Scientific breakthroughs often follow a collective focus on an issue or problem. When a tipping point is reached, the combination of small solutions across sectors spurs a giant leap forward. Renewable energy development has been a growing focus of international research over the last 3-4 decades and advances in clean energy technology have coincided with the rise of supercomputers, microtechnology …

PV Storage Market Set to Explode to $19 Billion in 2017; Germany leads Again The worldwide market for PV storage is forecast to grow rapidly to reach $19 billion in 2017, from less than $200 million in 2012, according to a new report entitled ‘The Role of Energy Storage in the PV Industry’ from IMS Research, now part of IHS …

Plans to operate 700 new LNG vehicles across 10 states  UPS today announced the accelerated growth of its alternative vehicle fleet with plans to purchase approximately 700 liquefied natural gas (LNG) vehicles and to build four refueling stations by the end of 2014. Once completed, the LNG private fleet will be one of the most extensive in the U.S. “LNG …

Reflecting a major shift in the global solar market after four years of severe erosion, prices for photovoltaic (PV) modules in the key European market are rising due to number of factors—including the newly restored balance between supply and demand. The average selling price (ASP) for Chinese crystalline silicon (c-Si) PV modules shipped to the European Union increased by 4 …

KYOCERA and ProVision Solar Help Auto Businesses in Hawai’i Say Aloha to Renewable Energy Four of eight total installations already utilizing sunshine power in Hilo, Kamuela and Captain Cook Kyocera Solar Inc. announced today that it supplied Kyocera solar modules to ProVision Solar that will power a total of eight auto businesses on the Big Island of Hawai’i, making it …

The solar industry has suffered recent blows as manufacturing plants have closed and capacity has been reduced. The European crisis and the trade war between China and EU have also added themselves to the changing market. Continually falling feed-in-tariffs (FITs) have also caused some conflict. Short-term market uncertainty has made some investors wary of solar, yet, long-term predictions for the …

Annual Top 10 List Ranks Utilities by Megawatts and Watts-Per-Customer of Installed Solar Electricity Capacity Top10-USC2013The Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA) today named the Top 10 American electric utilities that have added the most new solar power to their systems and the most solar on a watts-per-customer basis in 2012. This annual ranking, which identifies the companies that are integrating …

The Geothermal Energy Association’s annual U.S. and International Geothermal Energy Finance Forum (#GEAFinance2013) brought together leaders from the geothermal, finance and investment communities for a day of seminars and discussions. The forum, hosted April 11 at the Marriott Marquis New York, focused on finance’s role in the growth of the U.S. geothermal industry, as well as geothermal projects, policies and …

Xcel, MidAmerican among leaders as more utilities sign up for consumer savings U.S. electric utilities are locking in fixed-price contracts for wind power, now more cost-competitive than ever, illustrating the success of a key federal tax policy in holding down rates for consumers. A total of 66 U.S. utilities bought or owned wind power by the start of this year …

Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg, the Swiss pilots and founders of Solar Impulse, announced today that their solar-powered airplane will attempt a coast-to-coast crossing of the U.S. this spring without using a single drop of fuel. It will be the first time that an airplane, capable of flying 24 hours non-stop day and night powered exclusively by solar energy, will …

For the first time First Solar became the world’s largest photovoltaic (PV) EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) contractor in 2012, with more than 500 megawatts (MW) of projects completed – an increase of 50 percent over 2011, according to a new report from IMS Research, now part of IHS Inc. (NYSE: IHS). The report also revealed that a major shift …

The Rise and Fall of Suntech: How a Trailblazing Solar Company Went from Dominance to Insolvency in Two Years Suntech Power’s epic plunge from solar module dominance to bankruptcy comes as the result of misplaced investments, a misguided pricing strategy, antidumping action in the United States and a potential new willingness by the Chinese government and banking system to cast …

Interesting read from Alternative Energy Stocks about the Geothermal industry and ways to make geothermal more viable as an energy source. The geothermal industry has been struggling with the same barriers to development for years. It’s a frustrating situation: while geothermal is a reliable, steady baseload form of renewable energy, its development expenses overshadow its obvious long-term benefits. Meanwhile, other …

Energy By Water is the latest advancement in the field of power generation. Deep inside its mechanics, the product works on the principle of Hydropower systems. A hydropower system uses water to generate electricity. But why use water? What about other alternative sources of energy? Why are we inclined towards renewable energy systems at all? Let’s try to dig into …

  The road to building out renewable energy whether it be solar, bio fuels, or wind is fraught with issues whether they be regulatory or industry hostility that prevents real progress. This is an interesting read from the Huffington Post about a fellow who has tried for years to build offshore wind power in the North East. In 2001, Jim …

New Poll Shows Americans’ Support for Nuclear Energy, New Facilities Remains Solid  A solid majority of Americans continues to hold favorable views of nuclear energy and believes that electric companies should prepare now for new nuclear energy facilities to be built. In a national telephone survey of 1,000 U.S. adults, 68 percent said they favor nuclear energy, up from 65 …

Falling Spot Market Volume Shows Solar Polysilicon Price Crash is Ending Activity has plunged in the global photovoltaic (PV) polysilicon spot market—one of many hopeful signs corroborating IHS’s prediction that prices for the key solar raw material soon will bottom out as supply comes into better alignment with demand. The spot market in December of 2012 accounted for 20 percent …

Caltech Researchers Create Highly Absorbing, Flexible  Cells with Silicon Wire Arrays Using arrays of long, thin silicon wires embedded in a polymer substrate, a team of scientists from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) has created a new type of flexible solar cell that enhances the absorption of sunlight and efficiently converts its photons into electrons. The solar cell does …

We are at one end, striving to get the basic necessities of life and there are people, on the other end, craving for opportunities to multiply their millions. The disparity in the distribution of wealth is gigantic. This scenario creates problems for common people almost everyday. The elite class uses every possible means to make more and more profits, even …

The world’s first Kilowatt Throwdown pits two universities in a contest to see who can generate the most electricity for the power grid – from exercising. Green System equipment from SportsArt Fitness will be used by students and faculty on each campus for a month starting February 15 In a first of its kind event, two universities – Tennessee Tech …