Sanyo Electric's subsidiary Shimane Sanyo will start up a new HIT solar cell production line, in anticipation of an active demand for photovoltaic systems worldwide stimulated by economic packages as represented, the company says, by the "Green New Deal".

The new production line will be installed on the second floor of Factory Building No. 3 and is scheduled to begin operation in April 2010.

Shimane SANYO currently has a total HIT cell production capacity of 130MW.

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http://www.solarbuzz.com/news/NewsASMA240.htm

JENNIFER GOOD - News Editor

Residents in UB's apartment complexes will be hoping for some sunny days in the near future.

On May 7, the New York Power Authority (NYPA) and the University at Buffalo unveiled what officials said would be the largest solar energy project in the state to date.

At a news conference in the Center for Tomorrow on the North Campus, NYPA President Richard Kessel and UB President John B. Simpson announced a $7.5 million award to the university for the construction of a collection of solar panels in an attempt to encourage renewable energy technologies across New York State.

The solar panels will produce 1.1 megawatts of solar energy for the campus and are set for installation near the beginning of the fall semester in 2010.

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http://spectrum.buffalo.edu/article.php?id=40429

By Kate Galbraith

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced measures on Monday to hasten the development of solar energy on Western public lands.

Mr. Salazar, appearing in Las Vegas with Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader, said that 670,000 acres of lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management (an agency within the Department of the Interior) would be studied to determine whether they could support large solar power arrays.

Twenty-four tracts of land in six states — Nevada, Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah — are under review. Maps of the land will be published shortly in the Federal Register.

The solar study zones, Mr. Salazar said, are part of the Obama administration’s push to do “everything we can to put the bulls-eye on the development of solar energy on our public lands.”

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http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/29/new-measures-to-aid-solar-on-public-lands/

BY KATHLEEN GRAY • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

High energy prices in Europe are causing 80% of the solar panels built in Michigan by United Solar Ovonics to be shipped overseas.

But company officials were buoyed today after a visit from U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, who said that the Obama administration’s commitment to renewable energy will help transform the state.

“Hopeful is how I feel about the future of Michigan and America. I know Washington, D.C., can only do so much. So it will take the spirit of American entrepreneurs to dig us out,” Locke said during a town hall meeting at one of United Solar Ovonics plants in Auburn Hills.

“American workers are designing and building components that are changing the way people are using energy. And that’s the way to go until economy is humming again," Locke said. "But I know we’re going to get there because of companies like United Solar Ovonics."

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http://www.freep.com/article/20090624/BUSINESS06/90624039/1002/BUSINESS/Commerce+secretary++Energy+entrepreneurs+will+lift+U.S.

By TOM ZELLER Jr.

Published: June 21, 2009

NEW YORK — The European project known as Desertec is nothing if not ambitious.

It aims to harvest the sun’s energy — using a method known as concentrating solar power, or C.S.P. — from the vast North African desert and deliver it as electricity, via high-voltage transmission lines, to markets in Europe. Eventually, its backers say, it could satisfy as much as 15 percent of the European Union’s power needs.

The idea, which has been bouncing around for years, arises out of an alphabet soup of organizations, formal multinational partnerships and regional acronyms like TREC, for Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy Cooperation; Eumena, or European Union, the Mediterranean and North Africa; the Union of the Mediterranean; and the Club of Rome.

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Map Shows All Existing Solar PV and Solar Thermal Installations in City of Portland and Multnomah County; Enables Residents to Assess PV and Solar Thermal Potential

PORTLAND, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The City of Portland, along with Multnomah County, the U.S. Department of Energy and CH2M HILL, has completed the Oregon Clean Energy Map, an online map that highlights solar installations in the greater Portland area. The map enables residents and business owners to estimate the solar potential of their rooftops, view existing solar installations, and get detailed information about each of these existing solar sites. The City of Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability worked with CH2M HILL to create the consumer-friendly solar portal, which can be visited starting today at http://oregon.cleanenergymap.com.

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[tagname tagname]

FONTANA, Calif. (AP) -- General Motors Corp. said Thursday it will install solar panels on a 300,000-square-foot services and parts warehouse in Fontana, Calif.

