By Reenita Malhotra •
November 17, 2008
As alternative energy continues to be the hot topic in our flailing economy, New York City sets an environmental example by launching Times Square’s first 100 percent eco-powered billboard.
The billboard powered entirely by wind and sun, is the first such sign in New York City. It will be erected by Ricoh Company, Ltd., a Japanese company that strives to be outstanding in all areas of the environment, society, and the economy.
By Maria Surma Manka •
October 31, 2007
Renewable energy is big, big, big: Josh just wrote about the world’s largest wind farm possibly going up in South Dakota (yahoo!), California could see the world’s largest solar power plant, and now Singapore is in the foray with landing the largest solar manufacturing facility the world’s ever seen.
A Norwegian company called Renewable Energy Corporation (REC) will build the complex, which will be completed in different stages to incorporate wafer,
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By Maria Surma Manka •
September 18, 2007
Two large U.S. corporations have announced commitments to solar power.
Costco – the giant discount retailer – is installing its first solar array on the Kailua-Kona store in Hawaii. A 680-kilowatt solar electric system – big enough to power about 111 Hawaiian homes – will be installed by REC Solar of San Luis Obispo, CA. It’s expected to be completed in the next five or six weeks.
The Kailua-Kona store may save up
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The New Solar Homes Partnership (NSHP) is a 10-year, $400 million program of the California Energy Commission to encourage energy efficiency and solar power in new home construction. Specifically, the NSHP works with builders and developers to install 400 megawatts (MW) of solar energy on energy-efficient CA homes in the next ten years. The Partnership focuses on new single family homes, multi-family homes, and affordable housing construction.
The NSHP officially began on
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An 80 megawatt (MW) solar power plant – the world’s largest and big enough to power nearly 21,000 homes – will be built near Fresno, California.
A California-based startup company called Cleantech America LLC plans to build the solar farm. The company develops utility-scale solar plants and wants to commercialize photovoltaic (PV) solar technology in order to slow global warming and increase America’s energy independence.
The San Joaquin Valley Customer Choice Solar
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Oregon’s legislative session went out with a bang. Building on the renewagble energy standard passed earlier this summer that requires 25 percent of energy to come from renewables by 2025, this week Governor Ted Kulongoski signed key solar power policies that will continue to encourage solar manufacturing and solar energy systems in the state.
For starters, the tax credit for solar power projects jumped from 35 percent of project costs to 50 percent. A
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Photo Courtesy of Solaicx
Solaicx, a manufacturing company that produces high-efficiency silicon wafers for photovoltaic solar power, has announced a new facility planned for Portland, Oregon.
The 136,000-square-foot plant will produce silicon ingots, which are logs of pure silicon that get heated to high temperatures and sliced like lunch meat to make silicon wafers. The wafers are the semiconductor materials in solar panels. The process for producing and processing
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People of faith from around the globe are taking the lead on global warming solutions. Following on the heels of an alliance among some U.S. faith leaders to fight global warming, the Vatican has announced plans to install a giant solar power system.
The 1,000 solar panels will adorn the football-sized roof of the Paul VI audience hall, one of the top energy guzzlers in the sovereign city state. The solar system [...]
Ontario, Canada is building one of the largest solar power plants in the world. More than a million photovoltaic solar panels will be constructed near Sarnia, Ontario, about 70 miles northeast of Detroit, MI. The 40 megawatt (MW) project – with panels erected as high as 23 feet off the ground – will power around 6,000 homes.
OptiSolar Farms of Canada, a subsidiary of California-based Opticsolar, Inc. was awarded the 20-year [...]
A hugely successful solar power project in India is providing clean, affordable electricity for 100,00 people and will be reproduced in other developing nations.
The $1.5 million United Nations-backed project aims to increase the number of homes using solar power in the Karnataka state of southern India. The number of homes using solar power has risen from 1,400 just four years ago to 18,000 today. Indian banks have also helped out by financing the
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The U.S. Air Force is building the largest solar plant on the continent for the Nellis Air Force base in the Nevada desert. The massive photovoltaic array with silicon wafer panels covers 140 acres and will produce 15 megawatts of electricity, enough to power about 30 percent of the base’s needs. The panels will even rotate to follow the sun across the sky.
