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PSE&G Solar, a subsidiary of the big New Jersey utility, said on Wednesday that received the regulatory go-ahead to add 80 megawatts of solar capacity in its territory by the end of 2013, effectively doubling the amount of solar power in the state. That will maintain New Jersey’s position as the nation’s second-ranked state for solar photovoltaic installations, behind only California.
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California still holds the top spot for solar power, but New Jersey is making their push.
Pocono Raceway, which hosts two Nascar Sprint Cup races each year, plans to become the world’s largest sports facility to be powered by solar energy. The solar farm is expected to be completed, in early 2010.
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NASCAR is doing its part to go GREEN by going SOLAR
Dr. Chu (the new secretary of energy) is talking mainly about the global warming crisis and he lists improvement in solar technology as a main component that will help slow the process of global warming. Mainly, he said that solar technology will need to get better five times over in order for it to make a difference. He said that these developments will be very hard but not impossible. He also said that scientists need to find smaller plants that don't need as much energy to grow. Thus, we can turn those plants into types of fossil fuels.
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Nobel peace winning doctor says solar technology improvements are necessary ASAP
This is a very long article but an interesting read. Long time advocates of solar technology were always hopeful that a president with solar technology as a big goal would be able to get things done. Well, they do have this in place but that plan is still running into problems. A climate bill was passed and this is a direct focus of the Obama Administration but the lack of attention to solar technology is appalling. At the end of the day, we are making progress and that is what counts.
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Progress without a huge help from solar technology
This new technology is focusing on light energy off of rooftops and this new technology is reducing energy costs and making it more efficient to use on a day to day basis. The concept they are using is a concentrated aspect of a small device that you can put on a roof. This device will also cost much less than a conventional solar panel. The best and completed version should be ready by 2010.
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New and improved solar concentrator is also cheaper than its competitors
Southern California Edison will offer a free session Thursday on the California Solar Initiative program and the incentives it offers to homeowners who decide to go solar. The 90-minute, easy-to-understand information session will be held from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Simi Valley City Hall, 2929 Tapo Canyon Road. Space is limited so sign up soon
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It really does pay to go SOLAR.
Fresno's hot sun -- and the cost of cooling everything it bakes -- has catapulted the city onto Top-10 lists for solar projects. Fresno ranks third in the state for the number of kilowatts its solar projects produce, according to a recent report ranking California cities. It gets more than 300 days of sun a year and is an ideal place to install solar panels.
Article HERE...
More and more solar panels are likely to be seen in Fresno
To help accelerate the commercialization of new technology that uses the sun's energy, rather than the electric grid or natural gas, to power air-conditioning systems, Southern California Gas Co. (The Gas Company) has launched a multi-year showcase of advanced concentrated solar power systems to benefit businesses and the region.
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The Sun can also be used to cool you down
Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) are expected to power Air Force unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the future because they are an optimum energy harvesting source that may lead to longer flight times without refueling.
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No jet fuel needed!
The Napa-Vallejo Waste Management Authority is in talks with a Vallejo energy company to install a $25 million to $35 million solar array atop a closed landfill outside American Canyon.
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This will help make the earth greener and create more green jobs
A decade ago, only 500 rooftops in California boasted solar panels that harvest the sun’s energy. Today, there are nearly 50,000 solar-panel installations in the state, according to a report to be issued Thursday by the research and lobbying group Environment California.
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Lots more people are going green with solar panels and California is trying to stay number 1
This is one of those things that can be great and bad at the same time. The article talks about using solar automation in the solar production and drive the cost down to make it more affordable for people to install solar panels. The down side would be the loss of jobs and at this time we can't allow that to happen. Read the article and let us know what you think.
Article
The cost of cheaper solar panels comes at the cost of jobs
The Department of the Interior’s move last month to accelerate development of large-scale solar power plants on federal land in six Western states could give an edge to companies that have already staked lease claims in 24 new “solar energy study areas.”
The initiative covers 670,000 acres overseen by the department’s Bureau of Land Management in Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada and Utah. During the solar land rush of the last two years, scores of developers large and small have sought the best solar sites, and the bureau is currently reviewing 158 lease applications for solar projects covering 1.8 million acres.
But the B.L.M. has yet to approve any leases and the new program is supposed to speed processing of land claims by identifying large tracts of the desert most suitable for solar development and then giving priority to projects proposed for those areas.
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Areas for solar power are getting snatched up quick!
