Solar Energy News
New iPhone app to help consumers with solar
Soon, iPhone users interested in getting solar energy at home will be able to make short work of their pre-investment research. China National Solar announced earlier this week plans to develop and release an iPhone application that will allow users to access specific, focused, and useful data about energy and costs in specific areas.
The SolarGenie application will show users what utilities in their specific areas buy consumer-generated power, and what the net metering rates are for utilities in their areas, according to a press release from China National Solar, a newly-acquired subsidiary of Naional Fuels.
SolarGenie users will also be able to use the app to research other parts of the country so that they can determine the best place to set up a solar-power system. The data provided by the iPhone app will be data that users could find on their own, but with great effort and time. The SolarGenie will bring all of the information together in an easy-to-use program.
Along with helping users determine if solar is a good investment for them in their areas, the Genie will provide a database of solar panel suppliers, installers, and professionals nationally and locally.
Solar Energy News
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New partnership for California solar energy
Sep 03, 2010
One of the foremost providers of solar energy in the world, SunEdison, has formed a partnership with AT&T to activate a rooftop solar panel installation located in San Diego. On Aug. 24, executives from both companies, accompanied by San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, literally flipped the switch to turn on the installation. The photovoltaic panel system in San Diego can create about 296 kilowatts of energy at a given time, and while SunEdison will construct and maintain future project sites, as well as monitor the San Diego solar installation , AT&T will purchase the power created by the panels...
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American solar company staying busy
Sep 02, 2010
SunPower, one of the United States’ top solar panel producers, has won numerous government contracts to build, develop, and manage solar projects on government property. SunPower expects to create more than 1,000 local jobs with the multiple government projects it’s now contracted to complete. All together, the projects will produce no less than 20 megawatts (MW) of power a year once they’re completed, according to a company press release distributed earlier this week. SunPower has worked with the U.S. government on solar projects since 1999, but has significantly ramped up its...
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Riley, Kansas, receives $3 million grant from the Dept. of Energy
Sep 02, 2010
Although Dorothy and Toto won’t be around to see it, Kansas was just awarded $3 million in grant money from the Department of Energy (DOE) for its Resourceful Kansas program. With sustainability and the environment in mind, Kansas was able to turn heads in the DOE offices for its continuous efforts at significantly reducing non-renewable and environmentally damaging practices. The $3 million, three year grant will be used to implement the Resourceful Kansas program that plans to take a multi-faceted approach to expanding their green economy. Combining solar, wind, and geo-thermal solutions...
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More customers equal less rebates
Sep 02, 2010
In another instance of “get your ass in gear” while incentives for installing solar power are still available, Tucson-based utility, Tucson Electric Power (TEP) dropped the rebate levels offered through its SunShare program to home and building owners from $3 to $2 per installed watt. The utility explained that the popularity of the program led to 1,100 people reserving funds through the program in the first half of 2010. It’s no surprise that residents are taking advantage of Arizona's PV incentive programs in this sun-drenched state—the sunniest in the nation—but...
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California food bank receives solar donation
Sep 01, 2010
The Second Harvest Food Bank of of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties recently received a photovoltaic (PV) array donated by SunPower Corp. and Cypress Semiconductor. Cypress provided $700,000 to support the project while SunPower provided the PV panels. The 322 kilowatt (kW) system is valued at $1.1 million, according to a Aug. 25 press release from Cypress. Over its projected 25-year lifespan, the PV array will save the food bank nearly $3 million in electric bills. That’s equal to about 6 million meals for the community. Cypress CEO T.J. Rodgers said, "Second Harvest Food Bank is...
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South Carolina to open Social Installation School
Sep 01, 2010
South Carolina will soon be home to a solar technology training school for the renewable energy company Solar Energy Initiatives. A subsidiary company, Solar EOS, will open the Solar Installation School, and this school will be part of the South Carolina Workforce Investment's list of Eligible Training Providers and will offer both classroom instruction, in the theoretical aspects of solar power, as well as instructional training in installing solar panels and other solar energy equipment. Solar EOS has designed the Solar Installation School with the goal of ensuring that students have a competitive...
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Solar market watch: Investing in solar companies
Sep 01, 2010
It’s always nerve-racking when you’re trying to decide where and how to invest money. While the market remains in turmoil, investors and potential investors are asking questions like: “Which stocks will give me the best return on investment?” and “Who has the best business strategy going forward?” But the solar market is a growing industry where some strategic investments still make sense. Zacks Equity Research said that “the alternative-energy industry was hit hard by the Great Recession and essentially remains in a recovery mode. And while stock prices...
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Solar state report cards
Sep 01, 2010
Congratulations New Jersey, you’re at the head of the class! According to SolarPowerRocks.com, New Jersey has the best incentives for helping residents adopt solar on their homes. The site, SolarPowerRocks.com, has recently issued a series of state-by-state reports or scorecards, examining which states offer the best incentives for solar. Among the state ratings it issued are performance-based incentive payment grades, solar incentive grades, policies and rates for utilities, return on investment grades, residential solar incentive grades. The grades help people understand how solar-friendly...
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California team awarded $122 million for solar project
Aug 31, 2010
In the growing effort to become less dependent on foreign oil and to reduce our carbon footprint, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman announced an award of up to $122 million over five years to a multidisciplinary team of cutting edge scientists to establish an Energy Innovation Hub geared toward developing methods to generate fuels directly from sunlight. The undertaking will be led by the California Institute of Technology (Cal Tech) in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). The project, The Joint Center for Artificial...
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Sep 03, 2010
At the American Chemistry Society’s (ACS’) 240th annual meeting, Nobel Prize winner Walter Kohn, Ph.D., said two renewable resources, solar and wind, will become the world’s dominant energy source in the relatively near future, creating a new era of humanity, which he called the SOL/WIND era. Kohn shared the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1998 for his research development of the density-functional theory, which deals with the understanding of the electronic structure of materials. On Aug. 24, Kohn contended that oil and natural gas production will peak within the next 30 years—maybe...
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