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 …

Automation, Transparency Transform Solar Photovoltaic Shopping for Homeowners, Businesses and Non-profits   EnergySage, a free-to-the-consumer online marketplace for solar photovoltaic and other clean energy technologies, announced the release of the EnergySage Solar Marketplace, a first-of-its-kind, comprehensive platform for researching and shopping for solar PV (also referred to as solar panel and solar power) systems for homeowners, businesses and non-profits. Through …

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 …

Largest Solar Installation in Tennessee, U.S. Powered by JA Solar‘s PV Modules JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. (Nasdaq:JASO) (“JA Solar” or the “Company”), one of the world’s largest manufacturers of high-performance solar power products, today announced the completion of the delivery of 9.5 MW of PV modules to the Volkswagen Solar Park, adjacent to the Volkswagen manufacturing plant at Chattanooga, …

Breakthrough For Hawaiian Solar Power Announced By Clean Energy Groups Barriers should come down for homeowners, businesses wanting to add rooftop solar Honolulu, HI — Today, national organizations Earthjustice and the Interstate Renewable Energy Council, Inc. (IREC) commended the Hawaiian Electric (HECO) utilities’ path-breaking plans to enable more rooftop solar systems to connect to the grid. The utilities and clean …

Sierra Club, Earthjustice File Legal Challenge to Protect Solar Tax Credit in Hawai‘i State tax proposal would slam the brakes on solar energy, Hawai‘i jobs Today, the Sierra Club, represented by Earthjustice, filed a legal challenge in state circuit court to the Hawai‘i Department of Taxation’s recent decision to cut back on tax credits for residents and businesses that install …

The STEM principles of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math are all demonstrated through the use of solar Motech Americas has announced the completion of a large solar PV project by Pacific Power Renewables that is now providing all the energy needs for the Aerospace Museum of California in McClellan, California just north of Sacramento. The museum is also playing a …

Last week, the U.S. Commerce Department imposed tariffs on $3 billion a year worth of Chinese solar panel imports. Non-Chinese solar panel manufacturers contend that China is able to “dump” cheap panels on the global market thanks to lavish Chinese government subsidies. This imbalance compounds the unfair advantage Chinese manufacturers already enjoy thanks to its huge low-wage workforce. It’s a …

Mecca, the birthplace of Muhammad, and Islam’s holiest city, has plans to become the first city in Saudi Arabia to run completely on solar power. The Saudi Arabian government has said that it will invest $109 billion to establish a strong solar industry across the nation. The King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy program is the jewel in …

When the idea of the electric car was proposed to minimize greenhouse gases and pollution, the two basic platforms were the hybrid platform and a pure electric platform. When it comes to the latter, the main issue is the low range of operation. While the breakthrough in battery technology is unlikely to happen, students, scientists, hobbyists and of course companies …

SolEnergy owner Ken Olson has seen remote villages in Central America with no light. He knows the impact a small, two-watt solar panel can make. “What does strike me is the great gap between these two worlds,” he said, of his recent travels to El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. “On one hand, we provide two-watt systems, basically the panel is …

How to grow a solar energy garden By Elisa Wood Getting energy from the sun is a great idea. However, installing solar panels house-by-house is slow, costly and cumbersome, and downright inefficient if the goal is to bring solar to the masses. This problem troubled Paul Spencer after he built his own uber-efficient, custom solar home near Aspen, Colorado in …

By Ysabel Yates It sounds like a child’s question: can you generate solar power underwater? The answer, according to Phillip Jenkins and his team at the US Naval Research Laboratory, is yes. The researchers recently demonstrated a method for harvesting solar power underwater at depths of 30 feet. Currently, the only option for underwater energy is batteries, which shortens the …

JA Solar Responds to U.S. Department of Commerce’s Preliminary Decision on Antidumping Tariffs on Chinese Solar Products JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd., one of the world’s largest manufacturers of high-performance solar power products, today responded to the preliminary decision by the U.S. Department of Commerce (“DOC”) on imposing antidumping duties on China-produced solar products. According to the DOC’s preliminary determination, …

In celebration of the 75th birthday of the Golden Gate Bridge, space scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, are topping each tower with a glittering solar candle. Space scientist John Vallerga describes the Solar Beacon project and how the public can experience it. Video by Roxanne Makasdjian. The “candles” are mirrors that the public can control through the Internet …

The LA Times examines the effect of net metering in California on solar system installations. Net metering has been a big success in helping to give consumers a reason to install solar. IN fact until net metering came along (and leasing options) I was held up in limbo. I wanted to have solar on my house but could not find …

Notice how they installed the solar panels on the side of the roof? Winter snows dont cover them up and they can still provide energy to heat the airport building. Chosen as a project because of its public use and higher profile, the solar thermal heat now part of the Brainerd Lakes Regional Airport is hoped to be a model …

Here is an interesting story about churches working with solar installers to put solar power on church properties to save energy and money for the faithful. Seems like a nice partnership arrangment. Energy Star helps faithful witness energy stewardship, save money by Charles Morris Solar stewardship: In 2001, St. Elizabeth parish, in Wyandotte, Mich., won the Energy Star for Congregations …

Students from Porterville High School’s AERO — Alternative Energy Resource Occupations — Academy spent Tuesday and Wednesday installing solar panels and hanging an inverter on a local affordable-housing project. Working with GRID Alternatives, the students climbed the roof of the home, measured, mounted, racked gear and placed the solar modules and panels on what is GRID’s 100th home installation in …

Interesting article from the NY Times about the renewable energy sector development. JUST a few years ago, the future of renewable energy looked as bright and shiny as a white turbine blade coming out of the mold. The federal government was handing out money under the stimulus package, states were approving clean energy mandates, young companies were racing ahead with …