismantled the solar panels placed on the White House roof by his predecessor, Jimmy Carter, the Obama administration has announced that it will install solar energy panels and a solar water heater atop the White House. U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu made the announcement, saying in a statement, “As
Advances in solar energy efficiencies have so far been made with irregular surfaces, thinner tabbing between cells, more optically perfect glass and even special coatings, but now Stanford engineers say the best efficiency is via ultra-thin polymer films inside solar cells that allow more “bounce room.”
Add to that a slightly rougher surface, such
While lawmakers deliberate over the fate of Pennsylvania’s solar industry, the state’s Public Utility Commission remains engaged in its own efforts to provide a stable foundation for solar energy growth.
Just last week, the Commission released a long awaited policy statement and voted 5-0 to establish long-term revenue stability for
Even outsiders know that the solar energy industry has experienced huge growth during the past few years. This is particularly true of 2009, where solar energy prospered in spite of a worldwide recession. In the U.S., this prosperity is largely due to the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Pennsylvania knows power. Having pioneered both the nation’s first nuclear power plant and the world’s first commercial oil well, the Keystone State remains a top energy producer in the country. Now there’s a new energy revolution underway based on harnessing the sun, wind and other clean energy resources. There is no reason
Several months ago, I mentioned the Shimizu Corporation’s plan to place solar panels on the moon to generate renewable energy that would be transferred back to Earth and distributed along power lines. Shimizu Corporation’s hope was that they could begin working on their project sometime in 2020 when Japan planned to have a solar powered base upon the moon.