The panels will provide about half the electricity needed to run the facility and send enough electricity back into the grid each year to power more than 300 homes.



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GM did not disclose the cost of the system, which it expects to be operational in December. Fontana will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 355 metric tons each year, GM said, while reducing its electricity costs by about 10 percent a year.

Constellation Energy Group Inc. will design, build, own and operate the system. GM has a long-term contract to purchase solar-system electricity from the company. United Solar Ovonic LLC will manufacture the thin-film solar laminates.

The company has a similar sized solar installation at another service and parts warehouse eight miles away in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.

"The solar panels in Fontana and Rancho Cucamonga will help us reduce costs and give our community access to solar power," Charlie Hyndman, GM's general director of warehousing and distribution, said in a statement. "It's a win-win."

GM shares rose $1.93, or 6.4 percent, after an upgrade from Citi, and Constellation shares rose 37 cents to $84.82.

Type rest of the post here.

solar energy

UPC Solar, a leading solar power development company, today announced four new San Diego Unified School District solar power systems. The four systems were installed at Ericson Elementary, Standley Middle School, Tierrasanta Elementary and Walker Elementary.



Financing was provided from a $100M fund committed to UPC Solar power projects from a large institutional investor.

Installation and system integration was performed by Solar Integrated Technologies, using their industry-leading building-integrated photovoltaic system. Owned and operated by UPC Solar under a long-term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), the systems represent a total installed capacity of 550 kW DC.

These projects will reduce annual greenhouse gas (CO2) emissions by 514,259 pounds, Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) emissions by 360 pounds and Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) emissions by 46 pounds.

"The addition of these new solar power systems to the San Diego Unified School District represents a continued dedication to improving the environment as well as a hedge against electricity costs long term," said Morten Sissener, CEO, UPC Solar. “By installing solar power systems, these schools in the San Diego Unified School District continue to demonstrate ‘green’ leadership, a ‘good neighbor’ policy and an efficient use of school funds.”

UPC Solar designs, builds, finances, owns and operates solar power systems and sells solar electricity to commercial, educational, utility and government entities under long-term power purchase agreements (“PPA”). UPC works with select suppliers, partners and capital providers to develop competitive solar projects including both distributed roof-top applications as well as large ground mount solar farms. UPC Solar’s PPA enables companies to buy solar electricity at competitive prices with little or no capital expense, improve the environment and become a green corporate citizen. In addition, UPC Solar’s PPA enables customers to purchase solar electricity, instead of buying a solar power system, at guaranteed prices for twenty years.


Solar Power
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Solar School

Interesting find on the cost of installing a system in your home and the long term investment savings. Prices are for parts of the North East coast of the U.S.

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Michael Tarm, Associated Press
One of Tom Benson's claims to fame, proclaimed in five-foot-high letters across his storefront, is that he owns the "WORLD'S LARGEST LAUNDROMAT" — complete with 153 washers, 148 dryers and 15 flat-screen TVs.

But that's not the claim that excites advocates of renewable energy. It's that, perched atop the hangar-sized facility in this working class Chicago suburb, is one of the largest, most cost-effective solar systems in the country.

Scaling a ladder to the scorching roof one recent morning, the 61-year-old beamed with pride as he showed off the 36 10-by-4-foot panels that supply his 24-hour laundry with hot water.

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Solar Energy
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grants

Science Daily — Researchers at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) have developed an inexpensive solar cell that can be painted or printed on flexible plastic sheets. "The process is simple," said lead researcher and author Somenath Mitra, PhD, professor and acting chair of NJIT's Department of Chemistry and Environmental Sciences. "Someday homeowners will even be able to print sheets of these solar cells with inexpensive home-based inkjet printers. Consumers can then slap the finished product on a wall, roof or billboard to create their own power stations."


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ORIGINALLY POSTED MAY 2007
Science Daily — Rice University scientists today revealed a breakthrough method for producing molecular specks of semiconductors called quantum dots, a discovery that could clear the way for better, cheaper solar energy panels.

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Solar Panels