Solar Cells Info

Solar lighting maker to concentrate on large projects
Darron Kloster, CanWest News Service,  January 03, 2008
Source: The Canada.com
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/business/story.html?
id=d7f6b77a-6153-41bb-8c41-bbabca18df17

Two and a half years after getting into the home solar power business, Carmanah Technologies is selling off the unit to its former owner.  The Victoria-based solar lighting manufacturer announced Wednesday it has signed a purchase agreement with David Egles, who will pay $1.5 million for the inventory and various equipment and fittings at the company’s leased facility in Barrie, Ont.
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Salt Lake City Tribune Editorial, Jan 3, 2008
Source: The Salt Lake City Tribune
http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_7875236

Free pollution-free electricity, compliments of the sun! It sounds like an offer you can’t refuse. But who can afford it? While residential solar-energy systems eventually pay for themselves, it takes years, make that decades.  A 1-kilowatt solar-powered system utilizing silicon panels and connected directly to the electrical grid will cost $8,000-$10,000 installed. And despite the hefty investment, it will only reduce your electric bill. A 5-kilowatt system, enough to power the average home, can cost $35,000 or more, a prohibitive sum for most households.

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Ryan Jeltema, Assistant News Editor
Greenville, MI, Dec 30, 2007
Source: The Daily News of Greenville
http://www.thedailynews.cc/Main.asp?SectionID=2&ArticleID=17864

This year was up and down for Greenville’s newest major industry, United Solar Ovonic.  The Auburn Hills-based solar panel manufacturer opened the first of its two Greenville plants in the fall while recording a significant sales increase. United Solar Ovonic’s parent company, Energy Conversion Devices (ECD) of Rochester Hills, still fell well short of profitability, however, and two accidents at the first plant caused disruptions to the surrounding area.
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By Joan Wilder, Boston Globe Correspondent / December 30, 2007
Surce. Boston.com
http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2007/12/30/
hingham_schools_harness_suns_power___for_education/

As Hingham Middle School science teacher Andrea Stuart fiddles with the software that collects data from the high school’s new solar voltaic roof panels, she sees a simple way to introduce solar power to her students.  “We’re studying photosynthesis,” said Stuart. “We see how plants do this; now we can see how the panels do this – use the sun for fuel.” Seeing how the sun can make electricity is what officials from the town’s lighting plant and schools had in mind when they installed a small array of solar panels on the high school roof in late summer.  (more…)

By Carol Glatz, Catholic News Service,
Vatican City, Jan 4, 2008
Source. Catholic News Service
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0800072.htm

A German solar company has given Pope Benedict XVI something special for Christmas: an electricity-generating solar rooftop for the Vatican’s Paul VI audience hall.  The Bonn-based SolarWorld is donating approximately 2,000 solar modules to be installed on the audience hall roof to provide “the very first solar power ever generated in the Vatican,” said a company press release.
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Increased visibility will make it safer for seniors
By Emilie Crofton, Bay Area News Group, Jan 4, 2008
Source: MercuryNews.com
http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_7883859?nclick_check=1

The Valley Transportation Authority’s bright idea to light up bus shelters with solar panels will make waiting for a bus safer for Almaden Valley seniors.   Several residents of Le Mirador senior housing, including Edith Keep and Essie Barador, were concerned with safety issues caused by changes to the bus routes after the approval of the VTA January 2008 Service Plan.  Those changes, as of Jan. 14, will force nearby residents and seniors at Le Mirador Senior Housing to switch from Bus 65 to Bus 64.
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January 7, 2008
Source: Rapidonline.com
http://www.rapidonline.com/latestnews.aspx?id=18416114&
tier1=Electrical+%26+Power&title=School+gets+solar+panels

Secondary school pupils in Manchester are to have their classrooms and learning resources powered by natural energy.  Sale Grammar School in Trafford is set to install photovoltaic solar panels as a means of microgeneration.  The solar panels, which are worth about £20,000 are to be donated by the Co-operative Group which has launched a £1 million Green Energy for Schools campaign.

Some 100 schools across the country are to benefit from the scheme to bring down their carbon emissions and educate students about climate change.  Headteacher of the Sale Grammar School told the Manchester Evening News: “To be one of the 100 schools in the country chosen to receive free solar panels is fantastic.

“Schools have a vital role to play in educating the next generation about climate change, and using this renewable energy technology to power our premises will help us to really bring that message home to pupils, parents and staff.”

Rapid Electronics are one of the UKs leading suppliers of electronic components, electrical products, and industrial supplies to
Electrical Contractor sector.

Source: Akeena Solar Inc, press release, Dec 13, 2007
http://akeena.net/cm/Press%20Release/dec1307.html

In order to make solar panels more affordable, San Francisco’s Solar Task Force has proposed the largest solar financing program in the nation. The program, along with state and federal rebates, would cut the cost of solar panels in half.  “San Francisco is a national leader in the development of renewable energy on city buildings,” said Mayor Gavin Newsom. “Providing incentives and loans directly to consumers makes it both easy and cost-effective for residents and businesses to go solar.”
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Kyodo News, Jan 1, 2008
Source: The Japan Times Online
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20080101a5.html

The government will aim for 30 percent of all households to have solar panels installed by 2030 as part of its efforts to fight global warming, officials said.  Under the target, the number of solar-powered households would increase to 14 million from the current 400,000, and the capacity of such generation would expand 30-fold from the current 1.3 million kilowatts, the officials said. (more…)

by Dale Neal, CitizenTimes.com
Asheville, NC, December 11, 2007
http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200771210080

David Hall of Deltec Homes says his company doesn’t believe in cutting corners when making its trademark round homes — and that attention to detail extends to the electricity used to power the company’s plant.  By year’s end, Deltec will be using 100 percent renewable energy at its factory. That will make Deltec not only Asheville’s largest maker of manufactured homes but also North Carolina’s largest private generator of solar power.
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