Solar Cells Info

I-Net Bridge, Jan 23, 2008
Source: The Times of Zambia
http://www.thetimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=690040

Embattled energy utility Eskom intends to incentivise electricity users for switching from coal-generated electricity to solar power, South African state news agency BuaNews said. The report comes as South Africans face at least five years of power shortages as Eskom upgrades its electricity generation capacity to cater for booming demand. According to Eskom, the solar incentive programme will centre on solar water heating, which energy experts say account for between 30% and 50% of household electricity consumption. The incentive scheme, which could be rolled out within weeks, will see the selling price of solar systems reduced.
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by Gertrude Majyambere and John Gahamanyi
Kigali, 24 Jan 2008
Source: AllAfrica.com
http://allafrica.com/stories/200801240096.html

The European Union (EU) has pledged $10m (Frw7.9b) to supply rural areas with electricity. At the ministry of finance, on January 22, James Musoni, Rwandan minister of finance and economic planning, and Ambassador Dr. David MacRea, Head of Delegation of the European Commission, signed an agreement for a new energy programme that will cost Frw14b. The project will be financed on an equal basis by the government and the EU. Electricity will be supplied to rural health centres and schools through solar power and micro-hydro electricity plants.
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by Martin LaMonica, Jan 15, 2008
Source: CNet News
http://www.news.com/8301-11128_3-9850837-54.html?tag=nefd.only

SolFocus on Tuesday said that it has begun installation of its concentrated photovoltaic arrays at a 3-megawatt solar power plant in southern Spain.  The first 200 kilowatts of solar power to go live will be part of 500 kilowatts that SolFocus will provide in a project sponsored by Spain’s Institute of Concentration Photovoltaic Systems, or ISFOC by its Spanish acronym.
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By Jennifer Sudick, Star Bulletin / Jan 22, 2008
Source: Star Bulletin
http://starbulletin.com/2008/01/22/business/story03.html

Hawaii will soon be home to two of the largest solar power systems in North America.  Hoku Scientific Inc. and James Campbell Co. yesterday announced plans to build a solar power plant near the Campbell Industrial Park that will be capable of generating 1.5 megawatts of photovoltaic power, making it Hoku’s largest project to date. The company is currently working on installing a 167-kilowatt solar power system at the Hawaiian Electric Co.’s Ward Avenue substation, as well as projects with Paradise Beverages Inc. and Bank of Hawaii.
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by Kimone Thompson, Sunday Observer, January 20, 2008
Source:The Jamaica Observer
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/
20080119T140000-0500_131589_OBS_SOME_JAMAICANS_BASKING_IN_SOLAR_ENERGY_.asp

WHILE most Jamaicans were ruing missed television programmes, the loss of unsaved computer data and wilting under uncomfortable heat on account of the recent islandwide blackout, there were a handful of persons who didn’t notice there was no electricity.  It was only when Michael Drakulich and Patricia Isaacs-Green, both of whom live in St Ann, and Kingstonians Dr Willard Pinnock and Paul Beswick saw that their neighbours’ houses were in darkness that they realised there was a power outage. And had they not installed alternative sources of power in their homes and business places years earlier, they would’ve been in darkness too.
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Source: News.bg Bulgaria / Jan 21, 2008
http://international.ibox.bg/news/id_1710030857

Two solar station for the production of power will be constructed in Pirin by the end of the year, informed “Viara” newspaper.  So far 51 companies take care of 70 small water-power plants in the region. According to the experts there are no attractive places around the mountain streams for new plants to be built. Thus, the putting of panels which to transform the sunlight into power, is the most alternative method at the moment. A map of the country, which gives clarity as to where it is most proper the equipment to be put, has already been made.
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Daly City, CA, Jan 21, 2008
by Sasha Vasilyuk, The Examiner, Jan 21, 2008
Source: SF Examiner.com
http://www.examiner.com/a-1170554~District_to_save_money__environment_with_solar_panels.html

Jefferson Union High School District will soon become the first in the county to go solar.  In an innovative effort to save money and teach students about the environment, the district plans to install solar panels on the roofs of all its schools.  The district board of trustees approved a 20-year deal with a private solar energy provider, UPC Solar. The deal would require no investment by the district and will save more than $3 million in energy costs over the next two decades, district Superintendent Mike Crilly said.
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RENO, Nev., Jan. 22, 2008
Source: EPOD International Inc, press release/ PrimeNewswire
http://www.primenewswire.com/newsroom/news.html?d=134720

EPOD International Inc, a Grid-Integrated, eco-power utility and electric power systems provider, announced that it has received conditional approval for a 20 Megawatt solar power facility located in the Thunderbay area. EPOD estimates that the facility would generate aggregate revenue of approximately $300 million over a 20 year term. EPOD plans to continue to secure additional installation sites as part of its overall recurring revenue model.
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By Gail Robinson /22 Jan 2008
Source: The Star UK
http://www.thestar.co.uk/barnsley/School-joy-at-free-solar.3696189.jp

A BARNSLEY school is set to become one of the greenest in the country. Wellgate Primary in Mapplewell, is to get £20,000 of solar panels funded by The Co-operative’s £1m Green Energy for Schools scheme and the Government’s Low Carbon Building Programme.  The rooftop solar panels will generate renewable electricity which will reduce the school’s reliance on fossil fuels and highlight the issue of climate change.
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A huge increase in contracts to supply the grid means the province may soon be home to some of the planet’s biggest arrays

by Richard Blackwell, Globe and Mail Update / January 22, 2008
source:GlobeandMail.com
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080122.wrsolar22/BNStory/

Ontario is on its way to becoming a major centre for solar power, and will soon see thousands of solar panels spread out over acres of land, feeding clean power into the power grid.  Year-end numbers show an explosion of interest in building solar generating systems, from individuals who want to put a few panels on their roof, to businesses investing in huge solar farms.
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