Hawaiian Electric Co. has mailed out $2.4 million worth of late rebate checks to contractors who installed residential solar water heaters.
Company spokesman Peter Rosegg says the checks went out Friday and an additional $100,000 will be mailed Monday.
The company wrote the checks under orders from the state Public Utilities Commission after HECO fell behind.
Under the program, contractors knock $1,000 off the price of a system for homeowners and then apply to the utility for reimbursement.
PUC chairman Carl Caliboso says the panel isn't sure how the program got so far behind.
HECO says a number of circumstances led to the backlog, including a surge in installations after electricity rates spiked last year.
There is a surge in solar installations
Its at Encanterra, a new golf-resort community in San Tan Valley near Queen Creek, that is doing something still unusual in Arizona — including rooftop photovoltaic systems as a standard feature on their new homes.
It’s not just an option. Since last August, anyone buying a home in the community at Combs and Gantzel roads got solar energy as part of the deal.
A total of 24 of the solar electric systems, which convert sunlight into electricity, have been completed in the community, according to American Solar Electric, a Scottsdale-based subcontractor that is installing the systems. They are churning out a collective 85 kilowatts of electricity to power the houses.
Another 38 are under construction, which will bring the community’s total generating capacity to 215 kilowatts when completed.
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hopefully more builders will adopt the technology once consumers start to expect it.
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California at Berkeley have demonstrated a way to fabricate efficient solar cells from low-cost and flexible materials.
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More and more people will be able to afford to go solar
The sunny, Central Washington town of Cle Elum could be the site of the world's largest solar photovoltaic power plant, if a Washington company makes good on plans announced today.
Teanaway Solar Reserve hopes to gain approval from Kittitas County to build a 75 megawatt plant, made up of 400,000 photovoltaic panels. The energy produced would be enough for 45,000 homes, said Howard Trott, the Kirkland man who heads the operation.
Trott said he expects the plant to be operational by 2011.
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More homes to be powered by the sun!
Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. said it has installed giant "solar flowers" in Boston's Prudential Plaza as part of an exhibit designed to promote the 2010 model of the Toyota Prius, the company's hybrid model.
The flower sculptures, which reach up to 18 feet high, "are partially powered by solar panels on the back of their petals and the base of their stems," Toyota said in a press release. "Each of the five Solar Flowers provides seating for up to 10 people, access to free WiFi service, and power to charge cell phones and laptops."
Its not hard at all to charge your accessories with solar power
This is a Solar Vintage fan by Scottish designer Elena Corchero of Lost Values. They also have jewelry and parasols.
Look cool with solar accessories in the day and use them as lights at night.
The huge car carrier ship called the M/V Auriga Leader idled at the Port of Long Beach, burning through enough electricity to power 100 homes as workers loaded and unloaded a fleet of Toyotas.
the Auriga Leader sports 328 solar panels on its top deck -- a small array that provides 10% of the energy used by the giant ship while she is docked.
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Though there is no single technology to quickly reduce ship's emissions this is a great start to a cleaner world.
Sertech Heating and Air Conditioning, based in Portland, was recently awarded a $77,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to continue developing proprietary technology that traps and stores solar energy for use as fuel.
There are many incentives to go solar. If and when you decide to go solar, look around and you may be able to find some reimbursements too.
LG Electronics and LG Display, two affiliates of LG Group, are competing with each other to develop the next generation of thin-film solar batteries.
The battery’s greatest strength is its price competitiveness against the more widely used crystalline silicon solar cell. The manufacturing cost for thin-film solar cells is half that for crystalline silicon cells.
It is expected thin-film solar batteries, which took up 13 percent of the world’s solar battery market last year, will account for 30 percent of the global market in 2015.
LG announced Thursday that its latest thin-film solar cell has attained the world’s best energy efficiency.
The 1.1-by-1.3-meter battery has an energy efficiency rating of 11.1 percent. This means that when 100 degrees of solar energy are injected into the solar battery, 11.1 percent is converted into electricity
The previous record was held by Oerlikon, a Swiss company, with a record of 11 percent.
More efficient solar panels are on the way
A $300 reward has been offered for information leading to the recovery of two Evergreen 180 Watt ES-180-SL Solar Panels (3 ft.x 5 ft.) stolen off a front porch of a residence at 65 County Road 139 in Bryant sometime around the end of May.
Once again this proves that solar panels are very popular
